COMMUNITY
RECORDER
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Northern Kenton County
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2017
CELEBRATING
120 YEARS
3DAYSales Event •3/10 •3/11 •3/12
See page 3A for details!
$1.00
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Why the WNKU deal happened: The Bible pays Scott Wartman swartman@nky.com
CHRIS MAYHEW/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
Tonya Crowe Harney grabbed her son John by the arm to keep him from being sucked out of his bedroom at upper left in the family’s Colby Court home in Burlington.
EF1, EF0 TORNADOES HIT AREA The Enquirer
Tornadoes hit Amelia and Anderson Township March 1, according to the National Weather Service. Weather service investigators determined the Amelia tornado was an EF1 tornado with a wind speed of 110 mph that touched the ground for 6.4 miles and lasted nine minutes. It struck at 3:38 a.m. and was 150 yards wide. There were no injuries. The storm that hit Anderson Township was determined to be an EF0 tornado with a wind speed of 80 mph that touched the ground for 1.04 miles. The tornado struck at 7:03 a.m. and lasted one minute. The tornado was 350 yards wide. No injuries occurred due to the tornado. In addition, the storms caused microburst/straightline wind damage in Alexandria and Morningview in Campbell County just after at 7 a.m. Wind speeds were 60 mph in Alexandria and 70 mph in Morningview. The highest rainfall amounts recorded were 4.11
When it comes to radio formats, the Bible pays the bills. That’s how the Charlotte, N.C.-based Bible Broadcasting Network outbid all others to purchase WNKU at Northern Kentucky University with a $1.9 million offer. WNKU’s so-called “adult album alternative” format - playing artists like Big Star, the Velvet Underground and Old 97s wasn’t paying the bills. The station ran a $1 million deficit last year, equal to half its annual budget. BBN, by contrast, has grown steadily over the past 45 years. It’s a nonprofit that’s amassed $70 million in assets, according to IRS filings, with programs like “Our Daily Bread,” “Words of Praise” and even a one-minute spot every weekday at 3:30 p.m. from Northern Kentucky’s Ken Ham, the man behind the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter. NKU denied an open-records request from The Enquirer for documents on the other bids for WNKU. The Enquirer continues to pursue the documents. Meanwhile, both the public radio systems of Cincinnati and Louisville revealed they had both expressed interest in taking over WNKU. The sale needs approval from the Federal Communication Commission, but that’s considered a formality. So in the next few months, the music of David Bowie and Angel Olsen will likely give way to bible readings on 89.7 FM in Cincinnati. That’s touched off a wave of anger laced with nostalgia among WNKU’s ardent fan base that has grown over the past 30 years. The NKU Board of Regent’s decision Boehne came down to money– money for scholarships and money for education programs, said Rich Boehne, chairman of NKU’s Board of Regents.
“We have a fiduciary responsibility to the university and students and those who pay the bills,” Boehne said. “We have a million-dollar-a-year deficit on the station. We have an opportunity to overcome that. And reduce and eliminate our debt.”
Xavier turned down a religious broadcaster 10 years ago What happened at NKU isn’t unusual. Religious broadcasters with deep pockets have bought up struggling radio stations for decades. But Xavier University made a different decision 10 years ago.The format of WVXU then was a mix of NPR, jazz and old-time radio shows. A Christian radio station offered Xavier University $3 million more than Cincinnati Public Radio to buy WVXU in 2005. CPR bought and still owns WVXU. Xavier University’s governing board opted to keep it a public radio station, said Richard Eiswerth, general manager of Cincinnati Public Radio. WVXU now broadcasts local and nation news as the Cincinnati National Public Radio affiliate. “We had hoped Northern Kentucky University would do the same thing as Xavier had done with us,” Eiswerth said. “XU decided at the time, it would be better for the university and the community to maintain it as a public radio station. It even cost them a couple of million profit in the sale. Some of those national religious broadcasters have deep pockets.”
Other public radio stations interested in WNKU While the other bidders for WNKU aren’t known, it is known that two public radio organizations were interested. Cincinnati Public Radio proposed to NKU taking over all financial responsibilities of WNKU and running it, Eiswerth said. Under the proposal, CPR would have taken over financial See WNKU, Page 2A
CARA OWSLEY/THE ENQUIRER
Sherry Wallace’s back yard was destroyed after storms hit Anderson Township. Wallace said her house on Azure Court didn’t have any damage.
inches in Cheviot, 3.25 inches in Wilder and 4.17 inches in Dillsboro, Indiana. The rainfall recorded at CVG airport was 2.47 inches. The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories: EF0: wind speeds 65 to 85 mph. EF1: wind speeds 86 to 110 mph.
A SLAM-DUNK APP Get the latest UC sports news. Download the Bearcats app on both the Apple App Store and Google Play.
EF2: wind speeds 111 to 135 mph. EF3: wind speeds 136 to 165 mph. EF4: wind speeds 166 to 200 mph. EF5: wind speeds greater than 200 mph. Take the news with you. Download the Cincinnati.com app on both the Apple AppStore and Google Play.
CARRIE COCHRAN/THE ENQUIRER
WNKU sound engineer Matt Moermond, right, hugs program director Liz Felix after NKU's Board of Reagents voted to execute the sale of the WNKU public radio station to Bible Broadcasting Corp.
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Vol. 21 No. 19 © 2017 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED