Category: KCCK Blog

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 …

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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 …

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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, …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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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 …

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Any Jackrabbits, Bison in the Audience? – George

There’s a big football game in Brookings, S.D., Saturday when South Dakota State and North Dakota State play for the Great West Football Conference championship. It’s also the “Battle for the Dakota Marker” – sort of their version of Floyd of Rosedale. The trophy is a replica of the border marker between the states of …

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