In LPFM news this week, most of the action is happening behind the scenes, with groups working to amend applications and work on potential settlement agreements. As Paul mentioned last week, REC Networks is monitoring the progress of various MX groups in the West.
Only a few applications have been granted in the past few weeks, including Spring Valley High School in Huntington, West Virginia on July 15 and Chrysalis Institute in Mariposa, California on July 21. A number of applications were dismissed this week, largely due to ineligibility because entities were not registered non-profits.
High School Radio Station in the Works in West Virginia
Spring Valley High School initially had its application dismissed because it hadn’t registered its tower location. After filing a Petition for Reconsideration and amending its application, the construction permit was granted. According to the application, the station will operate as a student-run high school radio station functioning as a “…teaching laboratory, providing educational opportunities.” Additionally, “classes in broadcasting, the media and journalism will be added to the school curriculum.”
Arts-Oriented Station To Launch in Mariposa, CA
The Chrysalis Institute has been around since 2005 and aims to “educate the public about sustainability and the arts and to increase public access to sustainability methods and the arts.” Some of the group’s projects include the Carter Ranch Music Festival, the Mariposa Playhouse community theater group, and the Mariposa Community Garden project. The proposed LPFM station in Mariposa, CA (in the Sierra Foothills) will focus on arts and sustainability and proposed programming includes interviews with artists, music from local artists and venues, and a show focused on local storytellers. Chrysalis also plans to hold radio broadcast workshops for teens and adults.
M&M Community Development Applications Dismissed in 3 Major Cities
Many more applications have been dismissed, including several branches of M&M Community Development Inc. in St. Louis (MO), Atlanta (GA), and Chicago (IL). In regards to the Chicago application, Merlin Media had filed a Petition to Deny, claiming that M&M was not a qualified local non-profit. In its letter to M&M dismissing the application, the FCC found that,
M&M has not provided any documentation establishing its nonprofit status as of the date it filed the LPFM Application…M&M has not provided any evidence that it was a nonprofit entity when it filed the LPFM Application, thus, M&M has failed to meet the eligibility requirement…M&M was not an eligible local entity at the time of filing and may not subsequently amend the LPFM Application to become an eligible local entity…”
The FCC dismissed the two other M&M applications for similar reasons, stating in letters that, “M&M has not provided any documentation establishing its nonprofit status as of the date it filed the LPFM Application. Thus, M&M has failed to meet the eligibility requirement.”
Trio of Kentucky Dismissals due to Lack of Documentation over Non-Profit Status
A few groups in Kentucky had their applications dismissed this week, including Broadcast Services (Gays Creek, KY), Mountain Radio Media (Hazard, KY), and Tri Star Community Radio (Viper, KY). Fellow Kentucky applicant Mountain Artist Development Endeavor, LLC (“MADE”) filed Petitions to Deny against these applicants, arguing that the applications were defective. The FCC found that each of these three groups were ineligible. According letters from the FCC, neither Tri Star Community Radio, Broadcast Services, or Mountain Radio Media “provided any documentation establishing its nonprofit status as of the date it filed the LPFM Application,” and therefore those groups are ineligible to apply for LPFM licenses.
Missouri, Delaware, and Florida Applicants Dismissed Due to Failure to Establish Non-Profit Status
Both Nixa Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Nixa, MO) and Allied Communications Network Two (Lewes, DE) were dismissed because they failed to submit documents establishing their non-profit status.
Following a Petition to Deny and an Informal Objection by the Community Broadband Radio Association, the application for North Point Christian Association in North Point, Florida was also dismissed. The Petition to Deny alleged that the applicant was not a registered non-profit, was proposing a tower at a residence in an unauthorized area, was broadcasting illegally from the same residence, and that someone affiliated with the application is a registered sex offender. The FCC only addressed the non-profit status of the group and dismissed the application because the group “failed to meet the eligibility requirement…”
We cover LPFM news every Thursday in our LPFM Watch feature.
