• Maryland Public Television has announced the largest project in its history, a 2016 veterans’ event and documentary marking the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The $2.5 million initiative, two years in planning, will feature broadcast, educational and outreach components. A massive veterans’ “welcome home,” LZ Pimlico, is scheduled for June 11 and 12, 2016, at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. The event is modeled on Wisconsin Public Television’s LZ Lambeau, held in 2010.
• Jerry Blumenthal, a founding partner of Chicago documentary house Kartemquin Films (Hoop Dreams, The Interrupters), died Nov. 13. “Jerry was my filmmaking partner for over four decades,” said co-founder Gordon Quinn. “His sense of story, people, politics, and art and artists, will be missed. With Kartemquin we went through good times and bad, but with Jerry we always found time to laugh.”
• The syndicator of the Car Talk column has relented, and Ray Magliozzi will have the sole byline on the newspaper feature. After Ray’s brother Tom Magliozzi died Nov. 3., King Features Syndicate said it would keep his name on the column. But newspaper editors “found the concept creepy,” reports AP. “We were very concerned about the ethical implications of printing a column that purported to have two people chatting about cars when one of them was clearly dead,” said Karen Bordeleau, executive editor of the Providence Journal. “Our brand is accuracy, and that didn’t sit well with us.”
• Missoula-based Montana Public Radio will drop its affiliation with Public Radio International effective Monday, as it removes Afropop, Selected Shorts and Science Friday from its lineup. In a letter to listeners, the station said the change will save nearly $30,000. The University of Montana, which holds the station’s license, had cut $75,000 in funding to the station over the past two years.
Good bye Tom. RIP.