State of the State: Jobs, Jobs, Jobs

Taft spoke. Did anyone listen? The Enquirer has commented. We have around 6% unemployment in Ohio, higher than the national average. How will Taft's plan of doing the same old thing make it any better?

Surprise Surprise Surprise

Damon Lynch opposes City Manager Valerie Lemmie's plan to hire police from Cleveland.

"Cleveland cops kill more people than Cincinnati cops do," said Lynch, an Over-the-Rhine pastor who emerged as a key civil rights leader after the police shooting death of Timothy Thomas in 2001. "It's just unfathomable."

So if Cleveland kills more people than Cincinnati, why is Lynch and company making such a fuss about the cops here? Why is there not a boycott on Cleveland? Where is the Cleveland Black United Front? Is Damon Lynch thinking about starting a franchise there? He has had experience with franchising.

Twitty's Record Clean

Former Assistant Police Chief Ron Twitty has his misdemeanor conviction relating to his an incident with his police issued car. The benefit and meaning of this is

A clean record will allow Twitty to seek another law enforcement job, if he chooses.

Reportedly Twitty had law enforcement job possibilities, but is not giving details.

Pre-emptive Warning?

If you are planning a Spring offensive against Al Qaeda, why would anyone leak that to the press? Is it another smoke-them-out plan? Make them think you know where they are which forces them to move, then they are out in the open and vulnerable. Now that is a good idea, but if I am right about why they are doing it, what keeps a terrorist from figuring it out?

Bam, the Future of Rock and Roll Looks Bleak

97X, WOXY-FM Oxford, Ohio, has been sold to a Texas company for $5.6 million. The company spokesman indicates over air broadcasting will change format:

According to Stern, the Oxford station plans to continue its format online, while First Broadcasting puts other programming on the frequency.

On woxy.com the news was broken with a bit of confusion:

We're a little stunned ourselves to announce the sale of WOXY to First Broadcasting Investment Partners of Dallas. The FCC approval process takes about three months, so the switch should occur sometime around May 1st. So that's a big change...

But! Our plans are to continue 97X The Future of Rock and Roll right here at woxy.com, including our internet broadcast. Over the next 90 days we'll be looking for sponsors or investors who will enable us to make this site and stream better than ever. We may be the first terrestrial radio station ever to make the full-time jump to the Internet!

Online the Future is bright, but will the airwaves in Oxford fall back into a county or bland pop music fog? Will First Broadcasting own the online station? Will the online station work a special deal with Miami to channel the signal through local cable stations? Will 97X send a feed to any of the satellite radio services? Will 97X survive?

The best independent radio station in America is no more. I think one could call this selling out. I think in fact few could call it anything else, at least not with a straight face. I hope 97X can find a way to grow online and become an even bigger international source of new rock music. I fear, however, for the local radio listeners in the Oxford area.

UPDATE: According to Sledge's Blog which has a copy of the full press release, the sale is only of the over the air station as indicated in this quote from 97X owners:

Balogh comments that "we always envisioned a time when we would separate and sell our local terrestrial broadcast signal and continue to grow our website and Internet broadcast. The Internet has proven to be the perfect environment for a cutting-edge, niche format like ours. We are currently pursuing sponsors and investors for this venture."

That sounds like a better future for the station, more freedom to air what they want, but what will happen with the studios. This sounds like to me that 97X will keep its studios, and the new company will either lease them or build new ones. The may just relay prefab network programming, which kills another local source of information. More McMedia brought to you courtesy of the FCC.

UPDATE#2: Sadgirlseven reports that most of the people at the station are being laid off in three months. If the station continues online with backers, I don't know if that means they might keep their jobs. I will speculate that the new owner will not be hiring them, so unless the online station gets off the ground, they will be gone. That news is horrible. It makes me think of Mrs. Carlson coming in and replace everyone at WKRP with a machine. I don't think that is far from what will happen with the over-the-air station.

UPDATE#3: After a bit more research I believe that at this point the staff situation at 97X is up in the air. The business side of the operation will likely have a different fate than the production side. Sadgirl's information according to what I can decipher is not the whole story.

UPDATE#4: The Hamilton-Journal has a story. Also the Press Release from First Broadcasting.

UPDATE#5: Some 97X history for you, including a historical mp3.

CinWeekly: Go Miami

If you scroll down on Cinweekly's "You Tell Us" page, the "Brian G." mentioned might be someone I know.

LaShawn Pettus-Brown Googled into Custody

LaShawn Pettus-Brown is not a professional fugitive. He went on a date with a computer literate women who maybe saw right through Pettus-Brown's act and thought that maybe he was to good to be true. She decided to Google him, and that led her to the FBI. Score one in the fight against crime to Google.com.

UPDATE: This made a Guardian column.