More radio waves

I love radio. Talk radio, AOR radio, live sports radio, whatever. I used to be a news director at a tiny radio station in Oneonta, New York. Unfortunately, the radio business is in trouble. The company which owns and operates 224 radio stations across the U.S. has filed for bankruptcy. Mike Spector and Sarah McBride report in The Wall Street Journal that Citadel Broadcasting Corp., the nation's third largest radio broadcaster, filed for bankruptcy last weekend reporting $1.4 billion in assets against $2.4 billion in debt. The former radio home of Paul Harvey (GOOD DAY!) and Sean Hannity (YOU'RE A GREAT AMERICAN!) apparently took on too much debt in 2006 when it purchased Disney's ABC Radio stations. It's a real shame. Local radio, especially, is going away. AM is dominated by national talk show programs and most have drastically reduced news operations. FM just keeps switching music formats trying to attract back listeners. I don't think the hey days of teens wearing t-shirts of the local rock station (like I did with 97 Rock in Buffalo) are coming back. Teens and young adults today just load up their iPod with music and off they go. Definitely not a GOOD DAY for radio.

NCSL study says state finances not to recover anytime soon

Counties hoping for light at the end of the revenue tunnel will need to wait longer. According to a new report from NACo's "Big 7" partner - the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), "Many state legislators were hoping to wake up from this current fiscal nightmare to see revenues recovering in fiscal year (FY) 2010. But according to a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) released today, lawmakers may have a few more sleepless nights before this fiscal crisis is over."

The report indicates that, "Leading economists believe that the U.S. economy began rebounding sometime in the third quarter of 2009. But state finances are not expected to recover for at least two years. History shows that state budgets continue to struggle long after a national recession ends. This new report by NCSL is further proof of that fact.

“Even if the recession is over, state budgets are still in appalling condition and are going to be that way for quite a while," said Corina Eckl, fiscal director at the National Conference of State Legislatures. “For many states, revenue recovery is not even in the forecast."

And this is bad news for counties of course. While local revenues continue to drop, state aid reductions are sure to follow in many states for the next fiscal year.

Washington Times cuts in staff, coverage cue new era

A day before President Obama's White House jobs summit, The Washington Times - the conservative alternative to The Washington Post, announced elimination of up to 40% of its staff. I hate to be critical in a difficult time, but I must offer my honest assessment: I believe that The Washington Times badly missed its opportunity to succeed in this Metro D.C. market. Years ago, they should have converted to a tabloid format (like the New York Post or New York Daily News) and distributed the newspaper free to metro train riders each day. In the 11 years I've been in D.C., I can count on one hand the number of people I've seen reading the Washington Times on the train or Metro buses. They did not do this and what happened? Another publisher came in and purchased a struggling chain of Northern Virginia weeklies and converted them into a daily, converted to an easy-to-read-on-the-train tabloid, handed it out free to Metro riders and hired every conservative columnist and editorial writer thay could find. Big national names, too like Michael Barone, Mark Tapscott and Byron York. The Washington Examiner fills that conservative void in this market. Oh, and they do a terrific job covering local county governments too. Examiner reporters actually go to county board meetings. Imagine that.

Some Good County News: Ambulance service now available to all Elmore County residents

Cortez Strickland of the Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama) reports that, "Citizens living in the rural communities of Elmore County will not have to worry any longer when it comes to response times on arising emergency situations. Earlier this week inside the Elmore County Courthouse, officials from the county's emergency medical services board and the county commission announced the implementation of a two-year contract with Haynes Ambulance. The contract marks the first time in history that a professional countywide ambulance service will be available for all county residents."

Said County EMS Chairman Greg Jones, "If we don't meet that demand, then people are going to go somewhere else in search of those types of services. We need good police, good firemen, good ambulance and good schools -- those are the keys to building, and I think Elmore County is on the cutting edge." Indeed.

Loudoun Keeps Holiday Displays

The post-Thanksgiving period means renewed debate in communities across the country about holiday and religious displays in the public square. Here's one: The Loudoun County, Va. Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday night to allow public displays - including religious and holiday-related items - at the county courthouse in Leesburg. This is according to reporter David Sherfinski writing for the Washington Examiner. It had been a big debate in the community which climaxed with petitions and a large community turnout for the board vote last night. I recall a wonderful visit to Ellis County, Texas a couple years ago and noted with delight to our county courthouse tour guide that they had a large "Merry Christmas" sign out in front. She turned to me and said in a stern voice: "We say Merry Christmas in Ellis County." Yes, ma'am.

Detour: Home

The Washington Post's Daniel De Vise wrote an interesting story about how an increasing number of high school graduates are passing over "top-drawer public and private universities" to become honor students at county-funded community colleges. He sums it up this way: "Over the past two decades, community college honors programs have found a niche among students who were turned down by increasingly selective state universities and didn't want to pay private-college tuition. Enrollment grew steadily until the recession. Then, it exploded." This is good news for parents who rather keep their young adult children closer to home. It's also good news for counties who have created an attractive alternative for our best and brightest to stay in the home county.