by Bob Walsh
KPFA has been around since shortly after WWII. Their motto is VIGILANT AS ALWAYS. Their unofficial motto is CONSERVATIVES ARE EVIL BASTARDS. They are the flagship of Pacifica Foundation. They have a sister station in NYC, WBAI, which has been involved in an ongoing civil dispute over nonpayment of the rent on their tower on top of the Empire State Building. WBAI lost and owes $1.8 million. The judge has ruled that Empire State Realty Trust can go after the parent company, Pacifica, for the loot. That could include the sprawling real estate owned by KPFA in Berkeley.
Pacifica owns a lot of real estate and could take out a loan to cover the $1.8 million, but their board is pretty much perpetually locked up in an internal pissing contest. Probably over who is the most progressive person on the board. They do that rather than taking care of business I expect. The board has refused to allow management to even begin negotiating with Empire over an arrangement. So they may end up loosing $10 million in real estate and $100 million worth of broadcast licenses over internal stupidity.
The shutdown could come as early as Monday. (Actually KPFA has some pretty good music programming which a lot of people will miss.)
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