BY ANN PERKINS

Are you sad? I am, and I expect you are too.  It’s OK to say that we are sad.  It is true.  In the U.S. we have now have hit over 6 million cases of Covid-19 and 183,500 deaths. https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html  In the world, we are at over 25 million cases and over 850,500 deaths.  In New Mexico we have over 25,000 cases of Covid-19 and at least 779 deaths. In Los Alamos we are lucky and smart to have taken precautions so that we have been able to keep our cases down; currently we are at 27 cases and no deaths. https://cvprovider.nmhealth.org/public-dashboard.html Thank you all for doing what you can to keep everyone healthy and helping our neighbors.

I am also sad about our loss of businesses in our town.  CB Fox and Bliss were going/gone just as the Pandemic hit, and now the Reel Deal Movie theater, the Monitor, and KRSN are gone.  It is really a tragic thing for our town.  We needed more small businesses before the Pandemic hit.  Please continue to do what you can to keep our remaining local businesses in business.

I would also like to put out a community question:  Is there any way we can still save KRSN?  I turned on KRSN this morning in my car, and there was no signal.  So sad!  I spoke with Gillian Sutton, and she told me that half of the operating costs for the station are due to rent for the land that the radio tower sits on.  The land is owned by the schools from what I understood.  Is there any way to forgive a few months until school sports resume?  Or forgive a few months until there is more advertising from local business?  Any money coming into the County from the Federal Government from the CARES Act or other sources?

I don’t think I am the only person in town who has loved KRSN for all things – local news, national news, music, school closures and delays, Laboratory closures and delays, County announcements, community events, traffic alerts, book authors, syndicated radio shows, school sport and games, wildfire alerts and evacuations, etc.  It is rare for a town like ours to have a radio station, and I am afraid that as things gradually return to normal or a new normal, that we all will miss KRSN.  For example, what if school sports go to what we are doing on a national model where the players can play, but we cannot have spectators?  KRSN could broadcast the games to everyone.

This town is full of intelligent and creative people.  Does anyone see any solutions?

Thank you to all that are helping to keep us all healthy, happy, fed, informed, inspired, and supported with goods and services.    Stay healthy!