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

Ice, Ice, Everywhere...And None For My Martini--Dennis

As of this writing, KCCK is back up to full power for the first time since December 1st. During ice storms, radio towers, like trees and power lines, get caked with ice. As ice builds up, so does electrical resistance. Our transmitter automatically starts to reduce the power sent through the line to prevent dangerous overloads.

At one point last week, we were down to a paltry 250 watts. I have fluorescent lights that put out more power.

The situation is even worse with our 106.9 translator, which has been off completely for several days. We hope to get it going again this week.

Anyway, if it seems like it's been harder to pull KCCK in of late, it's not your imagination. But, it's better than the alternative. During the February storms, we were off the air for nearly 3 days.

And, with more freezing rain predicted for later this week, we aren't out of the woods yet. But, we'll do our best to stay on the air. If the signal is a little fuzzy, you might check out the online webcast, which is not (usually) affected by transmitter problems.