What Californians Think

We had four strong segments for Wednesday's show, including welcoming Phyllis Davies back from Iran, a discussion about eroding property rights in Atascadero. Klasse Najarne had great news about the SLO airport, including the new flights to Salt Lake City and ambitious expansion plans. And Michele joined us again to dissect recent national and international events.

A program note: On Friday at 5:05, we'll hear from Grover Beach mayor Steve Lieberman and Pismo Beach councilwoman Shelly Higginbotham, discussing the future of the Oceano Dunes. Should be an important discussion and we'll certainly include your phone calls.

Meanwhile, President Bush was in California yesterday, so I found the newest Field Poll very telling and supportive of comments made last night by Michele. Here's part of what the new poll says:

"California voters' approval of President Bush -- now engaged in a war of words with Democratic congressional leadership over funding and American troop withdrawals in Iraq -- has disintegrated to the lowest levels since he took office, according to a Field Poll released today.

Much of the president's plunging popularity is due to California voters' opposition to the war, the poll showed, as more of his fellow Republicans desert him over his handling of Iraq.

Just 26 percent of California voters surveyed by the Field Poll approved of the president's performance in office -- nearly reaching the record low 24 percent approval rating of former President Richard Nixon in August 1974, just before his resignation over the Watergate scandal.

The poll showed that just 24 percent of the state's voters saw the president's performance in Iraq in a positive light, compared with 72 percent who viewed it negatively, the poll showed.

Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll, said the results reflected a "really dismal" loss of confidence in Bush, saying that "what is driving (his numbers) down now is that the Republicans seem to have greater reservations and are more critical of the president than they have ever been.

"That's the only way an elected official can get into the 20s,'' DiCamillo said. "You have to start losing your rank and file."

The Field Poll showed that "majorities of Californians now hold positions diametrically opposed" to those of the president on the Iraq war. Two-thirds opposed the president's decision to increase American troops by 20,000 in Iraq, nearly 60 percent echoed Democratic efforts in Congress by favoring a timetable for troop withdrawal, and half said the U.S. presence in Iraq "decreases the chances of bringing peace and stability" to that nation, the poll showed.

The findings come as the president this week repeatedly vowed to veto any emergency spending bill for the war that includes a timetable to bring the troops home. Democrats in the House and Senate have approved separate versions of the spending bill, which include different withdrawal requirements. The versions must be reconciled into one bill when Congress returns from its holiday recess before it can be sent to the president.

The president's collapsing numbers and the loss of confidence, DiCamillo said, now extend to voters' growing disapproval of Bush's handling of the economy. The latest poll showed that just 1 in 3 California voters approved of the president's performance on the economy, the lowest assessment ever given Bush in this area."

New Times Readers Say We're One of the Best

We received word yesterday that this blog has received an award. The readers of New Times have selected us as being one of the Top Three Local Blogs in their annual Best Of poll. Thanks to everyone who voted for us and thanks to all of you anonymous, or otherwise, who continue to read and contribute to this blog. It sure has been an emotional rollercoaster during this first year as we covered so many issues, but I remain pleased overall with the dialogue that takes place here 24/7.

Also, glad to have my sidekick Tom Madsen participating more in this blog. Tom will be posting comments from time to time as "Thomas W" and we welcome his comments here just as we do on the show.

Next Edna Valley Market lunch is scheduled for Monday, April 30th and we'll start signing people up today on the show. Tom is working on another big bus trip and we hope to have something to announce towards the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Tuesday's show was pretty wide-ranging and often bloody, but it held up pretty good. Glad to have Leslie Halls back with us. Leslie is truly a compassinate conservative. She has a big heart, but hates taxes of any kind and she explained why she thought the city of SLO should lower their so-called "apartment tax." We also spilled into a discussion of local mass transit and why the majority of people (including me) will never give up our cars. Apparently the city and county and trying to squeeze us on to mass transit by limiting parking spaces at new buildings, but that won't work.

A major part of the program featured Dr. Larry Martinez, in studio, to analyze the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the EPA and its likely impact on consumers and the larger global warming fight. Larry, who has spent a great deal of time abroad, says Europe and other nations wonder why we're so slow on the global warming issue. We also spilled into the topic of talk radio and how hosts like Sean and Rush downplay global warming and that led to a lively exchange between Larry and Matt Kokkonen about the issue of proof and how you accept what someone is saying.

Don't forget the magicians at the Clark Center Thursday night. Still good tickets left. There will be an Earth Wine and Food celebration in Paso Robles on Saturday, April 21st. Earth Day in Paso? And those bestselling authors from the "End of Days" series will be at the Parable in SLO on Thursday night. They've sold 44 million copies of their books so they must know their stuff.

Wednesday on Hometown Radio: What's happening at the airport, property rights in the county and Michele D. looks at the latest out of Washington.

Don't forget to check out our podcast if you miss any of these segments.

Listening to the KVEC Stream

I've asked our program director and news director Ben Greenaway to answer recent questions from bloggers about listening to KVEC online. This is what Ben has to say:

To listen to KVEC on-line, start at www.920kvec.com. There are two ways to open the on-line audio stream. You can choose “Listen Live” under the “Programming” menu item, or click on the little tower icon and “Listen Live” text next to the KVEC logo. Some browsers require you to click twice on that logo, some browsers require you to enable pop-up windows. Once you’ve clicked “Listen Live,” a media player will open, and you’ll hear KVEC after a brief delay while it loads.

To listen to KVEC on-line, you’ll need a high-speed internet connection (DSL, Cable Internet, ISDN, etc.), and web browser like Internet Explorer, or Mozilla Firefox. Newer computers will already have an audio player installed, such as Microsoft Windows Media Player, or RealNetworks RealPlayer. If you don’t have an audio player, you’ll have to install one before you can listen to the station on-line (downloadable at Microsoft.com or real.com). KVEC suggests you contact a professional computer technician if you require assistance with any of these products.

It’s our goal to remain relevant in a time when change is affecting broadcast media. KVEC was one of the first Central Coast radio stations to offer streaming, and the first to offer regular podcasts of its programming. That said, there are growing pains associated with new technologies. When the stream was originally set-up, we were only able to broadcast our local programming—that meant silence for several hours between First News in the morning, and The Dave Congalton Show in the afternoon. It also meant long gaps during commercials and news breaks within those programs.

Recently The Sean Hannity Show and FOX News have been added to the stream, and music fills the hours around those programs, creating a 24-hour listening experience for you. We look forward to adding more shows to the stream in the near future.

As we develop this new technology, technical problems will go away. Occasionally, glitches halt the server that “broadcasts” our stream. In that case a program may need to be restarted, or a setting adjusted. And we fix the problems as soon as we detect them.

You are welcome to email me with your comments or suggestions regarding the stream: bengreenaway@clearchannel.com. If you refer to a specific glitch, it’s helpful to include exactly what time it happened, and what software you were using (ie Microsoft Explorer or Mozill Firefox).

Thank you for listening to KVEC, and for being part of the first-generation of on-line listeners.


Ben Greenaway
Program Director, AM-920 KVEC
www.920kvec.com
BenGreenaway@ClearChannel.com

Monday Wrapup

Tom and I enjoyed hosting our monthly Listener Lunch at Edna Valley Market on Monday and thanks to Delron for serving up another great buffet on the patio. We'll do another one in late April and start signing people up this week. Meanwhile, check out EVM for breakfast and lunch -- great soup, sandwiches, salads, etc. Good food. Cheap. In and out. The kind of place radio people can enjoy. Corner of Broad and Tank Farm in SLO.

Ben Greenaway is off on a well-deserved vacation starting Thursday. He'll head back to Germany with his wife who is from there. Our own Tom Madsen will be helping to fill in on some days during Ben's absence so Tom will be doing double duty on a couple days this month.

Very pleased with the show today. Dr. Louise Murray, director of medicine for the ASPCA, called in from New York and fielded listener phone calls on the pet food contamination issue. Very disturbing news in that even pet treats have now been found to be infected. The problem, according to the doctor, seems to be in the wheat gluton and experts think that the wheat, from China, is contaminated, perhaps by pesticides. I would encourage concerened pet owners to check out http://www.aspca.org to get the most-up-to-date information.

We also had a lively discussion with Cathe Olsen, who admitted she wasn't the best mom for homeschooling and she's glad her two daughters are now in public school. But many parents called in to sing the praises of homeschooling.

Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee sounded hopeful that there will be a positive resolution for employees at ASH and he surprised Tom and I when he came out firmly, as a Ph.D, on the issue of global warming, saying it is a serious problem that had to be addressed. He also predicted that California will be seeing a lot of the presidential candidates now that our primary has been moved up to February 2008.

Kathy Orton and Teresa Tardiff also put the community spotlight on CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocates, a very important group of volunteers who speak out for children caught up in our local court system. CASA needs volunteers, especially men. To volunteer, donate, or just to find out more, check out http://www.slocasa.org.

Program note: Michele will be back on Wednesday at 6 to discuss the most events surrounding the U.S. Justice Department. Gordon Mullin has also been added for the 13th to call for a revised U.S. tax structure.