The Chicago station topped several program categories, and its staff took awards for individual achievements in television crafts. Architect Michael Graves: A Grand Tour won for outstanding cultural documentary. It was produced by Daniel Andries with associate producer Elizabeth Reeves and executive producers Dan Soles and V.J. McAleer. Andries and Geoffrey Baer, who wrote the program, received Emmys for outstanding crafts achievement off-air. WTTW’s Kindred, produced by Michael Sternoff, Beth Bennett, Scott Lamps, Marl McLennan, Marnie Sprenger, Maria Bain Ferraro, Jaclyn Foutz, Aj Gomberg and Susan Buchanan, was named outstanding topical documentary. A segment produced by Baer for Chicago Tonight, “En Route,” won for best magazine program feature/section.

A list of attendees at the Jan. 15 pre-bid meeting for KCSM-TV in San Mateo, Calif., reveals only one public broadcasting-related entity so far. Participating via telephone in the meeting were John Schwartz, Kevin Lindsay and Ken Devine of Independent Public Media, which attempted to purchase the station during its first sale attempt. A local entity aligned with IPM, San Mateo Community TV Corp., was one of two finalists the San Mateo County Community College District Board rejected in November 2012, citing lack of proof of financing. The board reopened the bidding process with a new RFP in mid-December that includes options for purchase, or sustaining the station and sharing in the proceeds when its broadcast spectrum is sold off in upcoming auctions.

KLRU in Austin won three statuettes, including one in the community service category for “Light/The Holocaust & Humanity Project 2012,” a contemporary ballet and education program promoting human rights through the arts, education and public dialogue. Cited were Sara Robertson and Karen Bernstein, producers; Betsy Gerdeman, executive producer; Maury Sullivan, community engagement; and Cookie Ruiz, project supervisor. KRLU also won with “KRLU Collective: Asian Occasion” (Eve Tarlo, producer/editor) for arts/entertainment program feature, and “Arts in Context: Trouble Puppet” (Lauren Burton, producer; Mario Troncoso, producer/editor/videographer) for arts/entertainment program. Houston’s KUHT won an Emmy for public and current affairs with “Houston Refugees: Stories of Courage,” produced and hosted by Patricia Gras.

Charles Scruggs, known to Memphis children as “Mr. Chuck”  on WKNO Public Television for more than a decade, died Jan. 18, reports the Commercial-Appeal. He was 80 years old. Beginning in the 1990s, Scruggs hosted Number 10 Friends Circle and Hello Mr. Chuck. “He wasn’t looking for anything or trying to sell any product,” Michael LaBonia, WKNO president, told the local CBS affiliate. “He had genuine interest in trying to help make kids better.” Scruggs also was the first black g.m. of WDIA, the first all-black programming radio station in the nation. And he co-founded the National Civil Rights Museum, securing a personal loan to help purchase the Lorraine Motel, where the Rev.

Newman’s Own Foundation, established by actor Paul Newman, has provided the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network with a $125,000 grant to provide workforce development training to returning veterans, who face some of the highest unemployment rates in the state. “Although many veterans face unprecedented challenges as they reintegrate back into civilian life, CPBN is committed to making a difference by providing training, certifications and employment placement opportunities.” Jerry Franklin, network president, in the Jan. 15 announcement. The program, launching in February, will provide education and training workshops toward certifications in web and graphic design and video editing. “For nearly 20 years, we have been supporting the organizations that help our nation’s troops and their families,” said Robert Forrester, president of Newman’s Own Foundation.

Staffers at Southern California Public Radio in Pasadena, Calif., have voted to join Hollywood’s largest union, SAG-AFTRA, according to the station. The union was formed last year with the merger of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. The Jan. 11 vote, tallied Jan. 18 by the National Labor Relations Board, was 35-26. Employees voting included reporters, producers, show hosts and news anchors, according to the Los Angeles Times. SCPR, operated by American Public Media, runs KPCC-FM in Los Angeles and Orange counties, KUOR-FM in the nearby Inland Empire just east of Los Angeles, and KVLA-FM in the Coachella Valley, which includes Palm Springs.

The St. Louis public TV station’s Nine Academy, a program that trains individuals and community organizations to produce short videos on stories of “community impact,” received special recognition among the awards presented during NETA’s recent conference in St. Louis. In honoring the academy as the top winner in its annual awards program, NETA cited the station for groundbreaking community work. NETA recognized 20 public TV stations in 30 categories spread across four divisions — community engagement, content production, instructional media and promotion. The two stations receiving the most awards, Kentucky Educational Television and New York’s WNET, dominated the instructional media division; each brought a total of four awards home from the competition.

Former Georgia state Sen. Chip Rogers, a controversial figure recently hired by Georgia Public Broadcasting at the recommendation of Gov. Nathan Deal, will make $150,000 annually, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The “lofty” salary, the paper notes, comes “despite a rather pedestrian title: Executive producer, community jobs program.” Rogers will earn more than the governor, lieutenant governor, GPB’s vice president for radio and its chief information officer, the paper adds. The state legislator has been linked to a $2.3 million loan default on a failed hotel venture and a group of ultra-conservative activists promoting theories that President Obama uses mind control techniques to influence public opinion (Current, Dec.

As the executive producer who acquired and managed co-productions of British dramas for Masterpiece and its predecessor titles for more than 26 years, Eaton has brought high-profile miniseries such as Prime Suspect, Bleak House and recent hits Sherlock and Downton Abbey to PBS.

KERA in Dallas has hired Glenn Fisher as its chief operating officer. Fisher will oversee daily administration of the organization, managing the finance, membership, underwriting, engineering and IT departments. Fisher spent 28 years at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, serving as v.p. of station operations, v.p. for development and communications, and v.p. of broadcast operations. PBS named him Development Professional of the Year in 2005. “Glenn’s extensive experience in public broadcasting and station management will be an excellent addition to KERA’s senior leadership team as the organization continues to grow and provide essential resources to the North Texas region,” said Mary Anne Alhadeff, KERA president and c.e.o.,

When public radio managers gathered for November’s Super-Regional Meeting in New Orleans, home to Bourbon Street and the drive-through daiquiri bar, NPR Chair and ideastream COO Kit Jensen mentioned in passing during a panel discussion that her station has its own official cocktail. The “ideaScreamer” is a mix of Grey Goose orange vodka, cranberry juice and a twist of lime, garnished with a lightstick stirrer, according to Peg Neeson, ideastream community relations director. “It’s really quite pretty in a martini glass,” she said. No one at ideastream can recall when the ideaScreamer was created, possibly due to overindulgence in the drink.

WETA in Arlington, Va., has received a two-year, $100,000 grant from Newman’s Own Foundation for its BrainLine, a national multimedia project offering resources about preventing, treating and living with traumatic brain injuries. The grant will be used to expand coverage of military-specific information, according to the station. The actor was a big supporter of public broadcasting. His charitable foundation, funded by his Newman’s Own line of grocery goods, donated $2.2 million to nine pubcasting stations — including WETA — in December 2010. Also, in 2007 and ’08, Newman was in the process of developing a public affairs show with a production budget of $5 million with Connecticut Public Television, his local station.