I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.
May 7, 1999
By Devlyn Brooks
Move over KB101 and FM90. Make room Mix 103.7 and Real Country 98.3 FM.
Bemidji radio listeners will have yet another selection on their FM dial within a month, owner and manager of Paul Bunyan Broadcasting Lou Buron said Thursday.
Buron's company -- which already owns and operates KB101, a country music station, and KBUN, an all-sports station, in Bemidji -- will debut a third station, the 100,000-wat KKZY on the frequency 95.5 FM within three to four weeks.
However, Buron declined to say what the new station's format will be, mentioning only that there are a number of possibilities, including oldies, adult contemporary and classic rock.
"There are two or three formats we've looked at, but at this time, I would not like to comment," he said. "Before we (let the format be known), we want to have all our ducks in a row. And it creates some talk."
The new station brings Bemidji's crowded radio dial to 10 stations -- eight on the FM side and two AM stations -- in addition to several out-of-town stations that have signals reaching Bemidji or translators relaying their signals in the area.
Of the stations located in town, Bemidji State University has two licensed stations, FM90 and a station that only buildings on campus can tune into. Minnesota Public Radio broadcasts an all-news station and a classical music station. Paul Bunyan Broadcasting now owns three, and its cross-town rival, R.P. Broadcasting, also owns three stations, Mix 103.7, Real Country 98.3 FM and KKBJ 1360 AM
Buron said he does not think his new station will lead to overcrowding in the market because there is enough space for it in terms of advertising and audience.
And R.P. Broadcasting's General Manager Dan Voss agrees, saying he welcomes the new station in town because it only will help to better serve radio listeners in the area.
"It gives listeners another option, and gives advertisers another way to reach their market," Voss said. "We work very well with their stations, and we don't expect that to change. To be honest, our biggest competitor is newspapers."
Buron, who has owned his other two stations with partner Mary Campbell for about 10 years, said his company started pursuing the third station four to five years ago.
At that time, the U.S. government had made about 800 radio frequencies available across the nation for which potential owners could pursue.
So, Paul Bunyan Broadcasting filed to own the 95.5 frequency available in Bemidji, as did five other local and out-of-town suitors, Buron said. In addition, the company filed on another frequency 100.7 FM in Nisswa, that was available.
But due to a squabble between Congress and the Federal Communications Commission over how the commission awarded frequencies to their new owners, the process was delayed until late in 1997 when Paul Bunyan Broadcasting was finally able to buy out its competing bidders and was awarded the Bemidji and Nisswa frequencies.
Paul Bunyan Broadcasting, which has existed for about 40 years, now owns a total of seven radio stations -- three in Bemidji, three in the Brainerd-Nisswa area and one in Alexandria.
It employs about 95 people, with about 25 of them working in the Bemidji office.
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