Ian Appears as a Guest on WKBK’s “Talkback”

I am grateful to have been on as a guest on WKBK’s “Talkback” with Cynthia Georgina and Mitch Greenwald this past weekend for about fifteen minutes, where I answered Cynthia’s questions, took a couple of phone calls, and had the chance to advocate for voluntarism and secession. She had me on since I am a candidate on the ballot this year for state rep in Keene. You can grab the archive here.

A couple of weeks prior I had called in to announce my candidacy for state rep in Keene and also comment on the hosts suggesting they would consider a ban on profanity in Keene. Here’s that archive.

Second Wiretapped Educrat Suspended from West High

Jason Talley reports from talley.tv:

On Thursday MaryEllen McGorry was suspended from her duties as the principal of Manchester High School West. Now the Union Leader is reporting that her secretary, Denise Michael, has also been suspended and is under investigation. That is all the information that school superintendent Tom Brennan is willing to release to the public at the moment, according to the UL:

MANCHESTER — The secretary of suspended Manchester High School West principal MaryEllen McGorry has been placed on administrative leave, Superintendent Tom Brennan said.

Denise Michael will be on paid leave until an investigation is completed, Brennan said.

He would not give reasons nor say whether the suspension has anything to do with McGorry’s suspension, which took place last week.

Brennan said Julie Moore of Employment Practices Group is handling the investigation into the McGorry matter. Her rate is $250 an hour. (more…)

101.9 K-rock Cuts Staff, Flips to Country a.k.a. How the FCC is Killing Local Radio

New England-based Great Eastern Radio has flipped Keene rocker 101.9 K-Rock (WKKN) to a simulcast of KIXX Country 100.5 (WXXK) out of Lebanon and also cut staff dramatically, to where Elise Valentine is the only member remaining. Valentine will still be heard during 3-7p afternoon drive on the “new” country 101.9 in afternoon drive.

With at least three country stations broadcasting from the area already, is another one really necessary? Apparently Great Eastern thinks so.

Great Eastern’s other transmitter in the market, their sports talk station, “WEEI” 93.5 (WEEY) is a simulcast of Boston sports talker WEEI. It has zero local content and doesn’t even have its own website.

This means Great Eastern Radio’s stations “in Keene” are now being run by a skeleton crew of Elise Valentine and maybe a contract engineer. It’s sad, but that’s what’s become of corporate radio – constant cuts and consolidation.

National radio operator Saga does deserve credit for doing a decent job with their station cluster in town, the Monadnock Radio Group. If Great Eastern thinks they’re going to make compelling local radio by cutting costs and staff to the bone, they will probably learn their mistake hard and fast and possibly end up failing and sell the stations.

Meanwhile, local current-rock listeners are screwed as far as on-air options are concerned. Of course, they could always start up their own radio station with all the open channels on the radio dial in this area. All they have to do is apply for and receive a license from the FCC…

Oh wait – no, they can’t. The FCC, according to local newsman Brad Ryder, has been sitting on a couple of station applications for nearly a decade! Ryder reports that he and the Monadnock Radio Group had applied for the same open frequency and the FCC has yet to decide to whom it should be granted.

You may be asking, “Why did they both apply for the same frequency?” (more…)

Wiretapped Manchester Principal Suspended Without Explanation

Maryellen McGorry, principal of Manchester West High School, was suspended some time last week. The story was broken earlier today by the Union Leader, which provided no explanation for the former prosecutor turned administrator’s sudden suspension. The UL quotes Manchester mayor Ted Gatsas, who publicly announced the penalty. McGorry has been the principal at West since 2007. Jason Talley is keeping tabs on the latest developments over at talley.tv. Free Concord readers may recognize Maryellen McGorry from her role as a witness for the prosecution in prosecutor Michael Valentine’s theatrical performance State v Adam Mueller.

Oct 1 2012: Another speculative article by the Union Leader.