Several public radio stations are among those taking part once again in a longtime on-air Thanksgiving tradition, the annual broadcast of Arlo Guthrie’s epic and quirky “Alice’s Restaurant” monologue — all 18 minutes and 34 seconds of it. Listeners to pubcasters from WFUV in the Bronx all the way to KRNN in Juneau, Alaska, will hear Guthrie croon, “You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.” The satirical folk song tells the true (but exaggerated) tale of Guthrie’s near conscription into the Vietnam war, which he avoided due to a littering offense on his record. Guthrie first performed the piece live in 1967 on WBAI, Pacifica Radio in New York City, according to the book Active Radio: Pacifica’s Brash Experiment.

With one of its biggest corporate sponsors pulling back from a multiyear underwriting commitment, NPR has an uphill climb to rebuild its sponsorship revenues from 2011, when the network’s sales reps reeled in enough deals to set a new earnings record. High turnover — or “churn” — among its corporate clients, and the pullback of companies that spend the most money on advertising, cut into NPR’s bottom line in the fiscal year that just closed. After netting $2.4 million in profits in 2011, largely on robust sponsorship sales, the network aimed high for 2012. But sales fell far short of projections.

Today PBS unveiled a beta site, Black Culture Connection, highlighting African American history and arts. The vertical site contains films, stories and digital resources available across PBS, including local series such as UNC-TV’s Black Issues Forum and WQED’s Torchbearers. It’s premiering in partnership with 10 stations and five national producers, and officially launches during Black History Month in February.  Details here.

Here is a link to the lawsuit filed today by Cecil Singleton, alleging that Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash coerced him into sexual encounters when Singleton was underage. Singleton is seeking more than $5 million in damages. In the wake of the second such accusation against him, Clash resigned today, “with a heavy heart,” from his role as Elmo on Sesame Street. Sesame Workshop accepted his resignation, adding that it is “a sad day for Sesame Street.”

The Associated Press is reporting that Kevin Clash, the puppeteer behind Elmo, has resigned, and a second man has filed a lawsuit accusing Clash of sexual improprieties. According to AP, the new lawsuit alleges that Cecil Singleton “was persuaded by Clash to meet for sexual encounters” when he was 15. The complaint seeks damages of more than $5 million. Sesame Workshop released a statement today saying that “unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street. 

Public Radio Capital and a New York–based philanthropic investment nonprofit have established a $100,000 Revolving Public Media Fund to help subsidize PRC’s work with five public broadcasting stations to spark growth and innovation. PRC has worked with FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds on several deals since 2006, said Ken Ikeda, PRC’s managing director. Stations may apply to receive $30,000 in consulting and strategic planning services. The Revolving Public Media Fund will supply $20,000; selected stations will pay $10,000. The Nov. 12 announcement said stations must be “committed to transformative change to improve and grow their services,” such as exploring a signal acquisition, a new format or a merger with another pubcaster.

John Retsek, a production designer who wore many hats during a 43-year career at KCET in Los Angeles and created one of the longest-running radio programs in Los Angeles, KPFK’s The Car Show, died in his sleep Oct. 31 at home in San Pedro, Calif. He was 75. He had retired in April from KCET. The Car Show debuted on KPFK in 1973. Ruth Seymour, who later built KCRW into a public radio powerhouse, was running KPFK at the time and put him on the air. “John Retsek was a bona fide authority, and, like his partner, Len Frank, who went before him, almost vexingly correct on every subject that I ever engaged him on,” said LA Car editor-at-large Doug Stokes in a statement.

Now that the 2012 general election is over, the 170 Million Americans campaign is preparing to rally support for public broadcasting by going into an amped-up “on steroids” phase, an adviser to NPR said during the Public Radio Regional Organizations Super-Regional conference in New Orleans Nov. 14. Gov. Mitt Romney’s pledge to eliminate funding for public broadcasting, which he repeated during the first presidential debate, “created an opportunity for us to remind our fans that we need them,” said Liz Schrayer of Schrayer & Associates Inc., a Washington, D.C.–based firm that advises nonprofits on advocacy efforts. The campaign should seek to mobilize at least 1 percent of public broadcasting’s 170 million viewers and listeners, she said.

John Battison, former director of engineering at WOSU-TV in Columbus, Ohio, and founder of the Society of Broadcast Engineers, died Aug. 28 at his home near Loudonville, Ohio. He was 96. Battison had a long and interesting career in broadcasting, working for CBS, ABC and Saudi Television in Saudi Arabia. In 1955, he built his own television station, KAVE, in New Mexico. He was chief engineer at WOSU at Ohio State University from 1979–85. Battison planted the seeds for the SBC by writing an editorial for the December 1961 issue of Broadcast Engineering magazine in which he called for an organization dedicated solely to the professional needs of his colleagues.

Gloria Penner, a senior political correspondent who spent 43 years with San Diego’s KPBS-TV/FM, died Oct. 6 after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She was 81. “KPBS would not be the same today if it wasn’t for the contributions of Gloria Penner,” said Tom Karlo, KPBS g.m., in a statement. When Penner joined KPBS (then KEBS) in Dec. 1969, she had already worked in broadcast journalism in San Francisco, Hawaii and Washington, D.C. She held many posts at the station: writer, producer, host, political correspondent, public affairs director and blogger. She headed up KPBS-TV’s production unit and hosted KPBS Radio’s These Days (now KPBS Midday Edition) from 1995 until 1999.

The company behind NPR’s Science Friday show is suing a Colorado preacher and radio host for trademark infringement and cybersquatting with his radio show that debunks evolution, Real Science Friday. The lawsuit was filed in the Supreme Court of New York  by Manhattan-based Sciencefriday Inc., the company behind the weekly program heard on more than 300 NPR stations. The complaint names Real Science Friday co-hosts Robert A. Enyart and Fred Williams, as well as the company Bob Enyart Inc. News of the lawsuit was first reported in the New York Post. Real Science Friday promotes creationism and focuses on science that shows “evidence for the creator God including from biology, geology, astronomy, and physics.”

NEW ORLEANS — CPB is considering a proposal to allocate $3 million annually over six years to support collaboration among public radio stations, with the amount to be drawn from Community Service Grant incentive funds. The money would support upwards of 20 collaborations among 80 or so stations, each of which would receive an additional $70,000 to $90,000 annually. That financial boost would help stations develop content, streamline operations, plan technology and infrastructure, and undertake other collaborative activities. The program would start in fiscal year 2015 at the earliest. By encouraging collaboration, CPB hopes to “unleash the potential of the network effect,” said Bruce Theriault, senior v.p.

PTFP’s last annual grant round came toward the end of fiscal year 2010, and the agency later began soliciting applications for FY 2011, but the lingering recession and budget stalemate took down the grant program early in 2011. In fall 2011 the Commerce Department agency National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced $20.45 million in PTFP grants for 126 projects. Nearly half the money, $9.9 million, went to replace old equipment at existing stations; $5.1 million went to extend or start 30 radio services and 1 TV service; $4.1 million helped TV stations with conversion to digital operation, a major expense during PTFP’s last years.