WFHB FireHouse Broadcasting

Municipal Elections Poll Locations for November 8, 2011

Bloomington 1 : Read Center/Landes Formal Lounge, 125 S Jordan Avenue

Bloomington 2 : TriNorth Middle School Auditorium, 1000 W 15th Street

Bloomington 3: Assembly Hall North Lobby, 1001 E 17th Street

Bloomington 4: Woodlawn Fire Station, 806 N Woodlawn Avenue

Bloomington 5: Read Center/Landes Formal Lounge, 125 S Jordan Avenue

Bloomington 6: Fairview United Methodist Church, 600 W 6th Street

Bloomington 7: Assembly Hall North Lobby, 1001 E 17th Street

The Bloomington Police Department is currently investigating an officer-involved shooting resulting from an armed hostage situation. The suspect, Richard W. North, 50, of Bloomington, died as a result of injuries from a police sniper.

The price of gasoline has surged past four dollars per gallon in the WFHB listening area, and the host of our consumer watchdog segment "Bloomington Beware!" has responded with a special series of five-minute segments on keeping your gas budget under control.  Want to pay less for gas? Maybe a dollar a gallon less than the price on the pump? You can cut the price of gasoline by that much or more.  Host Richard Fish has combined a lot of suggestions offered by various authorities, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the American Automobile Association, the US Department of Energy, Mother Earth News, and some commercial outfits, like Edmunds and Advance Auto Parts. Some of them will probably surprise you. Tune in to hear all about six basic ideas that work together and reinforce each other.  The six installments of “Cutting the Cost of Gas” will air over six consecutive Wednesdays, at 7:54am and 5:54pm May 4 through June 8 on community radio WFHB.  All six episodes are available online for free download here.

On Wednesday February 23 and Thursday February 24, Bloomington’s community radio station WFHB will once again unite listeners with people all across the country to raise awareness of the defining social justice issue of our time.  WFHB is one of more than 100 U.S. radio stations carrying the National Homelessness Marathon, a 14-hour live broadcast featuring the voices and stories of homeless people from around the U.S.  WFHB will air the entire fourteen-hour program, currently in its fourteenth year, starting at 7pm on Wednesday and ending at 9am on Thursday, when the station returns to its regularly-scheduled programming.  This year’s marathon contains an unprecedented THREE reports produced by WFHB News correspondents.

WFHB will launch a live broadcast of “Golden Age Radio” from the Twin Lakes Recreation Center on Thursday, February 24 from 9a.m. – 11 a.m. during the Center’s monthly Senior Breakfast Bash and “Sweetheart Dance”.

Breakfast will be provided by Golden Age Living Center from 8:30 am – 9:30 am.  The event is free, but registration is required.  Call 349-3727 to reserve your place by February 22.

Bloomington Community Radio WFHB is proud to announce the launch of “Volunteer Connection”, a weekly five-minute feature linking our listeners to volunteer opportunities in the community.  Each week Volunteer Connection brings you the “featured five” – five ways to get involved NOW, a snapshot of how people of all ages can match their time and talents to local needs.

Click here to visit the program's website!

Bloomington Community Radio announces personnel changes in three of station’s five paid staff positions

Friday January 14th was the last day for departing general manager Will Murphy, who now moves to Fort Wayne to take the helm at Northeast Indiana Public Radio, the state’s second-largest broadcast market.  During his time at WFHB Will has led many important initiatives, including upgrading the station’s signal to a digital broadcast, expanding our partnerships in the community, and securing ongoing support for WFHB from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.  “I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish in just a couple of years, and feel the station is in good hands,” says Murphy.  “I'm grateful for my time at WFHB and it's really difficult to leave such great folks.”

The WFHB board of directors has appointed News Director Chad Carrothers to serve as Interim General Manager.  This position will ensure stability of day-to-day operations for a period lasting no longer than May 31st, 2011, to give the board time to conduct a proper search for a new permanent manager and link that process to its strategic planning initiatives.  “I think at a time like this it’s comforting to our listeners and volunteers to know there’s a steady hand on the wheel,” says Carrothers.  “After many years running day-to-day operations at the station I know what needs to get done to maintain our level of public service.”

Following Carrothers’ appointment, he and Murphy launched a search for the station’s next news director, and didn’t have to look very far.  Their decision to move WFHB’s half-time Assistant News Director January Jones up to the full-time News Director position was endorsed by the board on January 10th. 

Jones is ready to lead the 120 active contributors in the WFHB News Department:  “Our greatest asset is our volunteer power. I look forward to supporting their voices as we move into a new chapter of community media in Bloomington.”  January’s promotion opens up a spot for WFHB Senior Reporter Ryan Dawes, who has spent more than five years working as a volunteer on WFHB’s award-winning Daily Local News. 

 “The opportunity to join the staff of WFHB is such a delight,” says Dawes.  “I look forward to building on the accomplishments of our excellent news department.”

Board president Marc Tschida has now opened the search for the next long-term general manager, with the goal of having new leadership in place by the end of the pring.  “The board would like to thank the staff and the station volunteers for stepping up during this time of change.  We are confident that the station, under the direction of Chad Carrothers, will maintain its levels of quality and professionalism.  The board is actively working to determine the process to hire a permanent replacement for the general manager position.”

Earlier this month the staff of the daily news program Free Speech Radio News announced they will shut down production on December 20 unless they can find a way to dig themselves out of a financial crisis.  On December 17 FSRN staff announced that donations from individuals and from stations (including WFHB) have raised enough money to delay shutdown until January, but they need more support to continue to January 31.  For years WFHB has aired this unique program produced by a grassroots collective of journalists reporting national and international news as it affects real people and communities.  Every weekday at 5pm on WFHB, FSRN brings you headline news and in-depth features with a focus on social justice.

The majority of FSRN's income comes from the Pacifica network, and Pacifica has been facing financial difficulties for several years. For the past 15 months, Pacifica has frequently fallen behind on their monthly payments to FSRN, but has always caught up when its Corporation for Public Broadcasting funds arrived. When payments have been late, FSRN has taken out bridge loans to make do until the next payment.  Unfortunately, this time around Pacifica has not been able to catch up with its debt to FSRN.  Click here to learn more or to find out what you can do to help.

With a remote transmitter broadcasting live from inside the county clerk's office, WFHB is your source for local election results hot off the printer...literally!

Click here for the official election results released by the clerk's office

Click here for a one-hour highlight reel of our election night coverage

Click here for all four hours of our wall-to-wall live Election Night Special!