Author Craig Childs on KAFM

CORRECTION: Craig Childs will appear at KAFM, not KVNF as previously reported. Please find a link to the event here. Many thanks to Ryan for correcting our error. Colorado Public Radio Blog regrets the error.



Craig Childs will be at the Western Slope's KAFM Radio Room on Wednesday, July 30th, at 7:00 p.m. to speak about his river trip to Tibet and the January article he published about it in Men's Journal. A $5 donation is suggested for these events and seats are on a first come, first served basis. To reserve your seats by phone to any of these events, call: 970-241-8801 ext. 3.

Here is a list of Childs' interviews with commentaries for NPR. And, here is a list of Craig's books from Amazon.Com.

Craig Childs has also appeared severally on Colorado Matters, KCFR News' daily interview show heard on Colorado Public Radio.

KAFM Gains CPB Qualification.

Guest Commentary, by Pete Simon

KAFM Gains CPB Qualification

For some of you reading this it may not sound like a big deal, until you delve into the history of grass roots, non-commercial radio in Grand Junction. The story of KAFM is one of battles lost and won through heightened expectations, lean times, perseverance, and amazing technical prowess.

KAFM, 88.1 FM, all 16 watts of it (the 88.1 signal blankets the Grand Valley), has just reached another milestone. It becomes the 16th (lucky number) non-commercial radio station in Colorado to gain certification from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). This enables the station to receive annual grant monies from CPB for Programming and Operations.

For nearly a decade, community volunteers worked to make KAFM a reality. It rose from the ashes of an orchestrated take over (and the firing of several dozen volunteers) of KPRN by the management of KCFR, Denver when it took over KPRN in 1991 to mark the beginnings of the KCFR/Colorado Public Radio empire.

Left in the dust were people who listened and participated in KPRN--a station started in the mid 1980s--which they assumed was a solid community asset. The original KPRN blended local voices, news, and events with NPR news and musical variety not available anywhere else on the Grand Junction radio dial. KPRN connected people down the street with those around the world; and in an instant it was gone, replaced by nothing but classical music and NPR news shows without the localism. The only news material to emerge from the new KPRN was produced for a so called state-wide audience; local flavor and soul was gutted. Fortunately, the community volunteer spirit at the old KPRN was able to rekindle at KAFM, and its founders deserve some kind of award.

Since KAFM signed on several years ago, someone was kind (and dedicated) enough to locate and provide an entire house for the people-powered station (that's how much the people in town love their local access radio). The ground floor of the building includes a 75-seat performance theatre, enabling KAFM to broadcast live music.

The CPB certification brings expanding possibilities for an entire community once given up for the whims of larger market radio expectations, often convoluted research, and extreme insensitivity.

It's time to celebrate.

Visit the KAFM radio website by clicking here.

Community Service Grant Congratulations!

KAFM-FM, Grand Junction, Colorado.

Licensee: Grand Valley Public Radio Company, Inc.

KAFM-FM went on the air in 1999 to serve the residents of the Grand Valley in Western Colorado. The station broadcasts a variety of locally-produced music and public affairs programming. The station also houses a 75-seat auditorium where it offers live performances from local and national artists.

The station becomes the 16th radio grantee to receive CPB funding in Colorado. Read about KAFM and all the other grantees here, from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The CPB made the announcement on August 23, 2007.

KAFM & Kannah Creek Brewing Company

Join us on the patio all day at Kannah Creek Brewing Company on Saturday, August 4th for live music and great beer. Come try our newest creation, 16 Watt Ale. Proceeds from the day's events helps to fund KAFM-FM, Grand Valley Community Public Radio. Good luck fundrasing!

This press release provided by a Colorado Public Radio Blog reader in Grand Junction, Colorado, by Kannah Creek Brewing Company, and by KAFM-FM.

Did You Ever Wonder?

Billy Crystal and Christoper Guest did a sketch (Willie and Frankie) on Saturday Night Live that began with, "Did you ever wonder . . ." Then they would go on to describe some painful bodily invasion like, " . . . what would happen if you stuck an icepick in your eye?"

In keeping with that theme, did you ever wonder what your local public radio stations are worth or what their employees get paid? It might be more (or less) than you think. Some of this financial information may be news to you. It certainly was news to me.

You can download and compare documents here. They are in Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. Get Adobe Acrobat Reader here.

Colorado Public Radio Form 990 from 2003.
Colorado Public Radio Form 990 from 2004.
Colorado Public Radio Form 990 from 2005.

KUVO Form 990 from 2003.
KUVO Form 990 from 2004.
KUVO Form 990 from 2005.

Aspen Public Radio Form 990 from 2001.
Aspen Public Radio Form 990 from 2003.
Aspen Public Radio Form 990 from 2004.

KUNC Form 990 from 2003.
KUNC Form 990 from 2004.
KUNC Form 990 from 2005.

KDNK Form 990 from 2003.
KDNK Form 990 from 2004.
KDNK Form 990 from 2005.

KVNF Form 990 from 2003.
KVNF Form 990 from 2004.
KVNF Form 990 from 2005.

KGNU Form 900 from 2001.
KGNU Form 900 from 2002.
KGNU Form 900 from 2003.

KSUT Form 990 from 2003.
KSUT Form 990 from 2004.
KSUT Form 990 from 2005.

KBUT Form 990 from 2003.
KBUT Form 990 from 2004.
KBUT Form 990 from 2005.

KCSU Form 990 from 2002.
KCSU Form 990 from 2003.
KCSU Form 990 from 2004.

KAFM Form 990 from 2003.
KAFM Form 990 from 2004.
KAFM Form 990 from 2005.

KCME Form 990 from 2003.
KCME Form 990 from 2004.
KCME Form 990 from 2005.

KRFC Form 900 from 2002.
KRFC Form 900 from 2003.
KRFC Form 900 from 2004.

KYGT Form 900 from 2003.
KYGT Form 900 from 2004.
KYGT Form 900 from 2005.

Summit Public Radio and TV Form 900 from 2004.
Summit Public Radio and TV Form 900 from 2005.
Summit Public Radio and TV Form 900 from 2006.

*All documents provided by GuideStar.Org.