Globe-Gazette from Mason City, Iowa • 13

ill i JULY 22, 1990 Sunday Globe C13 nBusiness Clear Lake's KZEV sold to Minnesota radio group KLSS donates AM station to local public radio "That's intentional, so we truly provide two different services to our listeners." The Hedberg Broadcasting Group was required to divest itself of KLSS-AM because it bought KRIB-AM in Mason City. Federal regulations prohibit a company from owning more than one AM radio station in the same city. The donation was approved Wednesday by the Iowa State Board of Regents, which owns KHKE through the University of Northern Iowa, according to Olsson. Now the Federal Communications Commission must approve the license transfer, which may take a couple months, according to Mark Hedberg, who manages the Mason City operations of KLSS. KHKE will use the KLSS transmitter and tower, along with space in the building at the base of the tower near NIACC, said Hedberg.

The value of the donation was $360,000, according to an appraisal by a a Kansas City brokerage firm, said Hedberg. The KLSS-AM 1010 transmitter is 10 years old, with a useful life expectancy of another 10 years, according to Olsson at KHKE. Hedberg said donation of KLSS-AM was deemed preferable to the two other options: turning the license back to the FCC and leaving the frequency unused. selling the station to a commercial entity, which would bring a competitor into the marketplace. "I don't think KHKE competes with what we do," said Hedberg.

"If someone listens to public radio, they probably don't listen to AM radio very much." By Steve McMahon Staff Writer MASON CITY The daytime range of KHKE public radio broadcasts will expand five-fold, to 25 miles, from Mason City in a couple of months, thanks to a donation of KLSS-AM facilities. The Hedberg Broadcating Group, owner of KLSS-AM and KLSS-FM, has donated its AM station to KHKE, which is based in Cedar Falls. In Cerro Gordo County, KHKE's public radio programming now is restricted to Mason City and Clear Lake, beamed from a 10-watt translator channel at 90.7 on the FM radio dial. The donation of the KLSS-AM means that in a couple months, daytime broadcasts of KHKE public radio will reach out 25 miles in all directions from Mason City, at 1010 on the AM radio dial. At sundown, the KLSS-AM 1010 frequency must shut down until morning.

So at night, KHKE programming will again be restricted to Mason City and Clear Lake on the weak FM translator at 90.7. The KLSS-AM 1010 donation does not affect Mason City-based broadcasts of the other public radio station, KUNI's repeater channel KUNY-FM 91.5. Like KHKE, KUNIKUNY is owned by the University of Northern Iowa. KUNY already reaches out to the Minnesota border with 8,000 watts of power from its repeater station on the NIACC campus. KUNY features "counter-broadcasting" to KHKE programming, according to Jons Olsson at KHKEKUNIKUNY in Cedar Falls.

"So if you hear classical on KHKE, you'll hear jazz on KUNY, and said Olsson. found a formula of music that has suited similar markets. John Linder said the station has requested a change in the call letters from KZEV to KLKK to identify with both the words classic and lake. One of the improvements planned for the station is to double its broadcast power, Linder said. Parry said he doesn't expect to compete head-to-head with the two powerful Mason City radio groups KLSS, which is buying KRIB AM, and KGLO, which also operates KNIQ FM.

Instead, he said, he plans on expanding the station's news and sports and wants to be invovled in promoting Clear Lake and the surrounding towns. Promotions of Clear Lake are a big priority, according to Linder. Parry said people from Linder Broadcasting have already been in contact with a large curator of Buddy Holly memmorabilia in hopes of putting together something for the Buddy Holly celebrations that are aimed more at promoting Clear Lake. The Buddy Holly Tributes were begun by Daryl Hensley, also known as the Madhatter and Diane's ex-husband. The Tribute last year was cancelled by Daryl Hensley after a dispute with Dar-rell Hein, manager of the Surf Ballroom, which is where all the Tributes were held.

Hein has begun his own festival in place of the Tributes. "We're trying to bring that back to life," Parry said. Linder Broadcast Group owns five stations in Minnesota, including long-time station KTOE and adult contemporary station KDOG, plus KRIT in Fort Dodge and a new station that is starting up in Oskaloosa. probably get involved full-time in real estate after she leaves. She has worked part-time with Century 21 Anchor Realty.

Parry is originally from Albert Lea, and he owned a station in Austin. He will stay in Fort Dodge, but will visit Clear Lake frequently. "Both John Linder and I like to boat," he said. attention will be made to local sports and news. Diane Hensley will continue at the station for a while, Parry said.

Both Linder and Parry complimented Diane Hensley on keeping the station going after her divorce, saying it wasn't an easy time to operate a solo station. Diane Hensley said she would i i Leisure lovers hunting for N. armla bio Thomas new VP at North Iowa MASON CITY Stuart J. Thomas has been hired as vice president for ancillary services at North Iowa Medical Center. Thomas, who was an administrative director with ServantCor Health Care Systems in Kankakee, 111., holds two graduate degrees in health care administration and adult education.

He has more than 20 years professional experience, and is a certified Thomas laboratory technician, according to Dennis Headlee, NIMC president. At NIMC, Thomas duties include organization and direction of departments of radiology, physical therapy, pharmacy, laboratory, cardio-pulmonary, anesthesia, durable medical equipment and educational services. While in the Army in the late 1960s, Thomas served as director of the medical technologist training program at the University of Saigon School of Medicine. Thomas has been a Boy Scout leader and soccer coach. He and his wife, Donna, have two children, Gregory and Andrea.

Abrahamson Atkinson Promotions Stacey Abrahamson, Ann Atkinson and John DiMarco were appointed personal banking officers at First Interstate Bank. Abrahamson was first hired in 1978, and served as teller, deposit counselor and personal banker. Atkinson, a Marshalltown native, was hired in June DiMarco 1989 as an officer trainee. DiMarco, with an associate degree from NIACC, was hired in 1981 as a deposit counselor and most recently served as a personal banker. Building business MASON CITY Winnebago Constructors Inc.

of Mason City was recently awarded four bridge projects and a dam project according to Al Stelpflug, general superintendent of Winnebago. Three of the bridge projects to start in July are in Calhoun County. The fourth bridge is key to construction of the new Trolley Trail bike path between Clear Lake and Mason City. Fred Carlson Asphalt Company was awarded the contract for the new path and has contracted Winnebago to build a new bridge to span a small creek. The bridge will be 90 feet long with a ten foot wide concrete slab.

In May, Winnebago was low bidder for the Lower Pine Lake project near Eldora. The project involves building a new spillway, dam and bridge. The Pine Lake project begins July 9 and will take over a year complete. Etcetera Steven Tynan, assistant attorney for Cerro Gordo County, attended the 13th annual Vehicular HomicideOWI Conference conducted by the Traffic Institute, Northwestern University, in Chicago in July Maynard K. Malabey, assistant manager of the Social Security Administration's district office in Mason City, received a Supervisory Excellence Award for achievements as operations supervisor in the Flat River, Mo.

branch office Jim and Karen Weber, part-owners of Water Conditioning in Charles City, were delegates to the Iowa Water Quality Association summer convention in Lake Okoboji A I jzl4 By Jeremy Powers Western Region Bureau Chief CLEAR LAKE A controlling interest in Clear Lake's KZEV radio has been sold to a Minnesota radio group. But even though it may be owned by outsiders, one of the priorities of the new management will be to make it more of Clear Lake's own radio station. The stock was purchased from Diane Hensley, who has operated the station for four years. "We feel Diane (Hensley) has done a fabulous job. But we feel that the market place is there so that KZEV can be brought up to be a very strong point in Clear Lake," said Mike Parry, of Fort Dodge, who will be overseeing the station.

Parry oversees the Iowa operations. "We want to make it Clear Lake's radio station," Parry said. As of last Monday, KZEV has been run by Parry, of Fort Dodge, for the Linder Broadcast Group. Some changes in the broadcast' have already taken place, Parry said. But the changes aren't intended to be drastic or come all at once, Parry said.

"We've take off some of the rough edges," Parry said. The station will move from its rock and roll format to more of an adult contemporary format which will appeal to people in the 25-35 age group. The station will play more top 40, rock favorites and adult classics from the past thirty years. It has also changed its station identification from the "All new 103" to "Classic 103." "We've already pulled off the hard, what I call, AOR or album-oriented rock. We've already started toning it down," Parry said.

Parry said that Linder has New firm ui N.W. States By Steve McMahon Staff Writer MASON CITY Three million down, $19 million to go. The company that bought Northwestern States Portland Ce- -ment Company has started shelling out the $22 million budgeted over the next three years for new and rebuilt equipment and buildings. That's significant money, equal to what was paid for all of NW States in January when it was bought by Dundee Cement Company, now part of Holnam Inc. The infusion of capital, along with the release from $22 million in debt that Dundee assumed when it bought NW States, has relieved tension and improved morale at the plant.

"It's 100 percent better," said Harley Kenward. He is president of the union that was voted in at the company's low ebb two years ago. Plant manager Garey Kropf expressed similar sentiment about the buy-out. "It's been a very pleasant experience for our company," said Kropf. "We've been under some very nerve-wracking conditions for the past five or six years." According to Kropf, this year's capital budget of about $3 million includes: about $1 million to rebuild the No.

3 kiln. $750,000 to implement part of the plan to stabilize waste dust in the west quarry, according to a plan recently approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. $750,000 for a new loader, a giant machine that fills a 50-ton truck at the quarry in about two passes. about $200,000 to replace a roof on a warehouse.

two 50-ton quarry trucks. a new computer system for the office. rebuilding an inventory of spares for vital equipment. Before last year's sale to Dundee, NW States spent $3 million repairing the larger, No. 2 kiln.

Taken together, the two rebuilt kilns should allow Holnam, Inc. to boost yearly production from about 500,000 tons of cement seen in recent years to 800,000 tons this year, 875,000 tons in 1991, and 920,000 tons in 1992, according to Stuart "Bud" Kirvan, spokesman for Holnam, Inc. in Dundee, Mich. NW States' oldest, smallest kiln No. 1 was last used in the early 1980s and will not be rebuilt, according to Kropf.

The horizontal kilns are cylindrical furnaces over 500 feet long and big enough for a man to stand up in. They rotate slowly as they cook and fuse clay, limestone and parading Parry said neither Linder Broadcasting nor Diane Hensley are releasing the quantity of stock purchased nor the purchase price. Parry said only that it was a controlling interest. There are no staff changes planned at the station, Parry said, but he is looking for advertising sales people. He said the station will continue with live disk jockeys and he's not sure when more plan approved be kept dry through continued pumping as needed.

Other wells outside the quarry will intercept contaminated water as it seeps toward Calmus Creek. Contaminated water caught in the interceptor wells will be neutralized with acid and then released into Calmus creek. Acid neutralization was used to pump out the highly alkaline water from the flooded quarry, which held about 420 million gallons. NW States stopped dumping waste dust into the west quarry in 1985, and no longer generates nor disposes of the alkaline dust, plant officials have said. The plan approved by the EPA for NW States was discussed at a public hearing at the Public Library in March.

Another public hearing, not yet scheduled, will center on a similar dumping area on property of the other cement company in Mason City, Lehigh Portland Cement Company. silo that dominates the foreground view from 17th Street N.W. In a couple years, a second big dome See UPGRADING, C15 Stafl photo by JEFF HEINZ About 140 feet of the tube-like kiln stretching above plant manager Garey Kropf was recently replaced at Northwestern States Portland Cement Company. of Charles City have purchased land more for the recreational benefits rather than investment opportunity. Picking wildflowers, hunting, fishing and possibly even some camping is why Jarrard purchased 60 acres of land north of Charles City on the Cedar River.

"It's a lot of fun for my family," said Jarrard. Jarrard also believes sportsmen will become more active land buyers in the future. "I know a half dozen guys who would like to find a chunk of land just for hunting," said Jarrard. Jarrard said the problem right now is that most land suitable for recreational activities is overpriced. "The price is based more on production because the people selling it used it for making their livelihood," said Jarrard.

REGULATIONS MAY change the pricing structure. New regulations aimed at protecting wetlands and protecting soil erosion will limit the ability to effectively farm some land, said Molitor. "The price of marginal land could change in the future. If the ag sector recognizes that some land can't be farmed in a profitable manner because of regulations, it will back away from the asking price," said Molitor. The price of marginal land will depend a lot on how strictly new federal regulations are enforced, said Molitor.

"Hunting farms" are being advertised more these days and probably will be more in the future, said Max Holmes of Hertz Farm Management. Holmes said his company currently has a farm of 160 acres in southern Iowa that is of poor quality, but is 60 percent tillable. It's this type of farm that will be advertised as a "hunting farm" and might draw interest from sportsmen, said Holmes. "This property is a hunting paradise, but still has some tillable portions so a buyer can realize a return on investment," said Holmes. HOLMES SAID the vast openness of Iowa's landscape is also promting interest among Amish farmers on the East Coast who are being squeezed in by development and are looking for See HUNTING.

C1 5 By Kevin Baskins Staff Writer A simple, classified advertisement in Wednesday's Globe Gazette reads like this: "Fifty acres, wildlife area, pheasants, deer, bass fishing. Private access. $325 per acre." Notice that the ad contains no mention of how much land is tillable or the yield history of row crops. But it's the kind of advertising Iowans might expect to see more of in the future. Environmental regulations have become stricter, increasing the awareness of a concept known as "best land use." Some land is being recognized as not best suited for agriculture anymore, which may prompt more purchases of land for recreation rather than crop production in the future.

EXPERTS SAY the trend has already started. Conservation organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Pheasants Forever, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, county conservation boards and the state have become major players in the land acquisition game. Habitat is the battle cry of sportsmen looking for better hunting, said Gary Molitor, manager of the Mason City branch of Farm Credit Services and chairman of the national board of directors for Pheasants Forever. Conservation groups are beginning to recognize the importance of attempting cooperative efforts recognizing mat they are all after the same thing conservation of habitat and natural resources, said Molitor. In turn, the cooperation has given these conservation groups the organizational capability needed to generate the capital required.

"You're already seeing real estate brokers contacting outdoor groups or governmental entities first when marginal land becomes available," said Fred Greder of Benchmark Agribusiness in Mason City. CONSERVATIONISTS AND sportsmen are expected to be a new factor in the Iowa real estate business where less than 2 percent of the state's land mass is held by public ownership. Some people like Don Jarrard NW States waste By Steve McMahon Staff Writer MASON CITY The Environmental Protection Agency has accepted Northwestern States Portland Cement Company's plan to stabilize waste dust in a quarry just west of the plant according to Stuart "Bud" Kirvan, spokesman for Holnam, parent company of NW States. The two million tons of caustic dust dumped over a 16-year period had been contaminating nearby Calmus Creek as water seeped out of the flooded quarry. In the creek, the pollution had killed most of the game fish in the half-mile stretch downstream to the confluence with the Winnebago River.

The $2.25 million control plan includes a waterproof cap of clay over the dust, which covers an area equal to 55 city blocks to a depth of 40 feet. In addition, the balance of the empty quarry will other minerals into lumps of rocklike clinker. The clinker is eventually ground into cement dust. But first, it is stored in the big domed a ijfca'jfcaf, aP if a. aT aT.

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