Tag Archives: WCBU

Radio

WCBU changing format to all news and information

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From my inbox:

Beginning March 7, 2011, WCBU will expand its offerings for Peoria area public radio listeners. The station will offer all news, information and entertainment programming on 89.9 FM, and expanded classical music to be aired on its digital frequency, WCBU 89.9 HD2.

“We believe this is a win-win for our current listeners,” says WCBU Executive Director Thomas Hunt. “It also gives us an opportunity to increase membership and do an even better job of meeting the needs of our audience.”

“We have heard from many members who have asked for additional news and information programming,” says Shelli Dankoff, President of the WCBU Advisory Board. “We’ll be able to give listeners even more opportunities to hear different viewpoints and to learn and discover new things. We are excited about what this means for our listeners.”

The station will continue to air popular shows like Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and will expand information and National Public Radio (NPR) programming — adding new shows like BBC News, the Diane Rehm Show, Fresh Air and The World, all aired commercial-free. Listeners will also continue to enjoy entertainment programs like Prairie Home Companion, Car Talk and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! and local programs like Outside the Horseshoe, Out and About, theater reviews and more. Local music programs, such as Music from the Heartland and Jazz from the Hilltop will be heard on both WCBU and WCBU HD2. The station will also maintain its dedicated newsroom and reporting staff for local and regional news coverage.

The change will also allow WCBU to offer central Illinois’ classical music listening audience more music in a superior format: Digital radio, which delivers CD-quality audio with crystal clear reception. Digital listeners can tune in on a digital radio or listen online at www.wcbufm.org, with minimal interruption and the familiar voices of WCBU on-air personalities.

“We’re committed to being stewards of art and culture in our region, giving the Peoria-area community access to many viewpoints and classical music programming,” says Hunt. “These format changes will help us deliver on that commitment.”

“As the Internet continues to expand our broadcast world, and with our move to digital broadcasting in 2007, the launch of WCBU2 provides a 24 hour opportunity to serve more listeners by consolidating all news programming and all music programming to their unique streams available on air and on-line all the time,” added Dankoff.

The new WCBU and WCBU HD2 program schedules and more information on HD radios will be available on the station’s web site www.wcbufm.org.

WCBU is the public radio service of Bradley University, and has served listeners in Peoria and central Illinois for more than 40 years. The station broadcasts daily from studios on the Bradley University campus.

You can see the new schedule for WCBU here, and the new WCBU “HD2” schedule here.

Museum Block, Peoria County, Radio

WCBU news misses the mark

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WCBU News this morning said that a successful effort to stop the issuance of general obligation bonds for the museum would be “a moot point” because the County Board could just use a different kind of bond to fund the project. Apparently the reporter fails to understand that the type of bond being used is the issue. If we were to stop the issuance of general obligation bonds and the County issued revenue bonds instead, then we will have prevailed. Hardly a “moot point.”

Usually WCBU does a good job reporting the news, but this story sorely missed the mark.

City of Peoria, East Bluff, OSF St. Francis

OSF planning more development; TIF will help

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On “Outside the Horseshoe” this week, WCBU News director Tanya Koonce interviewed Ron Jost, Vice President of Strategic and Facility Planning for OSF St. Francis Medical Center. You can hear a podcast of the show here.

The broadcast focused on the proposed East Village Growth Cell and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. OSF has offered to front the money for the required studies to establish a TIF. Koonce asked Jost why OSF would want to do that — what’s in it for them? Jost gave several reasons.

First, he emphasized that OSF itself is a “neighbor” in the East Bluff and Near North Side and, like any neighbor, they would like to see their property value increase and live in a safe, stable, viable neighborhood. He also said that, while the hospital is not-for-profit, there are “certain aspects” of their business that do not qualify for tax exemption, and they do pay about $1.1 million per year in property taxes.

Finally, he explained that OSF is looking at further expansion. Specifically, they’ve acquired the White School and Irving School buildings from District 150, and they’re planning to build a 100,000-200,000 square foot building to house a simulation/conference center for training purposes. They’d like to expand south of Greenleaf Street. Jost also said they would be interested in seeing if there are “other parties” who would be willing to develop and provide housing that could replace OSF’s current dormitory.

That last statement explains why OSF would be especially interested in establishing a TIF. Developers would be unlikely to redevelop this area without tax incentives.

Also on the program was Bobby Gray from the City’s Economic Development Department. He emphasized that the boundaries of the “East Village Growth Cell” represent the study area, and may not be the final boundaries of the TIF.

Radio

Debate: Are teachers unions to blame for failing schools?

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I heard this debate on WCBU tonight. It’s from the program “Intelligence Squared U.S.,” which features an Oxford-style debate. There’s a different topic, or “motion,” each week. The motion for this debate was “Don’t Blame Teachers Unions For Our Failing Schools.” Three people spoke in favor of the motion, and three spoke against the motion. Here’s the debate — which side do you think won?

2010 Election, Blogosphere, General News, Museum Block, Peoria County, Peoria Public Schools, Peoria Times-Observer

Saturday must-see links

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If you haven’t already seen these this week, you’ll want to check them out:

  • Outside the Horseshoe for January 26, 2010, from WCBU 89.9 FM radio. Tanya Koonce has a conversation with Peoria County Administrator Patrick Urich, Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons, and County Board Members Andrew Rand (Dist. 4) and Stephen Morris (Dist. 10) about the proposed Peoria Riverfront Museum project. What we can deduce from the conversation here is that, at least in the county’s perception, Lakeview Museum is trying to dominate and control the project. I suspect their perception is true; Caterpillar had similar problems working with Lakeview which led to their decision years ago to put their visitor center in a separate building instead of sharing space in the museum.

  • Blacktop Reform from DeWayne Bartels of the Peoria Times-Observer. You may be surprised to learn that the next time you want to get your driveway blacktopped, you’ll have to pay a lot more money and have fewer contractors from which to choose. The County Board is trying to run non-union blacktop paving contractors out of town. Let this be a lesson to current and future Board members: do your homework before you vote!

  • School Board Member Laura Petelle’s thoughts on the final candidate for District 150’s New Superintendent. She wants to assure everyone that the process this time was “far different and more comprehensive” than the past. In other words, they did a better job of vetting the candidates than the board that hired Kay Royster did. That should give residents some comfort.

  • Racism alleged within the Peoria County Democratic Central Committee. Rachael Parker is a sitting Peoria Board of Education member running for a seat on the Peoria County Board, and her campaign manager and communications director sent out a press release accusing local Democrats of being racist. They also questioned why the Peoria Journal Star did not interview Parker. I’m wondering how the Journal Star got a quote from Parker for their January 15 story if they didn’t interview her.

Happy reading/listening!

Radio

April Fools Day 1993

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Gary Sandberg sent me this April Fools Day report from WCBU in 1993. It’s a hoot:

[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/HISPEED.mp3]

The best part is, according to a Journal Star article from April 19, 1993, “The story sounded so authentic that one local television reporter tried to follow up on the report for his evening newscast. Some Caterpillar Inc. engineers contacted colleagues around the country to see if they had heard about the barges.”