With the future of one of the nation's only jazz radio stations on the line, Minnesota state senators Chuck Wiger (DFL-North St Paul) and Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing) introduced a bill ordering the Minnesota Department of Transportation to reinstate its funding of traffic reports. MnDOT has provided half the revenue for the station in exchange for the airing of frequent reports of traffic and detour information around the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, KBEM (FM 88.5) has launched an Emergency Bridge Fund drive to keep the station operating through the current fiscal year when MnDOT's contract runs out on March 15^th. Wiger noted that he drafted the bill after hearing from many KBEM listeners.

The jazz community in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul has been greatly served by this unique media and education resource. Since 1970, KBEM as been the area's "voice for education, the arts, and jazz" through a license to the Minneapolis Public Schools Board of Education. Additionally, KBEM has served commuters as "traffic" radio, broadcasting frequent live reports of the traffic flow around the metro area including continuous coverage whenever there was a major delay, accident, or other type of serious snarl. A service of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (aka Mn Dot), it has been the funding for these traffic reports that has provided half of the fiscal support for KBEM. And it is this funding which will disappear March 15, 2005 when MnDot terminates its contract, reportedly due to the Department's own fiscal challenges. There may be alternative, though less timely, means for area commuters to learn of traffic problems; it is even rumored that "traffic radio" might be reincarnated on another station. But KBEM's unique contribution to the quality of jazz and life in the Twin Cities is irreplaceable. Since 1989, KBEM has been self-supporting as a listener supported independent public radio station. Finding alternative funding for one of our true cultural and educational treasures is critical!

Education in Jazz and Broadcasting
From its inception in the 1960s as an innovative distance learning resource project, KBEM today reaches nearly 100,000 devoted listeners weekly as local public radio's source for jazz and traffic information.  Housed at North Community High School in Minneapolis since 1982, KBEM is the "broadcast expression" for students at this vibrant inner city high school. Directly, the program serves 150 students during the academic year, providing them a unique education combining broadcast communications with the history and contemporary scene of jazz 

But KBEM serves a much broader spectrum of Minneapolis Public Schools students, many of whom become involved through KBEM's "School News" Project.   Nearly 40 Minneapolis Public Schools, and 400 students from kindergarten through high school, participate in presenting two-minute "school news" broadcasts, aired over 60 times during the course of a broadcast week during the school year.  Additionally, Minneapolis Public Schools Board meetings are broadcast twice monthly in their entirety on KBEM.

Twin Cities Voice of the Arts
KBEM supports the broader arts community through interviews, public service announcements, and promotions of a wide range of events. Over the past 30 years, KBEM has facilitated unique arts and programming partnerships with  organizations including The Guthrie Theatre, Walker Art Center, Penumbra Theater, Ordway Center, Minnesota Orchestra, Illusion Theater, Theatre de la Jeune Leune,  St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Jungle Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Weissman Art Center, and countless others. Particularly, KBEM supports the arts in its home neighborhood community of north Minneapolis. Annually, the station provides over $500,000 of airtime pro bono to a wide range of Twin Cities' arts, health, and community organizations in the form of announcements and community calendar listings.

The Little Station That Jazzed

Over the last several years, the Twin Cities has become nationally recognized as one of the nation's leading jazz and jazz education centers, in no small part due to Jazz 88's ongoing and special features. KBEM's programming has exclusively focused on jazz since 1985, with its 24/7 music format. The station has a strong commitment to showcasing local jazz composers and artists in addition to an incredibly diverse library of national and international jazz artists. One of fewer than ten national public radio services featuring fulltime jazz programming, KBEM is the only broadcast service in the nation to blend a high school communications program with a jazz format and jazz curriculum. As a resource in the heart of Minneapolis' African American neighborhoods, this commitment is invaluable to the local community. As a presence on the Internet, KBEM now reaches out globally to listeners who access the station online.

Further, KBEM stretches its musical boundaries beyond mainstream jazz, serving about 30,000 Twin Cities Bluegrass fans with "Bluegrass Saturday Morning" ("Bluegrass is the jazz of country music") and the Twin Cities Latin community through Brisas Latinas, a show featuring 4 hours of Latin jazz, culture, and music hosted by Mario Duarte (publisher of La Prensa newspaper), every Sunday afternoon.  Other regular features include Singers & Standards, String Theory, Monday Evening Jazz with Tom Surowicz, Big Band Scene, and Jazz & The Spirit. Additionally, KBEM has been a key sponsor of the Twin Cities Winter Jazz Festival (usually held in March) and the Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival, the latter extending over two weeks in June at multiple venues, and featuring top national as well as local talent.

KBEM also sponsors other events designed to bring together area jazz aficionados in activities that broaden their horizons, including the Jazz 88 Restaurant tour, a monthly fund-raising evening of great food and music at one of the area's top restaurants; the monthly Gallery Grooves, a unique evening at a local art gallery where participants can enjoy a visual arts display while hearing some of the latest jazz recordings; "Jazz Cooks!" a new interactive cooking class series and Jazz88 fundraiser hosted by the leading chefs of the metro area, who will teach participants to prepare regional menus and pair wines and jazz for the complete "Jazz" dinner party; and (starting in January for thirteen weeks), the "Wednesday Night Commotion" Jazz Series, featuring a lineup of top Twin Cities jazz artists performing in the atrium at Calhoun Square in uptown Minneapolis.

Help Preserve Jazz and Traffic Radio!

What can you do to help ensure that stations like KBEM survive threats to their fiscal integrity? Start by addressing concerns to key sponsors—for KBEM, this is the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minneapolis Public Schools. MnDOT's contract funded 50% of KBEM's programming. The loss of this partnership not only threatens the jazz and education programs of Jazz 88, but signals a loss of key information for commuters who will now have to rely on less accessible and less timely sources. The consequences could certainly be greater than mere annoyance, as failure to anticipate serious traffic problems will only create more and potentially dangerous traffic situations. Let the key players (from the Governor to Mn Dot officials) know about your concerns:

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You can also call Mn/Dot at (651) 296-3000 to voice your concerns as well as contacting your local state legislator.

Minneapolis Public Schools provides non-fiscal support to KBEM and is working with the station officials to identify alternative sources of funding in order to maintain the unique educational and cultural opportunities offered by Jazz 88. Let district officials and school board members know how important KBEM is to the community—both as a unique learning opportunity for students and a key arts resource for everyone! Comments can be directed to the district through its Communications Department at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call (612) 668-0230; contact the Board of Education at (612) 668-0637.

Of immediate concern is getting through the rest of this fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2005. Without the funding from MnDot, KBEM's budget will be $150,000 short. Within the next three weeks, major cuts to staff and programs may be necessary, starting in February. To give the station more time to restructure its budget for the 2005/2006 fiscal year, an emergency "Jazz88 Bridge Fund" has been established for individual or business donations to the station. Any size donation will help to ensure solvency for this fiscal year! Contact Ted or Kevin at KBEM, (612)668-1735 to pledge or send in your donation, preferably by check payable to KBEM, no later than January 29, 2005 in order to help minimize cuts in February. A special Jazz88 Bridge Fund online donation area is available at www.jazz88fm.com. 

And now, your voice can help bring change at the legislative level. Contact your Minnesota senator and representative today and urge support of SF 365 and any companion bill introduced in the House. (If you live outside of Minnesota, your help is still critical—please send donations to the Jazz 88 Bridge Fund!)

If you are not familiar with KBEM, tune in to FM 88.5 or visit www.jazz88fm.com