KNAU eNews: 88.7 Transmitter Update, Tweeting Trees and more

All the parts have arrived. We’ll head up the mountain Saturday morning to install the new and slightly more powerful 88.7 transmitter. When we’re ready, we’ll have to go off the air for a short period of time, maybe up to an hour while we move some things around and reconnect others. This will probably happen some time around noon but at this writing, there is no way to predict exactly when.

This transmitter will be the one we’ll use until the new high-power transmitter can be put on line, probably not until mid-July. At about twice the power of what we are using now, this interim transmitter will have greater reach and may get us back on the air in Payson, Prescott, Kingman and Show Low. In theory. All radio reception is determined by terrain, the receiver, and the antenna. Let us know if your reception gets better this weekend.

We have been hearing from many people who are streaming our programs online for the first time. It’s easy! With a smart speaker or wireless headset, KNAU can go all over the house. Listen at KNAU.org.

Thank you again for your patience and support.

As noted last weekend, This American Life took home a Pulitzer for a program called “The Out Crowd,” an examination of the “Trump administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy.” The episode originally aired in November. We’ll repeat it this weekend at the usual times: Noon Saturday and Sunday evening at six on KNAU News/Talk and Saturday afternoon at 4 on Classical KNAU. Our complete program schedule can be found here.

If you’d like to read more about “The Out Crowd,” here’s a link to the announcement from show creator, Ira Glass.

Scientists at Northern Arizona University’s Pathogen and Microbiome Institute are tracking the coronavirus in an unusual way—by taking samples of sewage. In places where people are infected, the virus ends up in untreated wastewater. Learn more at KNAU.org.

Jeneda and Clayson Benally are the sibling duo behind the band Sihasin. Their music blends their Navajo traditions, Indigenous activism and punk rock roots. And like professional musicians everywhere, Sihasin isn’t performing any public shows right now because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more at KNAU.org.

The owners of more than 350 restaurants, shops, and other small businesses in Arizona have signed a letter pledging not to reopen yet because of the coronavirus pandemic, despite the gradual loosening of public health restrictions. Learn more at KNAU.org.

Officials at Grand Canyon National Park will reopen limited visitor access to the South Rim over the weekend after closing the park last month to slow the spread of coronavirus. Learn more at KNAU.org.

A 100-year-old red oak grows in a secret location in Massachusetts … and here on the Colorado Plateau, a team of scientists has taught it how to Tweet. Learn more at KNAU.org.