Q. What's the deal with WIL-AM 1430? I just loved the old country music they used to play, but suddenly it has become another moldy oldies rock station with call letters I don't even recognize. What happened, and where can I find my Conway Twitty, Merle Haggard, Bellamy Brothers, et al., again?
-- C.L., of Belleville
A. Well, don't it make your brown eyes blue? Looks like the Entertainment Media Trust (EMT) played musical chairs with you, and wound up without a seat. But if you have a good radio, you could be sitting pretty again with just a small flick of the wrist.
If you're a follower of local broadcast news, you may remember that the EMT first popped up in the spring of 2006 when it tried to buy the Christian-themed WDID-AM from the Rev. Larry Rice of the New Life Evangelistic Center in St. Louis.
At first, Rice was happy to find someone who would pay him $450,000 for the small, 1000-watt Highland station, and the Federal Communications Committee approved the sale on March 22.
But two weeks later, Rice changed his mind when he learned that EMT, with Belleville attorney Dennis Watkins as the trustee, was actually put together by Bob Romanik, a Washington Park strip-club owner and convicted felon.
Rice said he had refused to sell to Romanik in the past because of his background. But after a month of prayer and a talk with Romanik, Rice relented, and "Hot Talk Radio" WXOZ set up offices in The Arcades strip mall at 6400 W. Main St. Even Al Gross, formerly of KJSL Christian radio in St. Louis, came aboard with his syndicated National Countdown Show that fall.
Now, the EMT media empire has expanded. Two weeks ago, it closed on a reported $1.2 million deal to buy WIL-AM from Bonneville International Corp. Bonneville, which still owns WIL-FM, retained the rights to the call letters, so the 5,000-watt AM station has been rechristened as KZQZ.
It has switched to an oldies format while moving your beloved old-country sound to its sister station, WOKZ (1510), just a smidgen farther down the AM dial. At 1,000 watts, it may be difficult to pick up but I had no trouble in my car on Thursday. And, it may get easier, because the station is asking the FCC for permission to increase its power to 10,000 watts, according to Mike Anderson's www.stlmedia.net Web site.
It is also rumored that the new KZQZ will pick up Scott Shannon's True Oldies Channel format from the ABC Radio Network in a couple of weeks. Romanik and Watkins were unavailable for comment.
Q. Last Monday, on St. Patrick's Day, you published a trivia question that said green is often considered an unlucky color in Ireland, of all places. Why?
-- C.J., of O'Fallon
A. It seems strange that a place known as the Emerald Isle would consider green unlucky, but apparently that's the case.
According to folklore, green is the favorite color of the Good People or fairies, says Bridget Haggerty, author of "The Traditional Irish Wedding" and editor of an Irish culture and customs Web site.
The fairies were said to steal people, especially children, who wear too much of the color. Apparently, you can have too much of good thing, I suppose.
Some also might suggest that green is symbolic of oppression in a country that has been fighting British rule for centuries. Until the Easter Uprising of 1916, the dominant flag was a gold harp on a sea of green. Now the national flag consists of a band of green for the Catholic community, a band of orange for the Protestants and a band of white in the middle symbolizing a hope for peace between the two.
Giving credit
To my answer on ordering credit reports a couple of weeks ago, a Dr. Steve Peters wrote to add a thoughtful idea to further protect your identity:
The Web sites of the credit reporting companies are fully encyrpted, meaning it's safe to send them your Social Security number over the Internet. However, to fully cover your tracks, you should briefly log off your browser after ordering your credit report.
Send your questions to Roger Schlueter, Belleville News-Democrat, 120 S. Illinois St., P.O. Box 427, Belleville, IL 62222-0427 or rschlueter@bnd.com
