Norman Rodriguez (left) and Max Pingitore (2022 intern) are a couple of voices fans will hear on WRFA during its coverage of the Jamestown Tarp Skunks 2023 season.

JAMESTOWN, NY – The Jamestown Tarp Skunks will return to the airwaves on WRFA-LP for a third straight season in 2023.

Just like the past two seasons, all Tarp Skunks’ home games are being broadcast on at 107.9 FM, as well as streaming worldwide at the station’s website, WRFALP.com. In addition, the Tarp Skunks will also provide the in-game broadcasts for all home games that are video-stream on the team’s Youtube channel.

“We are extremely proud to continue this partnership with Jamestown Tarp Skunks for a third consecutive season. This will be a great opportunity for community members to keep up with the ball club and its performance on the field,” explained WRFA station manager Jason Sample.

The WRFA broadcast team will again feature Norman Rodriguez providing play-by-play for the majority of the games. He’ll be joined by a variety of broadcast partners including Sample, Collin Wood, and Max Pingitore. In addition, the voice of the Jamestown Red Raiders football team Tom Ames, along with Derek Abbey, will also pitch in for a couple of games this season. Studio engineers will be Gavin Paterniti and Anthony Merchant.

Past intern Collin Wood (WVU) interviews one of the Tarp Skunks during the 2021 season. Collin is back in 2023 to provide color commentary during some WRFA broadcasts.

WRFA’s Tarp Skunks coverage will also once again provide an internship program for qualifying local college students. Interns who participate learn and develop skills related to play-by-play and color commentary, player interviews, creating social media content, and more.

“The past two years we’ve had students from Huntington University, Jamestown Community College, Syracuse University, and West Virginia University participate in our internship program,” Sample explained. “This year, we are pleased to have two interns joining us throughout the season – Will Stahlsmith from St. Bonaventure University and Ethan Tyger from JCC.”

All WRFA Tarp Skunks broadcasts are made possible through funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, and Shults Auto Group.

All Tarp Skunks home games are played at Russell E. Diethrick Jr. Park at 485 Falconer St. in Jamestown, NY. The first game of the 2023 season is an exhibition games against the Olean Oilers on Thursday, June 1.

For a complete schedule, along with ticket information, visit TarpSkunks.com. WRFA’s broadcast schedule can also be found on the Tarp Skunks page of the station website.

WRFA will once again broadcast all Jamestown Tarp Skunks home games during the 2023 season.

ABOUT JAMESTOWN TARP SKUNKS: The Jamestown Tarp Skunks are part of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, a 12-team collegiate summer baseball league founded in 2010 and featuring teams from across New York State. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate.  The team is owned and operated by the Jamestown Community Baseball ownership group.   

ABOUT WRFA: WRFA is a listener supported, non-commercial, low power FM radio station provided as a public service by the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. It is dedicated to providing access to the arts, cultural and educational programming and a forum for the discourse of both national and local public affairs. Funding for WRFA comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, corporate underwriting, and donations from individuals and groups in the community. It broadcasts at 107.9 FM in Jamestown and also streams worldwide at WRFALP.com.  

The YWCA Jamestown’s Broadscast team includes, from left to right, Indo Quinones, Cienna Simon, Hillary Belin, and Alize Scott. The Broadscast show will air on WRFA-LP in Jamestown every Friday at 2 p.m. and every Sunday at 11 a.m. Funding for the program is made possible through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act stabilization fund.

First Episode to Premier Friday, Sept. 30 with Special Guest Sukayna Burman

JAMESTOWN, NY – A new, locally-produced radio program and podcast focusing on various social and women’s issues affecting the community is making its debut this fall in Jamestown.

YWCA Jamestown is collaborating with WRFA-LP (107.9 FM) to present the YWCA Jamestown’s “Broadscast” radio show. The program will be broadcast twice a week on 107.9 FM in Jamestown and all episodes will also be available “on demand” online.

YWCA Jamestown’s Broadscast will feature members of the local YWCA Jamestown team – Hillary Belin, Indo Quinones, Alize Scott, and Cienna Simon – discussing a variety of issues and topics with various guests from the Jamestown and Chautauqua Region. The program will cover a wide range of topics, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) issues; racial justice and civil rights; empowerment and economic advancement of women and girls; and health and safety of women and girls. The first season of the Broadscast program runs for 30 episodes and was scheduled to start on Friday, Sept. 30.

“YWCA Jamestown has been at the forefront of addressing several important issues facing Jamestown and Chautauqua County. We’ve wanted to educate our listeners about these issues, but due to limited staffing at the radio station, we’ve been unable to give them the focus and attention they deserve,” explained Jason Sample, WRFA station manager. “That’s why we reached out to YWCA Jamestown to see if they could assist us in this effort and we are grateful they were willing to work with us on this exciting new project.”

“This partnership provides the YWCA Jamestown with an additional opportunity to meet our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women. Each week we will work to bring subjects and topics that address racial and gender inequality and highlight issues that women in our community care about,” said Amanda Geising, YWCA Jamestown executive director, adding, “We are looking forward to hearing more about the passion of our mission and concern for community issues that the YWCA Broadscast team will bring to the local airwaves.”

Funding for the program comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which provided WRFA with additional financial support from its American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization fund in 2021.

WRFA is a non-commercial radio station licensed by Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and has been a CPB-funded station for the past several years. Due to its status as a CPB-funded radio station, it automatically received ARPA funding to help offset any losses in local funding shortfalls during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and to also bring forward new programs that benefit the Jamestown community. Other WRFA programs made possible through the CPB ARPA funds include monthly live broadcasts of Public Affairs and Arts and Entertainment programming, weekly Spanish Language news reports, live broadcasts of the Jamestown Tarp Skunks baseball team this past summer, a 2022 State Assembly Candidates Debate on Oct. 13, and an upcoming radio documentary series focusing on 10,000 Maniacs, scheduled for release in early 2023.

“WRFA is very excited to be partnering with YWCA Jamestown for this exciting new collaboration,” said Sample. “The radio station has been looking to collaborate with local organizations to bring quality radio programming to our community and the YWCA Jamestown’s Broadscast program is a perfect fit.”

The Broadscast radio program is broadcast every Friday at 2 p.m. on WRFA, with an encore airing taking place every Sunday at 11 a.m. All episodes will also be available for “On Demand” listening at the WRFA website, the YWCA Jamestown website, and also at Soundcloud.com/WRFARadio.

Jesus Garcia will be providing translation of WRFA News Reports for the weekly WRFA News en Espanol, broadcasting Saturdays at 8 a.m. and Sundays at 5:50 p.m. on WRFA.

JAMESTOWN, NY – WRFA Radio will be providing a weekly, Spanish-language newscast to its listening audience starting in September 2022.

The weekly WRFA News “en Español” report will be broadcast Saturdays at 8 a.m. on 107.9 FM in Jamestown – immediately preceding the Latino USA syndicated radio program. An additional broadcast of the news will also air Sundays at 5:50 p.m. – immediately after the weekly Latin Inspiration radio program. And the news report will also be posted online at the WRFA Soundcloud page for On-Demand listening.

To assist with the Spanish-language newscast, WRFA is working with Jamestown resident Jesus Garcia, who will be translating and recording each weekly news cast in Spanish. Garcia is currently a member of the Jamestown Fire Department, but also lends his translation services to various businesses and organizations as his schedule allows. He will be using news stories that were originally written and prepared by WRFA Public Affairs Director Julia Ciesla-Hanley.

“We are very excited to bring this new program to our local airwaves,” explained WRFA Station Manager Jason Sample. “Jamestown and Chautauqua County has a growing Spanish-speaking population but as far as I know, no local broadcasting outlet currently provides local news updates in Spanish to this community. Thankfully we’ve been able to secure funding to address this important need and are happy to bring Jesus on board to work with us on this exciting new project.”

Funding for the weekly Spanish-language newscast comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization grant, which WRFA received as a CPB-member station in 2021. Other programming funded through this grant includes the monthly Community Conversation and monthly Arts on Fire LIVE broadcasts that began in 2021, in addition to the Jamestown Tarp Skunks sports broadcasting internship program, which also started in 2021.

Project will launch in June with a goal of interviewing 100 area residents

JAMESTOWN, NY – Area residents who want to share their memories to help chronicle local history in Chautauqua County will get a chance to do so later this year.

WRFA-LP in is launching an oral history program that will allow Chautauqua County residents to provide their first-hand accounts of people, places, industries and events from our region’s rich past.

The “I Remember” oral history project will begin with a series of interview sessions starting in June, and local residents who want to serve as primary sources on a variety of historical topics are encouraged to participate. The interviews will then run in a series of audio and video programs that will be broadcast on the local airwaves and also streamed online.

“As a former trustee with the Chautauqua County Historical Society, I can’t emphasize enough the importance of documenting first-hand accounts of everyday people who’ve experienced, lived and witnessed our local history,” explained Jason Sample, WRFA general manager, adding, “That’s why this project is so important for our county.”

Funded through a Community Action Grant from the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, as well as from additional funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization Grant, the “I Remember” project has a goal of interviewing at least 100 different individuals and providing 25 hours of audio and video programming in its first year. All interviews will also be transcribed and donated to the Chautauqua County Historical Society and the Fenton History Center for their archives.

“We’ve already established a committee of local historians to help us identify topics to focus on for this year,” Sample said. “Starting in June, we’ll schedule a series of interview sessions and invite community members to meet with us and share their memories of a particular topic or topics.”

Partnering with WRFA on the project is Kipp Reynolds from Kranky Plate Productions, who will help to document each interview. Conducting the majority of interviews will be Dan Swackhammer, a long-time resident of Jamestown who has a past history of working on a similar project. In 1986, Swackhammer produced and directed an hour long video documentary in conjunction with the Jamestown Centennial entitled ‘A Century of Life- A Century of Living in which he interviewed residents born in the 1800’s as well as local historians.

FIRST INTERVIEW SESSION IS JUNE 4

The first interview session for the I Remember project is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 4 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the James Prendergast Library. Specific topics for the June 4 session include: Brooklyn Square & Urban Renewal; the Kent Mansion, including its time as the Scottish Consistory and also the transition to the Robert H. Jackson Center; Jamestown General Hospital; Jamestown Community College from 1950 to 1990; and the development and early history of the Lucille Ball Comedy Festivals.

Other sessions, which will focus on other topics, will also take place on June 25 at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts; July 16 at a location to be determined in Bemus Point; and August 13 again at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. Other dates and locations for future months will also be announced.

WRFA is asking anyone who wishes to be interviewed for the project during any upcoming session can reach out via email at WRFA@RegLenna.com with “I Remember” in the subject line. You can also call (716) 664-2465 ext. 209. More information can also be found online at WRFALP.com/IRemember.

Once enough interviews have been collected, WRFA will launch the first episode, tentatively scheduled for September 2022.

“This is going to be a very exciting project and we are looking forward to not only hearing the stories and memories of people who’ve lived and experienced our local history, but also sharing it with the greater Chautauqua Community,” Sample said. “I cannot express enough how excited we are to see this project launch and usher it forward!”

Comments, questions, or suggestions about the project can be directed to Sample using the above contact information.

ABOUT: Founded in 2004, WRFA-LP is a noncommercial, listener supported, low power FM radio station licensed to the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and broadcasting at 107.9 FM in Jamestown, NY.  As a radio station licensed to a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, all financial donations/contributions made to WRFA are 100% tax deductible. Businesses and organizations can also provide corporate underwriting for WRFA by making a tax-deductible contribution of $100 or more.

WATCH ON YOUTUBE

Moderated by WRFA’s Julia Ciesla-Hanley, in coordination with media panelists Terry Frank (WJTN Radio) and Justin Gould (WNY News Now).

Community Conversation: Marginalized and Underserved Groups in Jamestown is intended to raise public awareness of specific groups in Jamestown and the challenges they face, both past and present. It will also work to identify solutions to overcome these challenges in order to bring more inclusiveness, diversity, equity, and accessibility in the community. Each panel discussion will feature representatives from five community groups, including the local African-American Community, the Hispanic Community, LGBTQ+ Community, those affected by Chemical Dependency, and those impacted by Generational Poverty.

WEEK 1 of the panel discussion took place on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. and focused on the past history of the groups, with a goal of educating the community on how long these groups have been in the community and some of the challenges they’ve faced in the past.

WEEK 1 – FULL VIDEO

All three panel conversations were broadcast live on WRFA LP 107.9 FM and also streamed on WRFA’s Facebook page and Youtube Channel.

The Community Conversation was co-moderated by Julia Ciesla-Hanley, WRFA Public Affairs Director, and Amit Taneja, Senior VP & Chief IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility) Officer at Chautauqua Institution. Over a dozen community members also appeared during the three-week program, including representatives from the Chautauqua County Hispanic Community Council, Chautauqua Opportunities, Evergreen Health, Jamestown Justice Coalition, Jamestown Pride, Mental Health Association of Chautauqua County, and The Resource Center.

“We hope this program will serve as an opportunity for the broader community to learn more about these groups and any barriers or obstacles they’ve faced in the past, as well as those they may still currently face,” explained WRFA station manager Jason Sample. “We also hope community leaders will take note of these challenges and work to address them, in order to provide more inclusiveness and accessibility for the individuals who are part of these community groups.”

Sample also noted that this program will serve as a springboard for additional conversations next year.

“Our project team identified nearly a dozen different groups that could be represented in the panel discussion. But due to time constraints, we felt it best to focus on five groups at this time. However, we plan to continue the panel discussions next year and focus on other groups that were not included in this program, including the physically disabled, the mentally disabled, and the homeless community, among others,” Sample said.

Funding for Community Conversation: Marginalized and Underserved Groups in Jamestown is made possible through a Humanities NY Action Grant, along with funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The event is also supported, in part, by Reg Lenna Center for the Arts and The Labyrinth Press Co.

PANEL SCHEDULE

 WEEK 1 – SEPTEMBER 23 – Past History of Groups and Challenges/Barriers faced

• Justin Hubbard (Jamestown Justice Coalition – African American Community)
• Gregory Rabb (JCC/Former City Council President/BPU Chair – LGBTQ+ Community)
• Max Martin (Chautauqua County Hispanic Community Council – Hispanic Community)
• Steve Cobb (Chautauqua County Mental Health Association – Chemical Dependency)
• Josiah Lamp (Chautauqua Opportunities – Generational Poverty)

WEEK 2 – SEPTEMBER 30 – Present State of Groups and current existing Challenges/Barriers, including any connected to COVID

• Rev. Chloe Smith (Community Activist – African American Community)
• Mickale Gilliam (JCC Student – LGBTQ+ Community)
• Milie Torres – Ruiz, (Jamestown Resident/Parent/Teacher – Hispanic Community)
• Sean Jones, (Chautauqua County Mental Health Association – Chemical Dependency)
• Terri Johnson (The Resource Center Generational Poverty)

WEEK 3 – OCTOBER 7 – Looking Toward Future and Discussing/Identifying Changes that Need to Take Place to remove Challenges/Barriers

• Tamu Graham Reinhardt (Jamestown City Council – African American Community)
• Emily Van Wey (Jamestown Pride/Prevention Works – LGTBQ+ Community)
• Solimar Vazquez (Jamestown Resident/Confidential Secretary to County Executive – Hispanic Community)
• Emma Fabian (Evergreen Health Services) (tentative)
• Josiah Lamp (Chautauqua Opportunities – Generational Poverty)

ABOUT: WRFA is a noncommercial, listener supported, low power FM radio station licensed to the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.  As a radio station licensed to a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization, all financial donations/contributions made to WRFA are 100% tax deductible. Businesses and organizations can also provide corporate underwriting for WRFA by making a tax-deductible contribution of $100 or more.

Donald Trump

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump released the first budget blueprint of his new administration on Thursday, and it appears he’s held to his promise to build up the U.S. military while slashing domestic spending – even for programs that benefit the rural and lower-income Americans who voted for him last November.

The proposed $1.15 trillion “skinny” budget distills much of Trump’s sweeping campaign rhetoric into a set of hard choices and cold priorities. He is calling on Congress to boost defense spending by $54 billion, a move popular with many Republicans. A wall along the border with Mexico, a core campaign promise, would receive $4 billion to start construction.

Trump’s campaign promises to gut ineffective programs and shrink a bloated bureaucracy translated into a plan that cuts environmental protections programs, community development funding, housing vouchers, scientific research, a commission to create economic opportunities in Appalachia and other programs.

Funding for popular social services like Meals on Wheels, which provides food to the elderly, and after-school programs for children, also are on the chopping block. The outline – the start of negotiations with Congress – leaves untouched Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid spending.

Cuts that will impact his voting base in rural areas of the country include the elimination of funding to keep the Great Lakes clean, eliminating financial aid for rural and regional airports across the country, and flood insurance program funding.

EPA, GREAT LAKES CUTS

Trump proposes cutting the Environmental Protection Agency budget by 31 percent, from $8.3 billion in fiscal year 2017 to $5.7 billion in fiscal year 2018. That’s the largest cut among all Cabinet departments and major agencies.

The budget says that change, which would cut 3,200 EPA jobs, is needed “to ease the burden of unnecessary Federal regulations that impose significant costs for workers and consumers without justifiable environmental benefits.”

As part of the EPA cuts, the Trump budget eliminates the $300 million in annual funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI), which finances environmental projects all over the region. The initiative, created in 2010 with strong bipartisan support, has supported thousands of projects across the Great Lakes region. In December, the initiative’s funding was re-authorized by Congress.

TRUMP PROPOSES CUTS IN ARTS & HUMANITIES PROGRAMS

President Trump’s proposed budget calls for big cuts in a wide array of domestic programs — among them, agencies that fund the arts, humanities and public media.

Funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) would be cut to zero under the proposal, and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) would be eliminated entirely, the first time any president has proposed such a measure.

CPB received $445 million in federal funding in the last fiscal year; the NEA and NEH got about $148 million each — a tiny portion of the roughly $4 trillion federal budget.

Most CPB funds go directly to local radio and TV stations, but the federal funds are especially crucial for local stations, as well as local arts groups, which often receive matching funds from other donors based on their federal allocations.

Trump’s plan now goes to Congress, which can make changes before enacting federal budget legislation

REACTION FROM NY OFFICIALS

New York Senator and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with fellow NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand have both come out strongly against the budget.

Senator Schumer said the budget clearly shows that the president talks like a populist, but clearly is out to only help special interests, adding that democrats in the senate will emphatically oppose the spending plan.

Gillibrand also said the President’s budget is irresponsible and will short-change middle class New Yorkers, seniors, and students alike while doing harm to a fragile economy.

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo called the proposed budget “dangerous, reckless, and contemptuous of American values, adding that should be rejected by Congress out of hand.”

And State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the President’s budget threatens funding for vital services including housing assistance, environmental protection, anti-poverty programs and more.

He added that it provides little specific information regarding the impact of broadly proposed cuts, but it is clear this budget will hurt New Yorkers.

Congressman Tom Reed’s (R-Corning, NY 23) office didn’t release a statement on the budget, but the congressman is expected to address the issue during his weekly conference call with media on Tuesday, March 21.