Indiana’s 1570 AM is playing Michael Jackson tunes today. But once that’s over, the former all-talk station will go to an Oldies format, according to station GM David Smith.

As we reported June 19, the station lost the rights to syndicated hosts Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham, and Smith said that precipitated the decision to change formats. He said Rocky Knight’s morning talk show will continue airing from 6-9 a.m., but the rest of the lineup will disappear.

Other syndicated talk fare on the station included Fred Thompson, Clark Howard, Phil Valentine, David Stein and Neal Boortz.

Rumors are that Main Line Broadcasting will introduce an all-talk lineup, including Beck, Ingraham and Michael Savage (recently dropped at WHAS-AM) as early as Monday. The talk format, it’s rumored, will take over at Main Line’s rock station, WLRS-FM, 105.1.

One thing we can all agree on — America is a wonderful place to live. So I hope you’re getting out and celebrating.

Meanwhile, here’s some things to think about that make America great…

Chicken on Crutches: In its ongoing efforts to point out KFC’s cruelty to chickens, PETA wants to put up a statue of a “wounded chicken on crutches” downtown and call it art. Surprisingly, the organization asked the city for permission.  Holding back laughter, spokesman Chris Poynter told the C-J he had a hard time believeing it would be approved. [Courier]

For Some Actual Art: Go to the Green Building tonight and see a new photographic exhibit from Sarah Lyon, who says she threw darts at a giant map of the city, then went out and took pictures. The result is a 50-image project you can see starting at 6. [Courier]

Our Family Feud: You can’t beat $20 for 9 holes with a cart for four people on public golf courses. You have to tee off after 4:30. I’ll be out there with Luke and Josh at Vettiner later today.  It’s part of Metro’s efforts to promote city courses.

MJ All Day: We don’t know what’s up, but the 1570 AM radio station in New Albany in playing all Michael Jackson today.  It’s not permanent. The station recently announced it was losing Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham from its talk lineup. Owner David Smith says it’s just a stunt. We’ll let you know when we figure it out.

Gee, Those Baptists Really Hate the Gays: You remember that the Southern Baptist Convention kicked a Texas church to the curb because it wasn’t hostile enough to gays during its convention here last week. Turns out the church has a national touring choir that had planned a mission trip to the University of the Cumberlands. The Baptist group uninvited them, said they weren’t welcome to come to podunk Kentucky and help people in poverty. Now the story is getting national attention.  [Fort Worth Star-Telegram]

Maybe the Ohio River Bridges Project will Be Done Before the Harrods Creek Bridge: Yep, they stopped work on the Harrods Creek Bridge after a week when Judge Charles Simpson buckled to River Fields. He issued a stop work order for Monday that will effectively stop everything. The bridge was going to be fixed by December. Now, who knows. [Courier]

All About Timing: A friend told me the Downs was so crowded last night that a big group of her friends gave up when they couldn’t park anywhere close to the track. Drawing 33,000 people to anything on a summer night is quite a feat, even if, as C.D. Kaplan discovered, at least one CD exec complained that many weren’t interested in betting. Still, it’s a no-brainer to install the lights permanently and make at least half the racing dates at night. [Score]

Awarding Behavior: LEO’s Phillip Bailey picked up a NATIONAL award from the organization of alt-weeklies. His stories on a West End resident, a controversial radio station decision and last year’s fiasco over the homophobic flyer that influenced a Metro Council election got the attention of the AAN. Worthy of re-reading. [AAN]

Fixed Sidewalk: Our pals at Broken Sidewalk, the local blog about neighborhoods, is back up to speed after a short hiatus. Welcome back! [Broken Sidewalk]

He Got What Was Coming: J.D. Sparks, the loony Republican who tried to stop LEO from filming a GOP fundraiser, got a $250 fine and an order to stay away from LEO writer Jonathon Meador. For no extra charge, he got humiliated publicly, threw away his chance at a political future, and became a persona non grata with the local party. On the bright side, he gets to keep his guns. [S. George]

Heine on the Web: It’s generally hard to get us to say “Ooh, that’s cool” about a local retailer website. But then there’s this new one from Heine Bros. [Heine]

Telling Anthem’s Side: Deb Moessner, president of Anthem, did one of those WAVE Hot Buttons to explain that Norton just wants more money, which is why the two parties split. I’m expecting some C-J editorials from both sides tomorrow. I kind of like this new trend of settling public arguments in the media. [WAVE]

Belles Again: It’s episode 7 tonight, in which Kellie (now the most troubled and, therefore, most intriguing, Belle) figures out she can get pregnant, but the current long-distance BF wants none of that. And Shea goes crazy wedding shopping, though we know the wedding will never take place. Fickle Hadley has a date. At 10 tonight on SOAPnet.

Better to Read Something: I heard Esquire editor A.J. Jacobs is coming to the Idea Festival this fall, so I read his book, “The Know-It-All,” about his experience reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. Funny, funny stuff, and it does make you feel smarter. Not as smart as if you read the whole thing, but still. [IF]

48 Hours Deadline: We’re big fans of the 48-Hour Film Festival, which is coming up later this month. Thus far 38 teams of filmmakers are signed up, leaving about 10 spots open. If you hurry. Teams get their assignments July 17, and the films will be screened July 22-23.  [48 Hours]

And on KET: Tomorrow’s Comment on Kentucky features Ryan Alessi of the Herald-Leader (who broke the KACo story), Al Cross and Laura Cullen Glasscock of the Kentucky Gazette.

Gov. Steve Beshear has selected Madeline Abramson as the new board chair of the Kentucky Center for the Arts. She’s already on the board, and might seem a natural choice for Beshear to make after Ed Glasscock’s resignation. The Frost Brown chief held the job for an amazingly long 10 years.

But the job isn’t some plum, do-nothing position. As the C-J’s Andrew Adler wrote June 21, the new chair will have to be politically astute and fight for state money in Frankfort.  Here’s what he wrote about Glasscock’s successor:

Whoever gets Beshear’s nod will find plenty of challenges, plunged into an economy showing only the barest signs of recovery. Because the center has secured $8.9 million in state funds for capital needs (practically astonishing given present fiscal realities), the incoming chairman will have a little breathing room.

Then the new board chief will have to muster the needed savvy, and the guts, to make the case for the center throughout the commonwealth.

Mrs. Abramson may have the mettle to get the job done, but it certainly seems a step up from her current activities, including chairing the board at Maryhurst. Can she lobby rural state legislators with the deftness that Glasscock has shown for the last decade?

The appointment brings up all sorts of opportunities for conflicts of interest, and would seem to give Abramson’s critics some new ammunition. If Madeline’s husband decides to join Beshear’s 2011 campaign as his running mate, the timing of her appointment smacks of favoritism. Some will ask if Beshear’s appointment had anything to do with persuading Jerry to join up with him.

Abramson is said to be leaning toward the Lt. Governor race, and will make an announcement in the next few weeks.

Will having his wife heading the Kentucky Center Board factor into the 2011 statewide election, with Abramson in the #2 spot on the ticket? Time will tell.

Neighbors in Butchertown are pretty determined to fight plans by the Swift Pork Company to get zoning approval from BOZA for some facilities that are already built.

There’s a BOZA hearing Monday morning in which Swift will find out if it really is better to ask forgiveness than permission when it comes to zoning issues.

The Butchertown Neighborhood Association has submitted a 16-page prehearing statement that argues against everything Swift wants. It says an expansion of the facility is “not appropriate given the dramatic changes in the neighborhood”; that the expansion in inconsistent with a neighborhood plan adopted just 18 months ago; and that Swift should be penalized for its “bad faith and unlawful conduct” in the case.

The neighbors’ document concludes that BOZA must decide whether it will forgive Swift for violating the terms of its current conditional use permit, and whether it will reward Swift for its actions by approving further expansion.

BOZA, we think, is feeling some heat after a string of embarrassing decisions have been played out in the media. And though it seems to exist to please developers, expect the board to take a stand on this one and reject the Swift request.

The neighborhood association’s statement is also unflattering to city codes and regulations director Bill Schreck and planning director Charles Cash. It outlines the steps Schreck and Cash have taken to help Swift keep their operation running even though its addition was built without proper permissions.

Here’s a link to the Butchertown document.

It’s not like us to advertise real estate listings, but this one’s an exception. Listed at $219,900, this home is offered by none other than Karen Cunagin Sypher, the woman in the midst of the Rick Pitino extortion scandal. Her trial, on charges of extortion and lying to the FBI, was originally scheduled for June 29, but Sypher’s defense team asked for and was granted  a six-week delay.

In my travels across Kentucky, parents have often asked me what government can do to protect kids on the Internet. Law enforcement have also complained to me that many officers don’t have the resources to process a computer hard drive for evidence, despite the fact that 80% of crimes committed today involve some type of digital evidence.

The concerns of parents and police in every corner of the Commonwealth have helped shape my agenda as attorney general. For the past year-and-a-half, I have worked closely with Kentucky lawmakers to draft legislation that would strengthen state laws to better protect children from the dangers that exist online and have identified areas where the law lags technology. I have also worked closely with parents, like Mark Neblett, whose daughter, Rachel, committed suicide after being stalked online.

My cybercrimes legislation, passed by the General Assembly during the 2009 regular session, took effect on June 25. This was not only a personal victory, but a victory for Kentucky families.

My new law puts in place important safeguards for parents and it gives police and prosecutors the tools they need to arrest and convict cyberpredators who try to harm our children.

Read the rest after the jump…

[Read more →]

Happy July 2. Try to get some work done today. I know it’s hard.

Speaking of Not Working: Churchill is pulling out all the stops on the last Night Racing date of its little experiment. The marketing department dreamed up the idea of getting parents out by offering babysitting at the Derby Museum — only $25 a tyke. But what happened to the cheap beer? [Churchill]

Get Sick Here! Anthem is busy playing P.R. in this dispute with Norton. Yesterday it put out a release quoting officials at Jewish, U of L and Baptist East hospitals saying that yes, the hospitals would love to take business away from Norton. Both sides are filling up radio and TV telling their side of the story, which reminds us of the way the U of L vs. Norton battle over brain surgeons went. [Biz First]

Bo Says No: Rick Bozich is right. JCPS is taking it too easy on the coaches involved in the Max Gilpin tragedy, and blaming his death on creatine and adderall is shameful. [Bozich]

Crit Will Get To It: State Auditor Crit Luallen’s staff should have a field day exposing excessive spending at the Kentucky League of Cities and the Kentucky Association of Counties.  She announced yesterday that her office would audit the two non-profits. The Lexington paper, among other things, revealed that Spencer County’s David Jenkins, on the KACo expense account, had visited Louisville’s Thorobred Lounge.[Herald-Leader]

We’re Paying for This, Too: Luallen expressed real outrage when she learned that KACo insurance was paying for criminal defense fees for people like Barren County jailer Leland Cox. Memorable quote: “I let the devil get to me on a weakness I didn’t know I had.” He was sexually abusing female inmates. [Herald-Leader]

Crossing a Journalistic Line: In an effort to boost revenue, the Washington Post is offering lobbyists access to its own reporters and editors, as well as government officials, for $25K.  A new low. [Politico]

FrankenFunny: We’re still cracking up over Jake’s post on the election of Al Franken to the Senate. [Page One]

Check out this picture from the Courier-Journal parking lot:

Like so many sheep headed over a cliff, those are Velocity distribution boxes all lined up, ready to go. Where they’re headed is anybody’s guess. Our sources there won’t say there’s anything unusual going on, but given other cost-cutting moves underway at the C-J, it makes sense.

The popular rumor is that Velocity is cutting back on distribution, pulling the boxes and cutting back its print run by 30 percent. Many of the boxes in southern Indiana have been removed. By our count, there are at least 300 boxes that have been pulled from the street.

The free weekly seemed to be in trouble a year ago, when Gannett launched its online entertainment project, MetroMix.

The number of layoffs at the Courier-Journal is still unknown, but at least now we know how many layoffs will take place in Gannett’s 80 newspapers, and that those losing their jobs will know by next week.

Last August, the C-J cut 15 positions in a big Gannett national layoff, the number smaller than it might have been thanks to the early retirements of several long-time staffers with big salaries. Now publisher Arnold Garson must craft a strategy to make deeper cuts. This probably has a lot to do with the presumed retirement of Ben Post as managing editor, expected to come in August.

The Wall Street Journal reported today that Gannett would be laying off up to 2,000 from its national workforce of 41,500 at 80 newspapers. But according to a just-released memo from Bob Dickey, president of Gannett’s U.S. Publising Division, the number is actually 1,400.

Here’s the memo:

Read the Memo from Dickey after the jump…

[Read more →]