Nine employees are laid off and two vacancies are gone, effective immediately, at WQED in Pittsburgh, according to a station statement. “This is a drastic action and a very painful day in the history of this station, in Pittsburgh and in this region that we serve when we have to respond to financial pressures by cutting staff,” said George L. Miles Jr., President and CEO of WQED Multimedia. The station has been waging a public-relations campaign for months to raise awareness of a possible $1.1 million budget cut if Gov. Ed Rendell’s proposed budget passes. “We now have to confront the reality that these state monies may never be reinstated,” Miles said.

KQED employees are on furlough all week, “due to a downturn in the economy,” according to the station’s July member newsletter (PDF). TV, radio and Internet services won’t be interrupted, the statement said. The office reopens July 13.

Damian Mandola, cookbook author, restaurateur and host of the former PBS show Cucina Amore, is embroiled in a neighborhood dispute in Driftwood, Texas, that may have escalated into the death of four dogs, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Mandola said three Swiss Mountain Dogs belonging to his neighbor, Jeff Maddox, had entered Mandola’s yard recently and killed his poodle. Then June 30 Maddox’s dogs went missing; their bodies were found near Mandola’s property. The cause of death is impossible to determine due to damage from buzzards. Damian’s wife Trina Mandola said the family denies any involvement.

Part of WSRE-TV’s overhaul of local programming in Pensacola, Fla., includes cutting Robin Reshard, host of its Connecting the Community show. She’d been in the spot about two years. Station spokesperson Robin McArthur said reruns of the weekly show will air while the local programming schedule undergoes a “revamping” due to budget cuts. McArthur told Current in an e-mail: “Even in the midst of challenging times due to shrinking budgets and contributions, WSRE is optimistic there are ample opportunities for us to continue and even better the way we serve our local communities.”

The staff at WNED in Buffalo, N.Y., was stunned when the station received a $1.4 million bequest from Charles N. Hubbell. The classical music enthusiast had contributed for more than 25 years and left the station the money from his trust. It’s the largest legacy gift ever for the station. “We don’t know much about this quiet patron, but we are extremely grateful for his enormous generosity,” Donald K. Boswell, president and CEO, told The Buffalo News. Boswell announced Monday that WNED will honor its “quiet patron” by naming the Classical 94.5 FM broadcast booth the Charles N. Hubbell Studio.

Patricia Deal Cahill is President Obama’s nominee for a seat on the CPB Board. A White House press release details Cahill’s career in public radio, which began in 1969. She’s g.m. of KCUR-FM at University of Missouri-Kansas City and teaches broadcast management there. She was also g.m. of KMUW-FM at Wichita State University, served on the NPR Board and was president of Public Radio in Mid America. Cahill told Kansas City Star media writer Aaron Barnhart that it appears she will be the first active pubradio station manager named to the board.

Dean Wright has asked his outside advisors to cut costs by consolidating management of its two commercial and three public stations—creating a closeness that raises red flags for some pubcasters.

If all of the stations in the Benchmarks survey matched the performance of the top stations, public radio would gain $47.4 million in net membership revenue.

Seattle news/talk station KUOW is reevaluating its plans for an FM signal it’s been leasing in Tacoma, Wash., after a feasibility study revealed that prospective donors weren’t inclined to back a capital campaign to buy the station.

While shooting more than 100 interviews for their Wisconsin Vietnam War Stories series, Wisconsin Public Television producers kept hearing the same comment from many of the veterans: They weren’t welcomed home after their grueling tours of duty 40 years ago in Southeast Asia. So on Saturday, May 22, 2010, they’ll finally get that “welcome home.” WPT has reserved Lambeau Field – home of the beloved Green Bay Packers, sacred ground for many Wisconsinites – for what may be the largest single outreach event in pubcasting history. Lambeau seats about 73,000, and organizers are pondering contingency plans handling overflow. It’s part of the state network’s wide-ranging Vietnam project.

The series title means something, says arts documentarian Peter Rosen. If your film runs under the American Masters umbrella, it’s about an artist worth honoring.His film, “Garrison Keillor: The Man on the Radio in the Red Shoes,” aired in the series last week [July 1, 2009]. But Rosen would have given Garrison Keillor an admiring portrait anyway. “I’ve always thought we have a Mark Twain among us,” he says. With good access to Keillor, Rosen delivers a more detailed picture of Prairie Home Companion’s workings and the star’s personality than did the late Robert Altman’s earlier movie, which contrived to shoehorn a very successful real-life radio show into a plot about an unsuccessful one.

How did Colin Campbell, an art school grad who designs landscapes for a Baltimore video game firm, end up hosting Oregon Public Broadcasting’s archeology show Time Team America? As he tells The Baltimore Sun: “I worked as a resident assistant, and before that as a desk monitor for a freshman dorm. And the guy who employed me in both of those roles eventually left MICA and went on to work in Portland, Ore. And the show’s producers … happened to call him asking if he knew anyone who would be good for this show, and he gave them my name.

The descendants of a U.S. general from the War of 1812 are requesting his exhumation, in part to inspire production of a PBS documentary about him, according to The Calgary Herald. Zebulon Pike was killed when retreating British and Canadian troops intentionally blew up a munitions depot during the April 1813 capture of present-day Toronto. His remains were moved to a military cemetery in Sackets Harbor, N.Y., but subsequently reburied. The Pike family would like to prove their ancestor’s resting place as well as bolster a worldwide genealogy project tracing his DNA to modern-day Pikes. “We believe there will be significant cultural, historical and economic upsides to the village, including national exposure and increased tourism from the film,” said Pike Family Association veep Stu Pike in letter to citizens of Sackets Harbor requesting permission for the exhumation.

Here’s a nice exclusive for PBS: President Barack Obama will present a message to the nation on the network’s A Capitol Fourth celebration. The statement will include congratulations to Sesame Street as it celebrates 40 years. The longtime fave Fourth of July show, this year featuring big names including Barry Manilow and Aretha Franklin, airs live from the Capitol from 8 to 9:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday; check local listings.

Starting Aug. 3, University of Florida’s WUFT-FM is discontinuing classical music to run NPR news and talk. The station also will expand local news reported by students, according to The Gainesville Sun. Its longtime nickname, Classic 89, is being dropped. The changes also will take place at sister station WJUF-FM/Nature Coast 90 in Citrus County. The station’s ratings drop as much as 70 percent at 9 a.m., when NPR’s Morning Edition ends and classical music begins.