Lazar out at Capital Public Radio - sacbee.com

Michael Lazar has stepped down as president of Capital Public Radio in Sacramento, reports the Sacramento Bee. Citing unnamed sources, the paper reports that CPR's board wanted more aggressive leadership in a president.

Classical music lives

A New York Times article presents evidence to counter arguments that classical music is withering away. "One way to keep the gloomy reports in perspective is to understand that the rumored death of classical music has been with us for a very long time," writes Allan Kozinn. (Coverage in Current from 2005 of classical music's decline on public radio.)

Editorial page battle over LPB investigations

Defenders and critics of Louisiana Public Broadcasting wage battle on the pages of the Baton Rouge Advocate over the significance of recent ethics and audit investigations of the public TV network.

At Casa Keillor

The New York Times writes up Garrison Keillor and his seven-bedroom Georgian home in St. Paul, Minn. "The house is so grand that Mr. Keillor and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, a violinist in the Minnesota Opera orchestra, feared their friends might consider them pretentious for buying it."

Deaths of Iowa tower service workers

Workers making routine repairs to an 1,100 foot Iowa Public Television broadcast tower fell to their deaths on Wednesday, reports the Des Moines Register.

Bill Johnston obituary

Bill Johnston, a former productions chief at Georgia Public Broadcasting, died of a heart attack May 25. He was 64. Colleagues told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Johnston brought drive and ambition to GPB's local TV production at a time when few other stations produced their own programs.

KUOW's "escape hatch"

The Seattle Weekly reveals an unusual aspect of the deal for KXOT-FM in Tacoma, Wash., between Public Radio Capital and Seattle's KUOW-FM. "If it doesn't work out, KXOT will be sold and KUOW will reap a share of the proceeds," the paper says.