Why Is KBXE?

by Scott Hall & Maggie Montgomery
[originally posted on 90.5 KBXE Notes]

There's much excitement and energy for KBXE, the new station Northern Community Radio is building to better serve the Bemidji and Bagley areas. Many people have come forward in Beltrami and Clearwater counties to help us with the planning, building and fundraising. Some listeners from other parts of the KAXE listening area have asked, "Why are you building KBXE?"

The answer is to preserve community radio in that region. Many new radio stations have been built in north central MN since KAXE first went on the air in 1976. It is getting harder to get KAXE’s 91.7 signal to Bemidji due to HD Interference and summer fades, and the signal will get worse because the FCC just gave radio stations permission to increase the power of their HD transmissions. In the case of 105.3, it's possible we could lose that signal altogether because it's in the commercial spectrum - which means a commercial entity could take the signal and we would have no recourse.

Northern Community Radio intends to preserve a signal for community radio in our region and has the financial resources to expand its service. Failure to act will mean loss of audience, and that will erode our financial support. KBXE will add energy, creativity and substance to Northern Community Radio’s programming, on both KAXE and KBXE, and on our websites and social media networks.

This is an opportunity to expand our mission to over 40,000 new people and several communities to the west, including people who don’t currently have access to a public radio signal, giving more people the opportunity to directly participate—the opportunity to create radio programs and other media using Northern Community Radio’s facilities. KBXE will be a regional broadcaster and an asset in its communities of service.

KBXE will broadcast at 90.5 and is the best solution to guaranteeing a reliable signal for those many loyal KAXE listeners. It will also enable us to reach people who may have never heard KAXE. This is an exciting opportunity and we hope you'll be involved.

We have a very active Publicity Committee that is planning monthly (or more) events - whether you'd like to share ideas, answer questions at an info table, want to help with construction, or just have a lot of energy to focus - please let us know, email kbxe@kbxe.org, or call 800-662-5799.

Home For The Summer

by Kara Nyberg

They say that when you go away to college you begin to figure out who you truly are. For me it offered a great learning experience, and not just academically. This past school year that I spent in St. Joseph, Minnesota, really taught me how to adjust from my beloved woods of Northern Minnesota, to the drastic change to open plains of farm country.

Growing up in rural Bovey gave me the experiences that are hard to be gained anywhere else in the world. Grand Rapids and the surrounding communities have good reason to pride themselves on what they have to offer, such as lakes, trails, camping, and fishing- activities that I took for granted until I went away to school.
Quite often when people asked where I was from, their reaction would be one of jealousy and most always was filled with an expression of how great it must have been to grow up there. It gets cold in central Minnesota but when people would complain about that or the snow, I would assure them it was far worse up north and that people there would still be taking full advantage of the outdoors. There was disbelief when I told them that people actually drove snowmobiles to school and then parked them outside after a good snowfall.
My parents were good about calling throughout the year to let me know about when the ice on the lake was safe to walk on or when it would finally go out. Those calls were reminders that my Northern Minnesota was always there and reassured me that it would be just as great as I remembered it was whenever I went back. Now that I am finally back home, I plan on taking advantage of summer up north.


Kara Nyberg is a 2008 graduate of Grand Rapids High School. She has just finished her freshman year at the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She is planning to major in Communication and minor in Political Science and English.
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