KRTS is now selling raffle tickets for the chance to win a 2002 Triumph Bonneville motorcycle. Tickets are $50 and no more than 200 will be sold.



Tickets are also available for our Radio Rendezvous, the 2010 fundraiser dinner for Marfa Public Radio, on Saturday March 20 in Marfa, the event of the season. Tickets are $150 to the gala, with catering by the Food Company of Dallas, one-of-a-kind West Texas prizes, and the Webb Wilder Band from Nashville.

What's On Radio?

This Week's Interviews

This week on Talk At Ten, (Monday) a tribute to Ryan Bingham, who won an Academy Award Sunday night for Best Original Song; (Tuesday) businessman John Poindexter of Cibolo Creek; (Wednesday) replay of an interview with biologists Michael Eason and Aimee Roberson; (Thursday) the band Midtown Dickens, performing in Marfa; (Friday) Lannan Foundation writer-in-residence Ben Marcus.

This Week on Talk At Ten

These are the local interviews for TALK AT TEN for the first week of March, broadcast weekdays first at 10 AM and then again at 6:30 PM: Monday, Pathless Pedaled and Tim Leeper, two cross-country cycling groups; Tuesday, we preview The Clientele, band from Britain; Wednesday, artist Jarrod Beck, showing at the Second Floor in Marfa; Thursday, environmental writer Paul Johnson, resident of Thinking Like A Mountain in Fort Davis; and FridayRichard Grant, author of God's Middle Finger, about the Sierra Madre.

Presidio County results

 Presidio County results for County Judge: Jerry Agan (355) in a run-off with Paul Hunt (353), then James "Quatro" White (316), Linneaus Lorrette (135). Results for County Commissioner: "Buddy" Knight (248) in a run-off with Luis Madrid (137), then Danny Watts (97), Fred Covarubias (67).

TX Independence Day

 Marfa Public Radio is celebrating Texas Independence Day with a hourlong block of classic Texas tunes, from 3 to 4 PM, on Tuesday. It's also Election Day, stay tuned Tuesday night for full results.

Candidate Forum Rebroadcast

 Portions of the two-hour Presidio County Candidate Forum will be rebroadcast Monday at 3-4 PM. The Forum was originally broadcast on January 29 in Marfa. Candidates for Presidio County Commissioner and Presidio County Judge participated. 

 

Sunday Evening Outtage

Extremely high winds, with gusts up to 65 miles per hour, have interrupted AEP's electrical service to the KRTS Transmitter, which in turn has taken 93.5 FM off-the-air, beginning at 5:30pm. Once AEP has restored power, we should have 93.5 FM operational again. We apologize for this interruption. (Meanwhile, the web stream continues.) UPDATE: Normal broadcasts have resumed at 8:20pm.

Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering: specials on KRTS 93.5 FM include a festival preview on the Blues Hour (Monday, 7:30-9pm), with Michael Stevens, Jim Wilson, Don Cadden, Kay Nowell, and more. On Talk At Ten on Tuesday, we speak with Cowboy Celtic from Canada, live at 10am and replayed at 6:30pm. On Wednesday on Talk At Ten, a visit with cowboy poets Andy Hedges and Andy Wilkinson, of Lubbock, live at 10am and repeated at 6:30pm. On Friday, at 10am, a Live Remote Broadcast from the Marshall Auditorium, and the kick-off of the 24th annual Texas Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Alpine.

Weekend programming

On the General Store episode of VersionQuest, Marfa's DJ JD plays versions of "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. Saturday night at 7 PM. On Sunday mornings, listen to Robert Halpern with his Jazz Fusion Plus at Noon.

'Talk @ 10' this week

 Talk At Ten is the original weekday interview program, at 10am and replayed at 6:30am, Monday through Friday. This week, we visit with (Monday) Kyle Kerley, the Valentine High School junior who designed the Valentine’s Day postmark for the town, and then Kristian Sonnier of Peter A Mayer advertising firm in New Orleans, talking about Mardi Gras preparations there; (Tuesday) Maria Ruiz and Mary Clare Spear, discussing cancer prevention; (Wednesday) actor and playwright Matt Hardison, on his new play “Private Lives of Private Spies” at Sul Ross; (Thursday) artist Stephan Pascher in Marfa; (Friday) musician Stephanie Hatfield, who is performing in Alpine.

Special Series: Back To Work

KRTS/ Marfa Public Radio, in conjunction with Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande, has produced the series, Back To Work, a look at the economies of the Trans-Pecos area of West Texas.   The Back To Work series is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Marfa National Bank.

 

The CPB encourages you to share your public radio comments via the My Source site on this page.

On this special Back To Work site you will find podcasts for the special series of four Talk at Ten broadcasts we have done, each of which combine field recordings throughout Presidio, Jeff Davis, Brewster and Hudspeth counties, with live interview.   All Talk at Ten broadcasts are hosted by KRTS’ General Manager, Tom Michael.  This site will also include podcasts for each interview conducted in the field by our Project Manager, Karen Bernstein.  Interviews and Talk At Ten podcasts are grouped thematically: jobs/ jobseekers, business, Redford/ Presidio case studies.

The Back To Work area (B2W) has regularly updated content to keep you informed on matters of the national and local economies relevant to our story topics or interviews, including an area devoted to articles and media as well as a discussion forum.  We also have links to a number of statewide organizations and agencies that can help job seekers and businesses get back to work! Join us and participate.

Project Manager, Karen Bernstein, and Station Manager, Tom Michael discuss the Back To Work website and topic forums as well as an update on stories from the series. 

The devastating Rio Grande flood of 2008 left the far West Texas communities of Presidio and Redford in physical and economic disarray.  Back To Work records field interviews with residents of both communities describing both the importance of maintaining an agricultural economy despite the odds and new initiatives for community growth, including solar energy production.  Live interviews with Russel Smith, the Executive Director of Texas Renewable Energies Industry Association, Sally Spener and Daniel Borunda from the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. Sector, Congressman Ciro Rodriguez and County Judge Jerry Agan.

What are businesses up against in this recession and how has Federal stimulus funds helped those in Texas?  Live interviews with Albert Salgado at University of Texas at San Antonio’s Small Business Dev’t. Center Network, Texas state Representative Pete Gallego, and Beatriz Lucero from Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande.

national, statewide and local look at the issues surrounding employment search in 2009 and a preview of what improvements we can expect for 2010.  Live interviews include with Dr. Heather Boushey, senior economist with the Center For American Progress; Elizabeth McDonald, stock analyst with Fox Business Channel; David Coronado with Upper Rio Grande Workforce Solutions as well as commentary from local residents.