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A powerful solar flare disrupted radio and navigation signals across North America. on Monday (Aug. 7) and prompted space weather forecasters to issue warnings because of energetic particles hitting Earth. The flare, classified as an X1.5, was the 20th X flare — the most potent solar flare category — of the current 11-year solar cycle, which will reach its maximum next year.

In six Brooklyn precincts it is no longer possible for the public to listen in on police scanner radios. The 40-year-old technology is being upgraded citywide and made so police radios are converted into encrypted channels. This opens the door for other residents in precincts to lose the ability to listen to police frequencies. Listening to police scanner radios has helped citizens avoid deadly shootings and allowed the press to report on crimes in real time. However, it is also possible for criminals to listen in and use police officers’ conversations to their advantage. “We have a history of our...

A Tennessee-based engineer is being investigated by the Pentagon for a “critical compromise” of communications across 17 Air Force facilities. The unnamed engineer, who hasn’t been formally charged, is alleged to have taken home more than $90,000 worth of government radio technologies and gained “unauthorized administrator access” to the Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The security breach comes just three months after a junior Air National Guardsman allegedly leaked a massive number of classified documents online. Jack Teixeira, although relatively low-ranking, used his top-secret security clearance to post hundreds of Ukraine war documents on the Russians and...

A group of cybersecurity researchers has uncovered what they believe is an intentional backdoor in encrypted radios used by police, military, and critical infrastructure entities around the world. The backdoor may have existed for decades, potentially exposing a wealth of sensitive information transmitted across them, according to the researchers. While the researchers frame their discovery as a backdoor, the organization responsible for maintaining the standard pushes back against that specific term, and says the standard was designed for export controls which determine the strength of encryption. The end result, however, are radios with traffic that can be decrypted using consumer...

Long before he became the most listened to radio voice in America, long before landing his talk gig at WABC, long before starting his talk radio career, Ruch Limbaugh was spinning records. In February 1971, after dropping out of college, 20 year old Limbaugh accepted an offer to DJ at WIXZ, a Top 40 station in McKeesport, PA, near Pittsburgh. He worked afternoons, using the name Jeff Christie, and was quickly promoted to morning drive. He spent almost 2 years at WIXZ, before moving crosstown to KQV

A rival of Howard Stern has unearthed allegedly shocking and “evil” behavior the iconic radio host displayed years ago while working in the Chicago market in the mid-to-late 1990s. Stern allegedly made extremely distasteful comments about the terminal cancer stricken father of competing host Mancow Muller, saying he planned to “dig up his corpse” and allegedly threatened to rape Mancow as well, the Daily Mail reported of Muller’s commentary in an episode of “Dark Side of the 2000s” on Vice, premiering Tuesday. “He was gonna use my mother’s saliva on himself when he raped me, how he was gonna dig...

“One day in January, I caught myself mumbling the ‘Ooga Chaka’ chant from Blue Swede’s ‘Hooked on a Feeling” in rhythm with the Beatles’ “Birthday,” and marveled at how well they fit together. I tried it with other songs and realized I could have some on-air fun with it.” Al, who goes by Alan Darsen on air, frequently devotes time on his show to novelty holidays like National Buy a Cupcake Day. “I decided it was time to invent a holiday of our own. So I edited together nine entire songs with the chant, declared January 23 as National Ooga...

Live 105, the legendary Bay Area alternative rock radio station, will return to the airwaves on Monday, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The switch from 105.3 Dave FM to Live 105 will occur at 10:53 a.m. Monday, according to the report. "The people have spoken, and we are excited to answer the call,” Stacey Kauffman, regional vice president and market manager for Audacy San Francisco and Sacramento, told the Mercury News. "After a six-year hiatus, Live 105 — the Bay Area’s Alternative – has returned to the airwaves. We are proud to bring back this local favorite that...

Owners of new Ford vehicles will continue having access to AM radio, reversing a previous decision by the company, CEO Jim Farley announced Tuesday. "We've decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles," Farley said on Twitter and LinkedIn. "For any owners of Ford's EVs without AM broadcast capability, we'll offer a software update.”

Ford is reversing course on AM radio. In a tweet today, CEO Jim Farley announced the company was backing off its decision to release new vehicles without AM radio broadcast capabilities. Instead, all 2024 Ford and Lincoln models will be able to tune in to AM radio. And for the two electric vehicles released without AM radio capabilities, a software update would be pushed to restore it. The announcement came after Farley said he spoke with policy leaders on the “importance of AM broadcast radio as a part of the emergency alert system.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation...

DETROIT (AP) — Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all. CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who are concerned about keeping emergency alerts that often are sounded on AM stations. “We’ve decided to include it on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles,” Farley wrote on Twitter. “For any owners of Ford’s EVs without AM broadcast capability, we’ll offer a software update” to restore it, Farley...

John Fredericks calls for a boycott of Ford over it's decision to stop putting AM radio in its new cars.

I think that everytime NPR makes a ridiculous claim, I'm going to rant about it. Today they did a spot about the huge amount of snow pack and the good news for the Colorado river. But they ended the story saying that it would take a decade of winters like this last one to replenish what drought has taken. They never site sources. Yesterday NPR said that "the number one cause of death for children was firearms". And again no sources for their claims.

Popular San Francisco radio host Jeffrey “JV” Vandergrift was found dead this week, nearly a month after he posted an alarming message on social media and went missing, authorities said. JV’s body was found by police around 5 p.m. Wednesday in the San Francisco Bay by Pier 39, KRON4 reported. No cause of death has been determined, the outlet said. The tattooed on-air personality, 54, was reported missing on Feb. 23, just hours after he posted a concerning Instagram update thanking his followers for “a wonderful life-filed w joy, laughs, pain & struggle.” He also changed his Twitter location to...

Over the years, Ford's pony car has gained performance and sophistication, sometimes at the expense of old-school character. Now, the new 2024 Ford Mustang is getting further from its roots by losing its AM radio receiver as controversy over the technology's future in new cars escalates. The AM radio's discontinuation was discovered in an order guide for the new Mustang that circulated on the Mustang7G forum. A Ford spokesperson confirmed the feature's deletion to The Drive, citing that "countries and automakers globally are modernizing radio by offering internet streaming through mobile apps, FM, or digital." This makes the Mustang the...

San Francisco police said Tuesday they do not have information that would suggest foul play is a factor in the disappearance of Wild 94.9 radio station host Jeffrey Vandergrift, widely known as "JV." Police said there were no other updates in the case. Vandergrift, 54, has been missing since Thursday night, according to the radio station and police. He was last seen at his home on the 200 block of King Street. In an update shared Monday, the radio station said there hasn't been any trackable activity on Vandergrift's cellphone or credit cards since he disappeared. Vandergrift is 6 feet...

National Public Radio is cutting around 10 percent of its workforce amid falling ad revenue and economic uncertainty, its CEO John Lansing announced Wednesday. The nonprofit media organization’s financial outlook “has darkened considerably” in recent weeks, Lansing wrote in a memo to staff, shared with The Hill, as it faces a “sharp decline” in revenues from corporate sponsors in a weakened ad industry. “We had created a plan to address a $20M sponsorship revenue falloff for FY23 but we are now projecting at least a $30M shortfall. The cuts we have already made to our budget will not be enough,”...

Rush Limbaugh's death two years ago this week left a void in conservative media that younger, more versatile contenders are still trying to fill. Why it matters: Today, no one radio host commands the same level of power and influence that Limbaugh did, but a number of new voices are emerging — blending the reach of traditional and digital platforms — and collectively proving to be more powerful in shaping conservative opinion for younger audiences. "The world is changing and there are questions as to how Limbaugh, had he lived and remained healthy — based upon his mindset and his...

The death of famous conservative radio personality Dori Monson sent shockwaves across Seattle and the talk radio world. He was just 61-years-old when he had a “cardiac event” at his home that put him in the hospital for two days. He died just before the new year. According to his report on a show he did April 13, 2021, he had an adverse reaction to his second dose of the Moderna Covid jab and had to take a rare sick day. During the show, he expressed his desire to be vaccinated based on his age and the fact that he...

Dori Monson, the Puget Sound region’s longtime conservative radio host from “the mean streets of Ballard,” died Saturday night at a Seattle hospital, according to KIRO Newsradio. He was 61. A written statement from Bonneville International, which owns KIRO-FM, said Monson suffered a “cardiac event” at home Thursday and was hospitalized.