26 MAR 06: ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN'

Many radio stations make sudden changes to surprise the competition. It's rare when a station warns you a change is coming - but that's happening right now on the AM dial in Columbus. When people start speaking Spanish about April 1, that's a clue....

In January this blog predicted WHAL "Hallelujah 1460" was the radio station most likely to change formats next [1 Jan]. We were right - as Clear Channel Radio is running announcements that the new "Viva 1460" will premiere next weekend. Perhaps managers decided a warning time was the Christian thing to do.

The WHAL-AM web site already has been changed, to note the upcoming launch of "Viva 1460." That suggests to me the "Hallelujah" music won't be moving to another station -- unless Clear Channel's "Southern Gospel" station at AM-1270 is about to reflect the ENTIRE South.

(I should have smelled this change was coming a few weeks ago, when Columbus Pastor Terry Jefferson moved his weekly broadcast from WHAL to WSHE AM-1270. Jefferson's congregation is African-American - unless a lot of white folks suddenly moved to Cusseta Road.)

So what is "Viva 1460?" If you've been in Atlanta and dialed around the radio, you probably already know. Clear Channel went all-Spanish there with "Radio Viva" a couple of years ago, and it's brought big ratings. So why was it a little Gainesville station which gained the credit for Friday's day off?

Unlike "Ritmo Latino Radio," which used to be on the Columbus AM band from Friday to Sunday, "Viva 1460" apparently will be a seven-day Spanish station. This seems only fair. After all, no one expects El Vaquero to serve burgers and fries two days a week.

One of the announcements promoting "Viva 1460" says it will be "as Latin as you are." Finally! My year of learning Latin in high school will pay off....

With no competing Spanish station in Columbus, "Viva 1460" should do well. But the big winner in this radio station change appears to be WEAM-FM. It will be the only full-time "black gospel" station in town, so perhaps the staff celebrated by opening bottles of -- well, grape juice, of course.

But what will happen to the local churches with broadcasts on WHAL? I doubt they're saying "Hallelujah" to this change. In fact, some pastors may blame their congregations today for not praying hard enough about the station's success.

One church broadcast which comes to mind right away is "Getting on Top of Life," with Pastor/School Board member Joseph Roberson. He moved his program from the old WEAM-AM to WHAL a few years ago. What does he do now -- give a series of sermons on the "prodigal son?"

Another question about this change is what will happen when WDAK-AM has to move sports events down the dial. They've been moved for years to WHAL - for instance, when the Columbus Catfish had an afternoon baseball game. You don't dare interrupt Rush Limbaugh for a bunch of minor league "lefties."

(Then again, maybe the Catfish already have planned for this - by hiring a bilingual play-by-play announcer.)

BLOG UPDATE: If "Viva 1460" had been on the air Friday, perhaps the "Day of Dignity" protest would have had an impact here. Few Columbus Hispanic residents seemed to know about the one-day protest. So maybe it's time this blog went bilingual....

We went to the Oakland Park shopping center on South Lumpkin Road to check how the Day of Dignity was going. We found two Hispanic-owned markets open as usual. Not even a "Taqueria" took a care....

A step inside Millie's Market found a young woman at the checkout. "Business as usual?" we asked.

"Yes."

"We'd heard on TV there was a Hispanic boycott going on today."

"I didn't know that," she said. Maybe all she watches on Univision are the "telenovelas."

A drive by the Ritmo Latino Nightclub on North Lumpkin Road found two people talking outside. But there were no protest signs, or any indication Friday night's big show would be canceled. The Jose Ricci Defense Fund may need all the money it can get.

The only sign we saw of a possible boycott came at All-American Recycling on Martin Luther King Boulevard. We've noticed several Hispanic employees there in recent years, but saw none on this Friday afternoon. Maybe the managers finally decided the name of the business meant something....

The immigration issue came up among church friends of mine this weekend. "There's going to be a big lawsuit," one man promised, if an employer "requires me to know Spanish." I assume he goes into Taco Bell and orders salads.

Another man told me illegal immigrants pay NO taxes at all in this country. "They're paid under the table," he said. That's funny - every time I've been in a Mexican restaurant, the tips are left on top.

Now for other revelations from a cool late-March weekend:

+ Fort Benning hosted a big welcome-home weekend for the Third Brigade. But if it was for soldiers and their families, as someone told me it was, how did Governor Sonny Perdue wind up there?

+ The evening news reported home sales in Columbus are up 25 percent from last year. Even the Second Baptist Church on Second Avenue now is "under contract" - so who knows which AFLAC executive is buying that one.

+ Former Valley Police Chief Tim Bryan was named the City Manager. Bryan moved to Foley, Alabama last year to be police chief - only to be suspended for arguing with an employee. The department chiefs had better like his budget....

+ A Jacksonville, Alabama man was arrested on charges of stealing tailgates off pickup trucks in Phenix City and Auburn. And here I thought all the drivers were removing them for aerodynamics and better gas mileage....

(Police say the Jacksonville, Alabama man had 35 stolen tailgates in his home, and was selling them on eBay. But who would buy a pickup tailgate online? Someone who lives 50 miles from the nearest junkyard?)

+ Aruba's chief investigator told CBS's "48 Hours Mystery" he now doubts Alabama teen Natalee Holloway was murdered. He claims Holloway drank all day, and may have died from a "mix of intoxicants." So if you add teenage lust to beer, isn't that at least manslaughter?

(Ever defending her daughter, Beth Holloway Twitty told "48 Hours Mystery" it's legal for 18-year-olds to drink in Aruba. Imagine if Natalee Holloway's senior trip had been to Cuba, and she was photographed smoking big cigars.)

+ Carver High School hosted its annual "Battle of the Drumlines" in his gym. Hopefully the spectators were given free ear plugs at the door....

+ Columbus State University's softball team played its first home game in five weeks. The Cougars played 24 games in a row on the road. Yeow - how many Southeastern Conference teams put THEM on the schedule?

+ Jerome Bechard of the Columbus Cottonmouths was named S.P.H.L. Coach of the Year. It's a good thing this was a secret ballot - because Bechard might have been in a mood to beat up everyone who voted for somebody else.

+ Louisiana State topped Texas 70-60 in overtime at the Georgia Dome, to win the N.C.A.A. men's basketball Atlanta Regional. Let's see if Columbus Councilor Glenn Davis can get tickets to the Final Four, by claiming he's related to L.S.U.'s player with that name....

(L.S.U. star Glen "I'm not a Columbus Councilor" Davis told CBS Sports after the game he had "tapeworms in my stomach" about winning a national title. This was one Hurricane Katrina reference we absolutely did NOT need.)

+ Instant Message to whoever shot off fireworks outside Golden Park around 5:30 p.m. Saturday: I'll take three guesses....

A) You're practicing for the Catfish season.

B) You had fireworks left over from the Third Brigade's welcome-home party.

C) You bought them illegally, and thought you could destroy the evidence before sunset - forgetting they make noise.

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