Uneasy staff members have returned to their work at Wichita’s KPTS after demanding the firing of the station’s top two executives and prompting the resignation of Vice President Jim Lewis. But late last week they were still seeking the ouster of President Zoel Parenteau, and the Board of Trustees’ executive committee has declined to let them take their case to the full board. Board leaders said Parenteau already planned to retire when he turns 65 next July 26. Seventeen of the 24 full-time KPTS staff members petitioned the trustees July 12 to investigate the management of Parenteau and Lewis. “Zoel Parenteau and Jim Lewis have conspired … to discriminate, harass and generally conduct the management activities in such a manner as to make the working conditions of the staff of KPTS so difficult and unpleasant that a reasonable person in their position would consider resigning,” the petition alleged.

Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Deletion of Noncommercial Reservation of Channel *16, 482-488 MHz, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Adopted: July 24, 1996 Released: August 1, 1996By the Commission: Commissioner Ness issuing a statement; Commissioner Chong concurring and issuing a statement in which Commissioner Quello joins. 1. The Commission has before it for consideration a “Petition to Delete Noncommercial Reservation” filed on June 24, 1996 by WQED Pittsburgh (WQED or the Company), licensee of noncommercial educational television stations WQED(TV), Channel *13 and WQEX(TV), Channel *16, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. WQED requests that its Channel *16 allotment be dereserved in order to permit commercial broadcasting on Channel 16 in Pittsburgh, and that it be permitted to assign WQEX(TV) to a commercial licensee and use the net proceeds to further WQED(TV)’s noncommercial broadcast operation.

A local tale from Fayette, Maine, that came to public TV seven years ago in an American Experience documentary will return next year as an opera on Great Performances. The musical retelling will be taped later this week during the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s new opera, Emmeline, at the Santa Fe Opera. [The premiere received more than its share of rave reviews, using words like “sensational” and “a triumph.” Great Performances’ version aired April 2, 1997 on many stations.] “I’m very happy that it’s coming full circle,” says Picker. “It shows that public television is so important, because it’s capable of generating art.”

Bill Moyers’ keynote at the PBS Annual Meeting, June 23, 1996, grabbed many of the pubcasters where they live, and invited others to come home. Producer Stephen Ives, a second-generation professional in public TV, said later that Moyers’ Sunday-morning talk reminded him “why I was so proud of what my father did for a living.” I must tell you that being here feels very good. Two years ago you invited me to be with you in Florida to celebrate my 60th birthday but I wound up having heart surgery instead and couldn’t come to blow out the candles. But it was a moment I’ll never forget when all of you sang “Happy Birthday” to me over an open telephone line.

Fordham University’s WFUV has withstood for the third time a neighbor’s challenge to its plan to complete a 480-foot transmitting tower on its Bronx campus. The state Supreme Court in Manhattan upheld June 12 [1996] previous rulings of New York City’s Buildings Department and its Board of Standards and Appeals, which accepted the tower as a valid accessory use of the university. But many obstacles remain. The neighboring New York Botanical Garden, which opposes the tower as a blight on its horizon, expects to appeal the court ruling and points out that the city zoning regulators still want Fordham to move the half-built tower 25 feet to make it legal, and that the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve the tower.

Three men have been arrested and charged with the murder of Michael Taylor, a former Pacifica reporter who was attempting to start a micro-power radio station in Los Angeles. Police confirmed that the execution-style slaying in April [earlier article] was related to Taylor’s recent-months’ effort to launch and get backing for L.A. Liberation Radio. Los Angeles homicide detective Alex Moreno said he believes the young men shot Taylor because they wanted the transmitter kit Taylor and his colleagues had purchased for the unlicensed, underground station. According to news reports, the three men, Andrew Lancaster, 23, Shawn Alexander, 19, and Jornay Rodriguez, 20, were scheduled to enter pleas at a May 23 arraignment.

Three men have been arrested and charged with the murder of Michael Taylor, a former Pacifica reporter who was attempting to start a micro-power radio station in Los Angeles. Police confirmed that the execution-style slaying in April was related to Taylor’s recent-months’ effort to launch and get backing for L.A. Liberation Radio. Los Angeles homicide detective Alex Moreno said he believes the young men shot Taylor because they wanted the transmitter kit Taylor and his colleagues had purchased for the unlicensed, underground station. According to news reports, the three men, Andrew Lancaster, 23, Shawn Alexander, 19, and Jornay Rodriguez, 20, were scheduled to enter pleas at a May 23 arraignment.

Michael Taylor, a reporter for Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles, has been murdered. Friends believe the execution-style shooting may have been related to Taylor’s involvement in developing a micro-power radio station. Taylor’s body was found April 23 in a vacant lot near railroad tracks in south Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles Times. His hands were bound and he had been shot several times, reports say. A former homeless man who, according to a friend, had struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, Taylor turned his life around after he entered KPFK’s 15-month apprentice program. As a reporter he had an interest in stories about police brutality, gangs and homelessness, associates say.

For the second year in a row, spring pledge revenues are up for public broadcasting stations around the country.The gains are a welcome relief to fundraisers throughout the system, who face the challenge of improving revenues from all other sources as federal funding declines. Development professionals from both television and radio say their recent successes are largely due to good programming and the increasing sophistication with which stations conduct on-air campaigns.Propelled in part by a sleeper special “Les Miserables in Concert,” public TV’s drive set a dramatic new record of more than $50 million raised nationally. 1992 1994 1996 Dollars pledged $39.5 million $38.3 million $50.2 million Number of pledges 598,150 525,082 603,724 Average pledge $66.14 $73.03 $83.14 Break minutes 291,374 331.357 340,795 Dollars per minute $135.78 $115.73 $147.28 Stations reporting 133 135 155 Source: PBS   Tallies aren’t available for public radio, but stations generally report results that kept pace with or bested the inflation rate.

Michael Taylor, a reporter for Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles, has been murdered. Friends believe the execution-style shooting may have been related to Taylor's involvement in developing a micro-power radio station.

The new owner of Rabbit Ears Productions, Millenium Media, says the company will continue producing radio and video childrens’ stories, despite having fired virtually the entire Rabbit Ears staff (pictured) at the end of April. Millenium will move Rabbit Ears operations from Connecticut to its home base in Philadelphia and rely on freelancers for future productions, says Chief Operating Officer Robert Weissman. The CD-ROM publishing company bought Rabbit Ears Productions–perhaps best known for its two-year-old Rabbit Ears Radio–from founder Mark Sottnick about six months ago. Sottnick says the firings took him by surprise and he is quite unhappy. The event shocked those close to Rabbit Ears’ small, family-like operation, and left observers wondering what will become of the enterprise without the staff that was responsible for its critical success.

You may have recently reacquainted yourself with this classic public TV mini-series. The American Program Service and 20 stations have brought it back for a third set of broadcasts this year, after a few runs on Bravo. Here, David Stewart reminds us of the quality, scope and impact of the production when it premiered in this country 14 years ago. On Monday evening, Jan. 18, 1982, the 11-part, 13-hour television series Brideshead Revisited broke over the PBS audience with the suddenness of a storm. Even those who had been enjoying WGBH’s Masterpiece Theatre for more than a decade were unprepared for this astonishing tour de force, presented by the Boston station’s rival, WNET in New York.

Talking about the current status of drama on public radio, NPR’s cultural programmer Andy Trudeau thinks back 10, 15 years ago, to a panel session on audience building. Someone had asked the speakers, “When is the best time to air drama?,” and a panelist shot back, “1939.” Despite this pervasive belief among station programmers — that radio drama doesn’t draw or hold modern audiences — Trudeau is spearheading an effort to revive the genre. At the very least, his is an attempt — perhaps a last-ditch one — to bolster the only regularly distributed national outlet for radio drama, NPR Playhouse.

Ralph P. Forbes, and The People, Appellant, v. The Arkansas Educational Television Commission, and its Board of Directors in their Official Capacities; The Arkansas Educational Telecommunications Network Foundation, and its Members and Officers Susan J. Howarth, in her Official Capacity as Executive Director; Victor Fleming, in his Official Capacity as Chairman; G. E. Campbell, in his Official Capacity as Vice-Chairman; Dr. Caroline Whitson, in her Official Capacity as Secretary; Diane Blair, in her Official Capacity as Commissioner; S. McAdams, in his Official Capacity as Commissioner; James Ross, in his Official Capacity as Commissioner; Jerry McIntosh, in his Official Capacity as Commissioner; Lillian Springer, in her Official Capacity as Commissioner; Amy L.