Crystal Stevenson

Before the storms we had two sports talk radio stations in the Lake Area — 1310-AM KEZM in Sulphur and 1580-AM KXZZ, a Cumulus station in Lake Charles. When Laura hit they both got knocked off the air and I haven’t been able to catch them since. Are we going to get sports talk radio back in Lake Charles? Either one?

Among radio stations knocked off the air by Hurricane Laura was the entire Cumulus Media cluster in Lake Charles. Its broadcast facilities suffered significant damage from the storm, which initially knocked the six-station organization off the air.

Three of the company’s FM stations were able to resume broadcasting within a few days after the storm, others had to rely on online audio streams to reach listeners.

“Hurricane Laura did create significant damage to our broadcast studios including the fact that our STL tower came down,” VP/Market Manager Elizabeth Blackstock told Inside Radio. “As a result, all of our stations were knocked off overnight but, due to the heroic efforts of our local and corporate engineering team, three of our FM stations were back on the air before the end of the day Thursday, serving our community.”

The Cumulus Media Lake Charles properties include rhythmic CHR “Hot 103.3” KBIU, country KQLK (97.9), “Sports Radio 1580” KXZZ, rock KKGB (101.3), country KYKZ (96.1) and talk KAOK (1400).

KXZZ is the only station that remains off local airwaves.

Blackstock told Inside Radio their team is exploring solutions to get it back as soon as possible.

Until then, staff members are working remotely while repairs are being made.  

KXZZ is licensed to Lake Charles but is actually affiliated with CBS Sports radio so you can listen to it online at CBS Sports Radio at Radio.com until it’s available over local airwaves again.  

The other local station you asked about — 1310-AM KEZM — also remains unavailable.

“Our studio suffered severe roof damage from Hurricane Laura,” said KEZM owner Bruce Merchant told the American Press. “While all of our equipment made it through the storm, our temporary antenna did not. It fell during the hurricane.”

Merchant said his team is working on finding a permanent solution to the antenna problem “instead of just another temporary replacement.”

“As a small, local owner, money is an issue,” he said. “But we have not given up hope that KEZM can return to the air in the near future.”

Senate votes

Why do some Senate bills require 60 votes to pass, while others require only 51?

The 100-member Senate was intentionally designed by our Founding Fathers with a 60-vote rule that would force both parties to work together in order to pass legislation. That means the majority party needs to get some buy-in from the minority party in order to move forward.

“Reconciliation” is a legislative maneuver that allows the majority to get around this 60-vote threshold. Reconciliation lets the Senate majority bypass the filibuster process, allowing them to pass legislation with 51 votes, instead of the normal 60.

Any provision in a Reconciliation bill must be primarily budgetary, severely limiting the scope of a policy that can be passed this way. With a Senate that is split 50/50, the vice president casts the tie-breaking vote

l

Informer is written by Crystal Stevenson, American Press executive editor. To ask a question, call 494-4098 and leave voice mail, or email informer@americanpress.com.microphoneMGNonline