Eleven public radio stations will receive their first Community Service Grants from CPB in fiscal year 2007, thanks to newly expanded eligibility criteria. The stations will collectively get more than $1 million.

Did the NewsHour soft-pedal its reporting on BP, the giant oil company and program sponsor that drew wide criticism last week after shutting down its Prudhoe Bay production facility? Some viewers think so, and others who wrote to PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler don’t like the ads on PBS Kids Sprout.

The St. Petersburg Times ponders the future of NPR’s News & Notes with Ed Gordon, which has lost 17 percent of the audience it inherited from The Tavis Smiley Show, which N&N was designed to replace, the paper reports. “Sometimes, I feel this show is being allowed to die on the vine,” Gordon said. “People say I haven’t connected with audiences. … That’s probably true because the show hasn’t connected with me.” Said one critic: “The problem with NPR is that everything is done by committee. And now that Ed is disengaged, it’s the bland leading the bland.” NPR and the African American Public Radio Consortium defended the network’s efforts to develop black-focused programs.

Another host who worked at WPFW-FM in Washington, D.C., has passed away — Raymond Whitfield, who died Aug. 2 at the age of 77, reports the Washington Post. Whitfield overcame drug addiction and went on to host two nationally distributed radio series about the criminal justice system.

The Dolan sisters’ Satellite Sisters, which began as a national pubradio show produced by WNYC, has been nominated as a finalist for Network Syndicated Personality of the Year in the NAB Marconi Radio Awards. Marconi winners will be announced Sept. 21. Satellite Sisters airs six days a week, three hours a day. During the show’s two-season pubradio run, its carriage peaked at 70 stations and then declined. The show won two American Women in Radio & Television Awards this spring.

Dorothy Ray Healey, a longtime Communist activist and Pacifica Radio host, died Aug. 6 at the age of 91, reports the Washington Post.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer profiles NPR’s Luke Burbank, a 30-year-old National Desk reporter and fill-in host for Wait, Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me! When Burbank was interviewed for an NPR gig, writes Susan Paynter, “he watched himself take off his suit jacket, roll up his sleeve, and show the man the queen and ace of hearts tattoos on his arm, thinking all the while, ‘Why am I doing this?'”

A decision to add radio shock jock Eric “Mancow” Muller as Chicago Tonight commentator riled up WTTW viewers, but Carol Marin told the Chicago Tribune she won’t walk over the hiring. Comments posted on the Tribune‘s media blog suggest that many viewers were sufficiently disgusted to threaten to stop watching the show or contributing to the station. “Mancow is just a colicky pre-adolescent who seems to have an effect on other stunted adults who’ve never grown up,” commented one viewer. “I teach seventh graders all day and the last thing I want to do is sit down and watch another one on WTTW.”

Donovan Reynolds was named president of the Public Radio Partnership in Louisville, Ky., effective Sept. 6. Reynolds resigned as director of Michigan Public Media in Ann Arbor earlier this year after an embezzling scheme was uncovered at the station. He was not implicated in the affair but cited a need to “take responsibility” by stepping down.

The Station Resource Group held its annual planning retreat this week. SRG’s website features a few documents related to the event, including an overview of what was to be discussed.

Chicago’s Time Out previews the new FM service in development at Chicago Public Radio, which will aim to appeal to a younger, more diverse audience. (Hence the accompanying photo of three of the station’s creators looking more like indie rockers than radio dudes?) The service now has a website.

Public Radio Capital and two partner institutions announced today the creation of the Public Radio Fund, a first-ever investment fund to support station acquisition. The Calvert Foundation has contributed $3 million and the Ford Foundation $1.5 million to start the fund, which PRC hopes will expand to $15 million within a year. Audio of today’s press conference (Windows Media) is expected to be available by 6 p.m. Eastern time.

Producers and marketing execs at Sesame Workshop hope that Abby Cadabby, the “girly-girl” Sesame Street character to be introduced to tot viewers next Monday, will bring a feminine balance to the male-dominated Muppet cast and possibly become the “female equivalent of Elmo, a huge money-maker for the nonprofit organization behind the show,” reports the New York Times.

The Ford Foundation, the Calvert Foundation and Public Radio Capital will announce Wednesday a multi-station public radio investment fund for individuals and institutions. The groups will discuss the fund in a news conference, with audio online by Wednesday evening. We’ll provide details after the announcement.

Parents and PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler react to the decision by PBS Kids Sprout to fire Melanie Martinez as host of The Good Night Show. Seven years ago, Martinez appeared in spoofy PSAs as a “technical virgin.” After the videos reappeared on the Internet, PBS Kids Sprout management decided that the performance was inappropriate for a children’s TV show host, fired Martinez and pulled the interstitials in which she appeared. The New York Times reported on the backlash from viewers.