Broadcasters across Colorado, including several public media stations, raised $1.1 million Sept. 18 during Colorado Flood Relief, a live fundraiser. Torrential rains caused the massive flooding, which began Sept. 9. Floods have destroyed some 1,800 homes so far, with property losses statewide estimated at almost $2 billion, according to Reuters. The death toll stands at 10, with 140 people missing. Public stations joined 14 commercial news outlets for the fundraiser, which ran from 4 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Participating were Denver pubcasters Rocky Mountain PBS, Colorado Public Television and KUVO-FM; KUNC-FM in Greeley; KGNU-FM, Boulder; KRCC-FM, Colorado Springs; KAFM-FM, Grand Junction; and KVNF, Paonia.

In a letter dated Sept. 20, a bipartisan group of senators tells the FCC that it is “essential” that the U.S. coordinate closely with Mexico and Canada over the quickly approaching broadcast spectrum auctions, reports Broadcasting & Cable. Signatories include members of the Commerce Committee and the chair of the Judiciary Committee, who insist that international issues be “addressed expeditiously.” Read a copy of the letter here.

WBUR in Boston, Northwest Public Radio in Pullman, Wash., and The Lens, a nonprofit newsroom in New Orleans, are among 10 recipients of this year’s Knight Community Information Challenge grants to strengthen community journalism and promote government transparency. The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation awarded a total of $545,000 to the winners, each of which raised additional matching grants from community-based funders. With $50,000 from Knight and a matching grant from the Boston Foundation, WBUR will establish a statewide education reporting project, Learning Lab. The station partnered with Glass Eye Media, founders of the Homicide Watch D.C. crime blog covering murder cases in the District of Columbia, to develop the idea.

Masterpiece Executive Producer Rebecca Eaton was close to retirement a few years back — but no more, she tells the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Eaton is making the rounds in the press in anticipation of her 320-page book, Making Masterpiece: 25 Years Behind the Scenes at Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! on PBS, out next month. She was pondering retirement, she said, “before lightning in the form of Downton Abbey struck and before I wrote the book. In the writing of the book, in relishing the success of Downton and the success of Masterpiece, I thought: ‘Wait a minute. I love this stuff.

The new Pink Martini disc is out Tuesday, with guest performances by two pubcasters: NPR’s Ari Shapiro (or, as Pink Martini calls him, “the handsome and brilliant radio superstar”) and Oregon Public Broadcasting President Steve Bass. The latest from the Portland-based self-described “little orchestra,” whose sounds range from Latin and jazz to pop and lounge music, is “Get Happy.” Listen for Shapiro singing on “Yo te quiero siempre,” and Bass playing a short clarinet interlude on “She Was Too Good To Me.” Phyllis Diller’s final recording is also on the disc; the legendary comedian died six months after recording “Smile.” The eclectic cuts include songs in German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, Farsi, Turkish and Romanian.

Jack Brown, longtime g.m. of Northstate Public Radio and the man who transitioned the Chico, Calif., station from a student-run enterprise to the NPR affiliate for northeast California, died in Chico Sept. 15. He was 68.

Former staffers of Pittsburgh’s defunct WDUQ-FM have returned to the airwaves with WYZR, a jazz station that signed on Aug. 31 from a location about 20 miles southwest of the city.

Detroit Public Television is using its new arts series, Detroit Performs, to showcase the Motor City’s talents on a wider scale. Local reaction to the show, now 10 weeks into broadcast, “has been tremendous,” DTV President Rich Homberg said in a note to his Major Market Group (MMG) pubTV coalition colleagues. “Every day we are hearing from new producers, emerging organizations and raving fans.” The series grew out of the MMG Arts content initiative, curated by WNET in New York City, and DTV’s five-year-old “category strategy,” which set a course for engagement and partnership around specific topics. Similar efforts include DTV’s Great Lakes Now, which evolved from a reporting focus into a conservation conference attracting more than 300,000 participants.

The financial stranglehold on Pacifica is taking down Free Speech Radio News, a progressive news show that relied on the five-station network for the bulk of its operating costs. The show, airing weekdays on 100 stations, will close production Sept. 27 and lay off its staff, a core of part-timers and an international network of nearly 100 stringers. Owed nearly $200,000 in back payments by the California-based Pacifica Foundation, FSRN’s board of directors decided Sept. 13 to shutter the program, holding out hope that FSRN could be revived under a different production model. “Our fortunes have always been closely linked to Pacifica’s fortunes,” said Russell Gragg, managing editor.

Lynn Fitch, station manager of KBOO-FM in Portland, Ore., has resigned after losing support from the community radio station’s board of directors, reports the Portland Tribune. On Sept.15, members of the KBOO Foundation elected four new board members, all recommended by the group Committee to Keep KBOO as KBOO, which opposed Fitch’s policies. The previous board had promoted Fitch from development director to station manager last year,  when the station faced increasing financial pressures. “The board had given Fitch a mandate to change personnel and other policies,” the newspaper noted, “but those provoked a backlash at the alternative station, long a voice for music, news and public affairs programming not found elsewhere on the Portland radio dial.”