Drake Relays - George

I attended the Saturday session of the 2008 Drake Relays with son Andrew.  Conditions weren't ideal, but many top performances were turned in.  Andy got us excellent seats in the front row right by the tunnel where the athletes exited the track after their events to retrieve their sweats and do interviews.

I attended my first Drake Relays in 1997 when son Michael was running for Washington High School.  My family sent me for my birthday and I can honestly say that it bordered on a religious experience for me.  It was a treat to watch Michael's 4 x 400 relay team place 6th despite the fact that anchor Rob Brimmer was tripped, then bumped after he picked himself up off the track.

I have always liked track.  I ran in high school and covered the track and cross country teams while working as an assistant to the sports information director at South Dakota State University.  I even took coaching of track.  As a class, we ran the meets that SDSU hosted.  I served as public address announcer.

I have been to the Texas Relays, the NCAA Championships -- even the 1976 Montreal Olympics with brother John.

Over the years at Drake, I have had the pleasure of watching such top athletes as Michael Johnson, Kevin Little, Jeremy Wariner, Joey Woody and Lolo Jones perform at Drake.  It was also a thrill to watch SDSU's Brad Lowery win the 1500 in 2005 after already winning the 5000.

I'm sure I'll be back at the blue track in 2009.

George Dorman - News and Operations Director

Where's Cary? - Dennis

On the heels of the unfortunate news that local TV station KGAN has dismissed our beloved Cary J. Hahn, many KCCK listeners expressed gratitude that they could continue to hear Cary indulge his OTHER passion, Big Band music, on his weekly show on KCCK.

Well, if you've been listening to Big Band Memories lately, you know that there is an "Iowa Traveler"- sized hole in our broadcast day. Cary has been off the air since March 21.

It has nothing, well, nothing directly to do with his departure from TV. Cary has thrown his hat in the ring for political office in Linn County. Due to federal Equal Time for candidates provisions, this requires him to take a leave of absence from his KCCK show.

Ironically, the restrictions don't apply to office holders, only candidates. So, win or lose, we expect him back on the air in a few months.

In the meantime, the very able Murray Kent will be filling both halves of Big Band Memories during Cary's leave.

KCCK's Place in Star Wars History - Dennis

"Talking Pictures" co-host and well-known movie buff Denny Lynch found a reference to KCCK in a new coffee table book celebrating "Star Wars." Star Wars Vault was released late last year, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of "Star Wars" (later subtitled "A New Hope").

Says Denny, "It is full of all kinds of reproductions of SW artifacts, many of which can be removed from the book for examination: Script pages, storyboard sketches, animation cels, T-shirt transfers, etc.

"Pages 78-79 deal with the radio adaptations that aired on NPR starting in 1981. I recalled the excitement that fans felt at the chance to hear these stories between the releases of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI. I have the posters that were distributed to KCCK at the time.

"As you can see, the highlight for us here is a reproduction of the cover of KCCK's March 1981 program guide. It is reproduced in the original colors."


The radio adaptation featured Mark Hamill & Anthony Daniels, reprising their roles as Luke Skywalker and See Threepio, and expanded the movie's story into a 6 1/2 hour, 13-part tale. Subsequent adaptations of "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" were also produced. (from Wikipedia)

We're not sure if the drawing of Darth Vader was original work by a Kirkwood graphic artist or adapted from an existing piece. Ours is one of just three examples of radio promotion pieces in the book.

30 Years in Cedar Rapids - George

It was March 1978 when I arrived in Cedar Rapids to be early morning anchor and general assignment reporter for KCRG-TV9, coming from KSFY-TV in Sioux Falls, SD, where I was a reporter, producer, weekend sports anchor and later assignment editor/assistant news director. Prior to that, I worked a short time at KORN-AM in Mitchell, SD, after getting out of the army. That's the station where Gary Owens of Laugh-In fame got his start. Mitchell is also home of the world's only Corn Palace (hence, KORN). The Mitchell High School athletic teams, by the way, are the original "Kernels."

Three and a half years after coming to TV9, I moved over to become news director for KCRG-AM 1600. Three and a half years after that, the position was eliminated and I was left without a job.

It was then that I went to work part-time at KCCK, working in the news department with Mark Yother and Nancy York. A few months later when Mark left KCCK temporarily, I become news director...later adding the duties of operations director. I'm now in my 23rd year at KCCK.

During the past 30 years I've seen four sons go through Arthur Elementary, Franklin Middle School and Washington High School. One son has graduated from Iowa State, another from Kirkwood and the two youngest are currently at ISU. I have one granddaughter and a grandson is on the way.

In the meantime, I continue to work with the small but dedicated, professional staff at KCCK. We've won some awards and I'm proud to be part of Iowa's only full-time jazz station. -- George Dorman

Feb. 12 106.9 Update-Dennis

If you've been trying to to listen to KCCK at 106.9 (Tuesday, Feb. 12), you've probably already figured out we're off the air. We lost the signal overnight. The tower is at a rural Johnson County site, pretty far down the snowplow-priority list. Plus, the site itself hasn't been plowed, so we can't get in to fix it without getting our repair van stuck. Long story short, we're not exactly sure when we're going to be able to get in to fix it. Hopefully later this week.

We'll keep you posted.

106.9 Travails - Dennis

As of this writing, KCCK's Johnson County translator at 106.9 is back on the air. The recent ice and snow storms have really taken a toll on this aging unit. The current problems are compounded by the fact that our auxiliary transmitter has only been running at about half its rated power of 100 watts for several months now, a result of old wiring and an antenna that needs to be either totally overhauled or replaced.

Why aren't we doing anything about it? Well, we are, but the timetable is complicated.

First off, we've been told we need to move the transmitter and antenna from its current location (northeast of Iowa City off Highway 1). But, we haven't been given a date by which we need to do so.

That's OK, as it gives us time to plan. We wrote a grant to cover at least a portion of the cost. And we received the funds.

Full disclosure: The grant requires a 50% local match. So, look for us to ask 106.9 listeners to make a one-time special contribution to help us raise that match during the spring fund drive.

More good news: The new repeater will be able to transmit HD radio, plus its supplemental audio channels, AND the antenna will be mounted at Kirkwood's Iowa City campus, much closer to metropolitan Iowa City-Coralville.

So, please bear with us a little while longer. We hope to have the new translator up and running this summer.

Oscar Peterson Dies - George

Jazz great Oscar Peterson has died at the age of 82. The pianist died of kidney failure at his home in the Toronto suburb of Mississauga Sunday. Peterson was born Aug. 15, 1925, in a poor neighborhood southwest of Montreal. He played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. To read more go here -http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22389614