COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT VS. PERSONAL SAFETY • LOCAL COVERAGE OF CREATING A NEW NPR STATION IN SOUTH TEXAS

Amy O

A recent incident in Lubbock involving a popular radio DJ and a stalker underscores the importance of keep station personnel safe at public events. 

In early February, Amy Olivares, known as Amy O on the air at Pop Hits station 104.9 The Beat, realized she was being stalked.

According to KCBD-TV in Lubbock [link], Amy found photos taken of her inside her home without her knowledge on social media. 

Then on February 12^th she woke up and heard her patio door close. The stalker was inside her home. Amy O screamed and man ran away and she called the Lubbock police.

Amy’s story is strikingly similar to what happened to Mary Lucia, a DJ at The Current in the Twin Cities.  We covered Lucia’s story in November 2015 [link].

Amy O being interviewed on KCBD-TV

She told KCBD that encounters with the stalker started off when a young male fan she considered harmless began showing at station remote broadcasts. Then the man began bringing her coffee, then flowers, then food.

She said that her admirer kept giving her "Things that I never asked for, but I was being polite and saying thanks.”

Things began to escalate. “I got text messages from him [with] pictures of me sleeping inside my home. Next came a text message saying ‘now do I have your attention’ and ‘I’m going to bring in the bigger guns.’"

Her mail was stolen and finally the late night break-in happened. She called police when she realized “A listener has turned into a monster [and] has terrorized me. It has been happening for months.”

A couple of days later Lubbock Police arrested a local man Chad Edward Joyce. Joyce was released on a $3,000 bond and Amy O secured a protective order against him. Stalking in Texas is a third degree felony.

On-air folks at commercial and public radio stations are urged to personally engage with listeners. But was the Lubbock station in any way responsible for Amy O's incident? 

This is how Amy O is described on the 104.9 The Beat website [link]:

When she’s not on-air you can find Amy O hanging out at any of Lubbock’s hottest spots. You will find her at all Texas Tech sports events. And she definitely lives her life to the fullest!

GRASSROOTS EFFORT UNDERWAY TO CREATE NEW NPR STATION IN RGV

RIO GRANDE GUARDIAN

February 26, 2019 [link to full story]

By Luis Montoya

Volunteers seeking new RGV NPR station

MCALLEN, TEXAS  – Former members of KMBH’s Upper Valley Community Advisory Board have reconstituted themselves in order to save NPR in the region.

The board was disbanded by the Diocese of Brownsville when Bishop Daniel Flores sold PBS four years ago. 

At a meeting at the Corner Bakery on 10th Street in McAllen on Monday evening, members of the board signaled their intention to set up a non-profit organization to raise sufficient funds to create a new and improved National Public Radio station. 

The initial cost of getting a new NPR station up and running could cost upwards of $200,000, Upper Valley Community Advisory Board members believe. They said they would use the road map drawn for them by veteran public radio broadcaster Ken Mills.

Map of the lower Rio Grande Valley

Mills, who is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota but has family in the Valley, said he expects the Federal Communications Commission to approve the sale of KHID 88.1 and KJJF 88.9 to Immaculate Heart Media.

“This is a done deal. Complaining about the Diocese is a waste of time and effort. People who want NPR on local radio in the Valley need to build something new,” Mills told the Rio Grande Guardian.

“I am passionate about public radio because I believe it is a positive force in our society and democracy. In my work as a consultant and executive in public radio I have seen the ways public radio stations has helped bring people together.”

Mills said his company, Spark News, is prepared to provide pro bono advice to any person or organization that seriously seeks to build a new NPR station. 

“What is needed now is a community campaign to Save NPR in the Valley. The purpose of the campaign is to create awareness of the situation and form a nonprofit entity that will raise money to Save NPR in the Valley and plan for new station,” Mills said.

“Community leaders who want to Save NPR in the Valley should step forward now.”