Talk of the Town cancelled; Shelby will not be broadcast

I would have gotten this word out earlier (AT&T's DSL went out yesterday afternoon), but we WJLX will not broadcast Sen. Richard Shelby's town hall meeting today, and, perhaps just as importantly, I won't be on the air myself, as "Talk of the Town" is no more. I will be moving to WIXI, 1360 AM, effective Monday, April 20, to be a co-host on "The People's Viewpoint" with Bucky Rizzo and (occasionally) Charles Bishop from 4-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

I have enjoyed my show and the crew at WJLX, and I would have done it for a long time. I wish them well, and they have done the same for me; we part on good terms. However, the ad revenue just wasn't there at this time to support the show. I depended on that revenue for my revenue, and the bad economy never gave it a chance. With the economy getting somewhat of a break recently, and after some discussions with those involved with "The People's Viewpoint," there may be a way this new show can work out. I think we will be blending some elements from my show and Bucky Rizzo's show, which was also formerly on WJLX. I will still be bringing the local and state news on this show. I should also point out the time slot and the signal strength should amount to an improvement.

At any rate, thank you to everyone who supported "Talk of the Town." I think it was a journalistic success and proved that we can have another way to bring newsmakers into your homes, offices and cars. I hope you'll follow me to 1360 AM.

Friday's show: Parrish debate at BOE meeting

I've decided that because of the bitter school board debate over the hiring of teachers at Parrish High School, which occurred late Thursday afternoon, we will air a large portion of that debate on our show Friday, provided there are no technical glitches. We will still have Cordova Mayor Jack Scott as our guest, but the bulk of the first half of the show will be devoted to this debate, which got rather angry toward the end. This will air Friday, Feb. 20, at 2 p.m.

This week's Talk of the Town, Feb. 16-20

This week's shows have been reshuffled a little. Monday we will still have Paul Kennedy to tell us about the community garden proposal and his work at the Walker Area Community Foundaton. Congressman Robert Aderholt, who was coming on Monday for a segment, will now be on Tuesday's show, joining Cordova Police Chief Kenneth Bobo. Wednesday we will Jennifer Williams Smith talk about the "Dream Time" non-competitive baseball team and Lora Courington will discuss her work at the Walker County office of the American Red Cross. David Jones will appear concerning the Capstone Rural Medical Clinic in Parrish on Thursday, and Cordova Mayor Jack Scott will appear on Friday to discuss developments in the city. The schedule is subject to change.

Talk of the Town, which includes news summaries and breaking news, is heard Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. on WJLX, 1240 AM, in Jasper, Alabama. Remember you can now hear a live stream of the broadcast anywhere at www.walkercountyradio.com, or you can download the show for up to a week afterward. The show should be ready within an hour after the broadcast. You can pass along news or comments in a call or text to 205-522-2986 or e-mail me at byedhowell@aol.com or byedhowell@yahoo.com. I would appreciate to know if you are hearing the broadcast and what we can do to make it better. We also are asking for commercial support of the show and welcome anyone who would like to take out commercial time on it.

Ed's first guests on radio (week of Feb. 2)

I've been rather busy the past couple of days. (Half of it fulfilling my obligation of going through receipts for the IRS, and it's still not over. Did I really buy that many batteries for tape records?) However, I can at least turn in a quick blog this Friday night to say I have the lineup of the first week of my new radio show, "Talk of the Town," on WJLX, 1240 AM, starting at 2 p.m. Feb. 2.

Monday, Feb. 2: Jasper Mayor Sonny Posey, to talk about events at City Hall, including the future of Sherer Auditorium and dealing with the economic crunch in terms of tax revenue.
Tuesday, Feb. 3: It's the first day of the Legislature, starting at noon. (Gov. Bob Riley should address legislators at 6:30 p.m., which should be televised by Alabama Public Television, going by tradition.) I hope to talk to our local legislators (probably on tape) and possibly other experts, depending on scheduling.
Wednesday, Feb. 4: Linda Lewis of the Chamber of Commerce of Walker County will go over the progress of the Focus Walker County plan and other plans for the chamber. I hope to also ask her about what economic impact she is seeing from retailers in the area and how this could affect the chamber's plans.
Thursday, Feb. 5: Managing Editor James Phillips of the Daily Mountain Eagle will be in to talk about recent news in the area and hopefully give us some insight into the newspaper and what is happening with the newspaper industry.
Friday, Feb. 6: Ezekiel Nichols, who does some economic teaching at the University of Alabama and is a native of the county, will discuss the status of the economy and how President Obama will handle this under his watch, as well as some insights into the local economy.

The following week, Feb. 10, I'll also have some hospice ministers to talk about how one ministers to the dying and how this impacts the ministers themselves. I also know Feb. 12 county engineer David Edgil will discuss projects in the county, and I hope we touch on the status of the closed roads and bridges in the county, as well as improvements at the airport. I should be able to wrap up the second week quickly and get ahead on some other bookings.

Keep in mind that I'll leave room for breaking news when it happens, and we'll have quick summaries of what is going on in national, state and local news, weather, sports, stocks, entertainment, etc., sometimes from our reports and sometimes from the resources of CNN Radio. I also hope to do some commentary as well, as well as attend meetings and events, and maybe bring some sound bites back to the station. It's rather all new to me, but I am excited we can give something the county has needed for some time. I'll certainly welcome your feedback on what you like, and we'll do the best we can. Remember, this starts Feb. 2 and will be Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. on 1240 AM.