Weekend snow and ice storms contributed to the cause of a fire that knocked out several channels from KNPB in northern Nevada. Viewers still can’t access 5.1 HD, the standard digital channel, Create on 5.2 or V-me on 5.3. The blaze, which destroyed a filter system in the transmitter, was discovered at 9 p.m. local time Sunday, during the premiere of Stewards of the Rangeland, a new KNPB production focusing on livestock management strategies. “KNPB engineering staff are working with the transmitter manufacturer to replace damaged parts, returning the signal as soon as possible,” a Monday (Feb. 28) release from the station said.

Gary Hustwit, director of “Helvetica” and “Objectified” on Independent Lens, is crowdfunding his latest project, “Urbanized.” He’s launched the funding drive on Kickstarter with a goal of $85,000 by March 23; as of Feb. 28, he has about $42,000. Hustwit and a his team are now editing, with post-production this summer on the documentary examining urban design. Donors can fork over from $10 to $5,000 for nifty perks: At the $2,000 level, it’s two VIP tickets to the world premiere, dinner that evening with Hustwit and members of the cast and crew, a “special thanks” in the film’s credits, 10 DVDs, two DVD box sets, two T-shirts and a set of the limited-edition prints.

The threat of a government shutdown apparently has been avoided until at least March 18, reports the Washington Post. Senate Democrats on Friday (Feb. 25) tentatively accepted a Republican plan to cut $4 billion in federal spending that President Obama has already targeted for elimination. CPB funding was zeroed out in the Continuing Resolution the House passed along to the Senate earlier this month (Current, Feb. 22).

Alaska public broadcasting stations could merge as soon as next month, according to today’s (Feb. 28) Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. The stations, including KUAC in Fairbanks, KTOO in Juneau, KYUK in Bethel and Alaska Public Telecommunications in Anchorage, have been in talks for two years. Those discussions were sparked by mounting financial problems that prompted layoffs and reductions in local programming starting in 2009. A committee has been hearing input from residents in communities that would be affected. General managers are not involved in discussions, “since their jobs or those of their employees could be affected,” the paper says. CPB supplied an $88,000 consulting grant.

Susanna Capelouto, Georgia Public Broadcasting’s news director, has left to join CNN. She’s been with GPB a total of 19 years, the first two part-time. She’ll be a producer for CNN Radio working with another GPB alum, John Supulvedo, producing long-form audio stories. Capelouto said last week she now plans to become “a loyal GPB volunteer,” network spokesperson Nancy Zintak told Current. Also last week, she was honored at the Georgia State Capitol by lawmakers with a House Resolution for her years of service to GPB; guests nibbled on a cake featuring her likeness on the icing. She reports to CNN on March 7.

The White House “reverberated like a long-ago basement sound studio in Detroit” on Thursday (Feb. 24), reports the Associated Press. The occasion: a PBS In Performance at the White House, “The Motown Sound.” Performers included Smokey Robinson, John Legend, Seal and Stevie Wonder — first lady Michelle Obama confessed he’s her favorite, “yes indeed.” And Motown founder Berry Gordy was in the audience. See a clip here.

The Public Broadcasting Management Association is departing its 30-year home at the National Educational Telecommunications Association. It’s time, said PBMA Vice Chairman Tom Livingston, president of Livingston Associates in Baltimore. “We’re grown now.” Coulter Nonprofit Management in McLean, Va., will work with PBMA. Livingston told Current that the group’s aspiration “is to become more significant in the leadership development area.” The system is facing “unbelievable challenges,” he said. If pubcasting is to have a viable future, “it’s going to take some great leadership. Basically there’s been no coordinated leadership development work in public media for 15 or 16 years. And I believe we can see the results of that in the state of our leadership today.”

Results of the third annual Public Radio Technology Survey measured dramatic growth in smartphone adoption among public radio listeners and their clear preference for Apple’s iPhone among mobile hand-held devices. More than a third of respondents now own a smartphone, a 29 percent gain since last year’s survey; within this subgroup of survey participants, 63 percent use the iPhone. The survey of 21,000 public radio listeners, conducted through a partnership of Jacobs Media and Public Radio Program Directors, also shows impressive gains in the number of respondents who listen to public radio via Internet streams. An infographic from Jacobs media sums up the 2010 survey findings; PRPD details top-line results here.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and ranking member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) have named the members of their subcommittees, including the Communications and Internet Subcommittee that has the most direct oversight of communications issues and the FCC, reports Broadcasting & Cable today (Feb. 25). John Kerry (D-Mass.) returns as subcommitte chair; GOP ranking member is John Ensign (Nev.). “The Republican membership includes two of the 10 most conservative Senators according to National Journal’s just-released ratings,” B&C points out — such as Jim DeMint (S.C.), author of several bills to defund public broadcasting.

“The conventional tag that I often see applied to PBS is ‘liberal,'” writes PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler in his column today (Feb. 25). “I get a fair amount of mail from critics who say they are viewers and who say they see public broadcasting that way.” But wait: “I also get probably an equal amount from viewers, or from people who claim to be viewers, that think PBS has moved to the right, that the service has increasingly sold out to the right-wing and corporate interests. I’m not trying to invoke, here, the idea that when one is criticized by both sides it must mean it is doing something right and in the broader public’s interest.”

WNYC Radio in New York City has joined American Public Media’s Public Insight Network, which will provide its newsroom with a direct link to persons in their community to act as sources for reporting, reports Fishbowl NY. WNYC will focus on the subject of education, reaching out to both English- and Spanish-speaking mebers of the community. More than 40 newsrooms nationwide are now members of the network (Current, Jan. 24, 2011).

PBS is going live on Gowalla in March. Not sure what that means? “Gowalla helps you keep up with friends, share your favorite places and discover the extraordinary around you,” it says. So where is PBS? Thirteen hours ago, at the White House South Lawn.

If you’re curious about web analytics but weren’t able to participate in the Feb. 9 webinar on the topic from the National Center for Media Engagement, it’s now archived at its site.

The fourth and fifth in a series of white papers aimed at implementing recommendations of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy are being released today (Feb. 25) at an Aspen Institute roundtable from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern (webcast here). The papers: “Government Transparency: Six Strategies for More Open and Participatory Government” by Jon Gant and Nicol Turner-Lee, and “Creating Local Online Hubs: Three Models for Action” by Adam Thierer. Roundtable participants include John Bracken, Knight’s director of digital media; Lucy Dalglish, e.p. of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; and Lee Rainie, director of Pew’s Internet and American Life Project.

Rep. David Dreier (R-Calif.), new chairman of the Rules Committee in the House of Representatives, is a big fan of public broadcasting, particularly NPR’s foreign coverage and This American Life, the Public Radio International series produced by WBEZ in Chicago. Yes, you read that correctly. “It might not be healthy these days for conservatives to admit they like public broadcasting, given the relentless flogging it takes from some ideologues,” writes the Los Angeles Times’ Jim Rainey. “So give credit to Dreier for acknowledging the truth — that NPR, PBS and their local affiliates are gems that deserve our support, one way or another.”