Station Update 2009-11-13

 Or "what does Bruce do all day?"

I'm sure you all wonder, so here's an update on just a few things going on around here:

Just a quick update on a few things happening around here.

1. Boiler busted. Commercial replacement ~$6k - $10k. DYI $1k.

4. Grant-funded job openings at KSER.

1. Been wondering why the station has been so cold lately? Our beautiful, 1940's boiler has finally bit the dust. It would cost $3k to repair it, and it would probably fail again in a couple years. I've been getting bids on a replacement, and they've ranged between $6 - $10k. We can't afford even the low number. The best option I've heard is to replace it with a regular old home water heater. One guy said that would be about $1k for a tank and related hardware, provided we did the work ourselves. I now need to rustle up some folks to help do that work. If you have experience and competence installing water heaters and/or working with natural gas, please contact me. We've got an electric space heater in the community room, but please make sure you TURN IT OFF when you leave the building at night. The air-conditioner in the air room will also heat the room, so you can use it for that.

2. Out of the blue 2 weeks ago, Amy Goodman decided to make a stop off in the North Sound on her book tour. After a week of crazy back-and-forth on venue, date, time, cost, etc. we've arranged a joint benefit with our friends at KSVR in Mt. Vernon, taking place here in Everett at the PUD auditorium Saturday morning, Nov.28th. This is a big deal, because our last joint benefit netted over $5k for KSER. We could really use that money heading into 2010. Please play the promo during your show (on the Special Events minidisk)and tell all your listeners, fans, friends, and family.

3. As you've hear, our pledge drive fell $13k short. Your consistent help reading the announcements every day has whittled that down to just $2500! Thank you for sticking with it, for gently and honestly asking your listeners to donate. We will continue to make the ask on a less frequent basis until we meet the goal. If we don't meet the goal, we loose over $5,000 in challenge money. I have been updating our website frequently with the remaining balance. Check out the website during your show and give listeners an update on how far away we are from reaching the goal.

4. As you may also have heard, KSER has received a major grant from the Boeing Charitable Trust to fund our new local public affairs program, called Sound Living. The grant is for two years, and covers the cost of hiring 2 new part-time employees to help produce the program and grow capacity to fund it directly ourselves. I have posted the job descriptions on our website and the positions are open to anyone. If you are interested, please read the job descriptions carefully and be certain you have the skills, training, and experience before you throw your hat in the ring. Since this position is open to the public at large, I am not able to discuss your application with you individually, but I wanted you all to be aware of the opportunity.

Thanks for all you do for KSER. Hope you're staying as warm as you can while you're here.