Dissecting a listener's complaints, Hydro maps downtown, remembering a retailer

Last Friday, I read on the air a typed letter Rick the Boss got expressing "disappointment with the decision to extend" the show - which was in September. It was unsigned and typical of some of the pressure put upon the station to silence TGCTS and your opportunity to ask questions, get answers, and share information the mainstream media often will either mis-state, distorts, or ignore.

I want to respond to some of the issues raised by the letter.

Dear "disgruntled KICK listener",

I appreciate it took a lot of time to compile the ad-hominum attacks used, like " conspiracy theorist, right wing ideagogue" ( an idea-gogue? I sure am); "toxic rhetoric", and suggesting my "conduct is borderline slanderous".

However it is apparent *someone* does not actually listen to the show.

"maligning public officials without allowing time to rebut or refute any of his salacious allegations."

This is utterly false. The lack of response (emails or calls) from defenders of public officials is telling. I have never screened out any calls that take issue with any of the stories or analysis we broadcast (however rare they may be).

" I checked his allegations with one of the politicians I happened to bump into socially and he assured me that the spin couldn't be further from the truth..."

Last Friday, Spirited Kenny invited you to forward the name of that politician to us to allow for them to express that position and defend it to our listeners, the voters of Manitoba.

As I expected, we have gotten the usual response we get whenever we offer this opportunity to those we hold to account:

Silence.

Here is but a sample of the "many politicians from all parties, from all levels of government, who are trying to improve our quality of life here in Manitoba." who have not even acknowledged, let alone accepted, our requests for interviews.

MP Pat Martin

MP Jim Malloway (granted that was when he was a city councillor)

Premier Gary Doer

Family Services Minister Gord MacIntosh

Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross
Councillor Dan Vandal

Councillor Harry Lazarenko

Councillor Mike O'Shaunessy

The lack of response from government or government-funded agencies includes:

- the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority about the superbug that killed a woman at Seven Oaks General Hospital;

- the various agencies that won't divulge any costs estimates for the long-delayed 511/CanAlert public warning system;

- Winnipeg Harvest about how they track food such as, say, frozen minced pork;

to name but 3.

Next time you bump into one of your political acquaintances, if they are on the list, tell them the door is open.

Hell, tell ANY politician you bump into that our door is open. I'm sure the audience would appreciate your efforts to convince them to provide "more accurate information and a more balanced view of our political landscape", that you claim is lacking.

Don't you ask yourself, what is the real reason they ignore invitations from this program, rather than come on the air and explain how they are being "unfairly" criticized?

You also advocate for "an additional program to be developed that allows for alternate views than that of Mr. Gold."

As Kenny explained last week, there already are such programs. It's called the main stream media.

We are alternative media.

That is the point.

We're the alternative.

And that is why more and more people with questions and who want answers, listeners who are lawyers, doctors, small businesses, service organizations, restaurant and bar workers, professional drivers, police, parents, students, bloggers, and MSM newsrooms, academics, are not only tuning in, but are participating via calls, emails and even typewritten letters like yours.

Thanks for listening.

Marty

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With all the discussion last week about the aborted Manitoba Hydro plan to expand their substation by eviscerating three heritage buildings on McDermot in the Exchange District, it might be helpful to allow concerned Winnipeggers to have a visual on the area in question to better assess the spin from Hydro officials.

CBC, Thursday Jan 22: (Hydro spokesman Glenn) Schneider said the solution is not as easy as simply choosing another location for the substation because the existing substation in need of an upgrade is adjacent to the three McDermot Avenue buildings.

"We can't just take a spot two blocks away, which is a parking lot or that's vacant land right now because all of the underground feeders feed into that, the local feeders feed into that spot on King Street."

Two blocks away huh. Well courtesy of the Skyscraper forum, lookie here:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?s=fc36c380bf3060dc99c90038a2791d37&p=4042575&postcount=980

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A loyal listener has started his own blog, so here's the plug:

http://www.grumpyyoungwinnipeg.blogspot.com/

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Lastly an email, about the unexpected closure of legendary local audio/video store Krazy Krazy, fifteen-oh-nine St. Matthews Av-e-nue:

In 1984 I bought a 28 inch RCA TV there. It was the biggest TV I had ever seen. It cost almost 1000 (l984) dollars. (I was young, single and employed, then.) It had a beautiful picture; everyone who saw it commented on how sharp it was. Everyone. It lasted me 21 years.

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Enjoy Super Bowl 43, on Monday we'll find out if Frank the Italian Barber hit it big on the Cardinals roll he's been on since game 8 !!

Links to recent Currier/Browaty/meth interviews, highlights of this weeks' news and analysis, and what our staffers do in their spare time

A flurry of action has driven more interested listeners to the Kick-FM website than ever, to sample the special interviews we've snared since the begining of the 2009. Here is a convenient compilation:

* Audio of our interview with veteran CJOB sports and talk guy Geoff Currier, who gave us the very first broadcast interview about why he left the world of commercial radio and what he thinks are the issues to the voters in River Heights - Fort Garry, where he aspires to replace the late Brenda Leipsic in the March 17th civic by-election:

http://www.kick.fm/2009/01/geoff-currier-on-kick-fm.html

(Note that the page linked to, includes another good interview Currier did on our Monday night staple The Download with Kick FM News director Dan Vadeboncouer and co-host Conor Lloyd.)

* Speaking of City Council, Jeff Browaty (North Kildonan) made an in-studio visit last Thursday and we covered, well, everything but Waterfront Drive:

http://www.kick.fm/2009/01/jeff-browaty-on-great-canadian-talk.html

* The best friend of crystal meth addict and habitual criminal DJ Van Den Bosch, who committed suicide when cornered on Simcoe Street by the K9 Unit, provided the most intense call in the history of TGCTS last Monday when she talked about her own struggle with meth addiction:
http://www.kick.fm/2009/01/glimpse-into-world-of-meth-addiction.html

* and for good measure, a link to the archive of the last two weeks worth of episodes:
http://www.kick.fm/2009/01/catch-up-with-great-canadian-talk-show.html

Already this week,

* we broke the eyewitness story of the African Mafia inner city street gang that crashed a teen birthday party at the Event Exchange Centre last Saturday night, and asked why CBC-TV refused to identify what kind of "gang" was behind the mayhem;

* noted the disturbing pattern of public health officials concealing communicable disease outbreaks in Winnipeg, including flesh-eating disease last fall and the belated Superbug-forced shutdown of an entire ward at Seven Oaks Hospital last winter that may have killed a senior citizen;

* and explained how the Free Press outdid itself in a story about CFRW Classic rock-jock Raccoon Carney, with the story having 3 factual mistakes in a single, 2 sentence paragraph.

Today, while everyone else yakked endlessly about all things Obama, we alone:

- broadcast information about massive layoffs at Clear Channel in the US and layoffs at Global TV Toronto, and asked the true impact of cancelling Morning and Noon news casts in the country's biggest market;

- found out about the Public Utilities Board being forced to hold public hearings next month into the business application of Wpg Airport Authority-owned Avion to crack the city ground transportation/taxi market, the release date of the government study into Taxi demand in Winnipeg, and the fight for more downtown cab stands and taxi access to Diamond Lanes;

- asked why the special prosecutor agreed to a plea bargain with a man charged for attempting a home invasion on a Crown Attorney's home with 3 other men, (one had charges stayed, another's charges were dismissed, and a third accused awaits trial).

Even though the special prosecutor could not link the home invasion to a threat made against the Crown Attorney by a convicted gangster, place the accused at the scene or even present a positive ID to the judge, Alphonse Traverse made a deal and got an additional 12 months and a total equivalent sentence of 56 months. And, we read how he got off easy, because there was no weapon, the house wasn't actually entered, and the targets were not injured in any way.

We compared that decision to the recent sentence meted out to a Native Syndicate juvenile who at age 15, led a 3 man wrecking of an Alexander St. home last March and viciously stabbed a 59 year old tenant 3 times, in a misguided revenge against the home's landlord who had evicted the punk's sister. In this case, there was proof of identity, forced entry and destructive rampage through the home, brandishing of a knife and the near-death of the innocent victim.

Judge Judith Elliot decided the young gangster deserved only 27 months of custody and community supervision.

We asked, is this proof of two-tier justice ?

* Not to mention our blog round-up, including Policy Frog (by-election and CJOB), Progressive Winnipeg (city's IKEA 'smart planning' sucks), and Rob Galston at Rise and Sprawl (more on IKEA, and the financial failure of Senator Rod Zimmer's redevelopment proposal for Alexander Docks).

These stories are some of the good reasons why more and more listeners are turning to our alternative media broadcasts every afternoon at 4 PM - to get the news and analysis they can't get anywhere else on the dial.
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There's a lot of talented people who make the show possible.
A sampling of their work that deserves broader recognition:

- Part 1 and 2 of the audio reports by Spirited Kenny into the 5-1-1/CanAlert warning system and the runaround Kenny got in chasing down the story, and the first Ken-O-Rama podcast with great music and features, is on his blog, Spirited Kenny the Blog

- Frequent control room commander Dave "I'm A Comic "Shorr did a not-safe-for-work turn at the Comedy Loser competition at the King's Head Tavern and it's up on youtube , debuting the ad campaign for his new fragrance Le Dave

- The misadventures of former sidekick/foil Silent Mitch as he trains for a career as a professional wrestler - in other words, ' How I got stretched by Lance Storm in Calgary, Alberta, Canada ' is at his new blog

- The new sound of the commercial and promo spots is largely the work of our own Shannah-Lee, who voiced some -- and mixed all -- of the lively new break content, including picking out the themes - banjo music, anyone?

She is now a published fiction writer: look for her work in this months Rhubarb Magazine, available at McNally-Robinson bookstores.

- Don't forget to enter our SuperBowl 43 contest, where a lucky Kick-FM supporter can win $50 in free taxi rides to get to and from their party courtesy of Unicity Taxi, and Hey!, Frank the Italian Barber is throwing in a free trim (retail value $8.00).
Enter by emailing talk@kick.fm with the subject line Superbowl.

* JUST CONFIRMED FOR WEDNESDAY, KELLY HOLMES OF RESOURCE ASSISTANCE FOR YOUTH, THE ORGANIZATION LAUDED IN THE 'METH CALL' LAST WEEK, WILL UPDATE US ON THE CURENT STATE OF THE METH TRADE IN WINNIPEG.

MAKE SURE TO LISTEN AT 5.10 PM WHEN SHE TELLS US WHAT IS HAPPENING ON THE SOCIAL SERVICE FRONT LINES.

* And on Thursday at 5.10 PM, an interview with former Ring of Honor World Champion and The Wrestling Observer Most Outstanding Wrestler in 2006 and 2007, Bryan Danielson ! He's facing off against The Amazing Mentallo in the main event of the inaugural Canadian Wrestling Elite (CWE) event at the Maples Community Centre, Friday night at 7.30 PM.

Exclusive audio: Caller explains the Simcoe St. suicide and Manitoba's Meth epidemic

Last week we had exclusive details about the St Boniface car thief who was detained by citizens and got called 'vigilantes' for defending a mother and child, and of the altercation at the Stand with Israel rally and the anti-Semitic hate literature displayed at the University of Manitoba by Hamas sympathizers.

We also explained the dual reasons behind the WRHA announcement that after-hours emergency surgeries at the Seve Oaks Hospital were being cut; and heard from Mike Sutherland of the Winnipeg Police Association about the aftermath of the west-end chase of a suspect who ran from a car that was pulled over, and when cornered pulled out a handgun and shot himself in the head in front of stunned officers.

The dead man was connected to a house on Manitoba Avenue which was raided the next day, where police found 5 guns and arrested 5 men and also made arrests in connection to an armed invasion last week of a Selkirk Avenue home.

This weekend the Winnipeg Free Press crime reporter, Mike McIntyre, revealed the name of the Simcoe suicide victim, Daniel Joseph Van Den Bosch, his criminal past and his long-standing addiction to crystal meth.

While going over that story yesterday, we repeated the question from last week: why wasn't the driver of the car charged for driving away from the scene when the cops ran after his passenger?

Unexpectedly we got a caller who gave a shocking reason: he 'ratted' out the gang house on Manitoba and numerous other gang-bangers -- and was let go.

In what was the most explosive call ever on TGCTS, she said she was DJ's best friend, that he wanted to kick his habit, and discussed at length the local Meth problem that the Provincial government has been claiming, is under control.

Here is a link to the KICK-FM web page that has the interview with the caller, as well as the entire show from yesterday.

http://www.kick.fm/2009/01/glimpse-into-world-of-meth-addiction.html

EXCLUSIVE AND EXPLOSIVE DETAILS ABOUT HORACE AVE. CAR THIEF BEATING

You've all watched and read and listened the past few days, as the mainstream media bent and twisted the facts (the few that they had) to their own agenda, and willingly provided a platform to race-baiters who defend criminals if they meet certain criteria.

It took about a day for TV stations to begin to balance their stories and see there was more than "racist vigilanti-ism" going on. It took an hour and twenty minutes this morning for AM talk radio to admit "there was more we don't know than we do know", and an hour 40 minutes to report there was a child in the car.

As this story unfolded, the local website chrisd.ca was outstanding in holding the media outlets that ignored the crime and focused on allegations of "a hate crime" to account.

By posting Global-TV's original video report and very responsibly also posting about the more balanced follow-up by Lorraine Nickel, Winnipeggers got a transparent real-time lesson on the alternative media as watchdog of the MSM.

Similarly, the posting of the angry response of the Sun reporter to criticism he received for slanted coverage - he pointed the finger at Global while denying being in the wrong himself - proved once again that reporters in this town squirm when taken to task for selective or incomplete reporting.

Today at 4 PM we had the facts nobody else had:

The story of our eyewitness revealed a neighbourhood held hostage, and that the suspect matched exactly (down to the unique jacket insignia) the description of a man "aged 19-23" listed in the Neighbourhood Watch circular, which was given to police when they arrived to take the man away.

That is why pictures of the man were taken and posted on the internet - so residents of St. Boniface could see if they recognized him as the man who had been lurking in the area for weeks now. We were told citizens are afraid to open their blinds in case their homes are being cased. One TV report included a man saying that crime was so bad in the area, if property wasn't tied down it was gone.

There was a clear and present danger (disturbingly unreported or ignored by MSM) on Horace Street on New Year's Eve outside the house party.

Not only was the thief trying to break the rear car window right beside the 2 year olds' head in his carseat as his mother screamed in fear; the would-be thief fought the crowd in trying to run away before police arrived, slashing at them with a screwdriver, ripping the glove of a bystander who had come up the street to help -- before the weapon was kicked out of his hand.

The statement of police that charges against the menace were not laid because of "a lack of evidence" is hard to fathom, given the couple whose car was attacked were right there to speak to, and there were other eyewitnesses to his actions. (As a caller today asked, "why wasn't he charged with public drunkenness" ?)

Tonight, after professional agitators told TV reporters that they want this low-life to come forward and file a human rights complaint because he was called names by his intended victims, we have learned yet another MSM outlet has received a complaint for their reporting on the incident and potentially endangering residents of the neighbourhood.

Tuesday at 4 PM, we'll have more on the Horace Street coverage, a follow-up on the WRHA cutbacks to surgery at Seven Oaks General Hospital, listener emails, and of course your calls to Winnipeg's only drive-home call-in show.