The Scoop for Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.

CAIR Gala speaker detained by immigration officers

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) held its annual gala in Tampa last night. But the person who was supposed to be the keynote speaker didn’t show up because he was detained by immigration officers in California. In the words of a release from CAIR-Florida, Sami Hamdi was “abducted in San Francisco after becoming a target of Laura Loomer’s hateful, Islamophobic campaign.” The release from CAIR called Hamdi “a fearless voice who has never been afraid to speak truth to power.” A statement from CAIR’s national office calls Hamdi a British Muslim journalist and political commentator and says he was detained “apparently because of his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.”

West Central Florida has high levels of forever chemicals

PFAS break down slowly and can build up in people, animals and the environment over time, Chris Young reports.

Nicolás Maduro says the U.S. is fabricating a war against him

As the world’s biggest warship approaches Venezuela, Maduro says the Trump administration is “fabricating a new eternal war.”

Far-left Catherine Connolly wins Ireland’s presidential election

Connolly won 63% of first-preference votes compared to 29% of her center-right party rival. She will be the country’s 10th president and the third woman to hold the post.

Forum in St. Petersburg considers immigration reform and the Dignity Act

Community-focused group Onward and Empowered of Florida held a public forum in St. Pete this month to discuss solutions, Leah Burdick reports.

Hurricane Melissa reaches category 5 as it approaches Jamaica

The hurricane has already caused fatalities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic and is the strongest to hit Jamaica in recent history.

The Scoop: Tampa Bay & Florida headlines by WMNF

The Scoop, produced by Joana Riva, Asha Cope-Edwards.

WMNF anchors Seán Kinane, Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Josh Holton, Randi Zimmerman. 
WMNF News Director Seán Kinane
WMNF reporters Chris Young, Lisa Marzilli, Seán Kinane, Zoe Sax, Julia Ferrara, Leah Burdick, Josh Holton
Special thanks to Taylor Lovejoy and Corey Beltran.

Theme music, Fresh06, by Stian via archive.org – CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5
https://archive.org/details/jamendo-001084/02.mp3
The Scoop logo by Robin Milcowitz / Greener Pixels / greenerpixels.com / WMNF

information from News Service of Florida, the Associated Press and Florida Public Media was used in this report