The foundation of KBPS-FM in Portland, Ore., will buy its independence from the city's school board. Public Radio Capital, which represented the station's foundation during negotiations, was profiled earlier this year in Corporate Board Member.

The FCC should force commercial broadcasters to fund their local public brethren, argues Rich Hanley on MSNBC.com.

The new head of drama for Britain's Channel Four plans to reposition the broadcaster as the "punk rock star" of TV drama, shifting away from big-budget period epics, reports the Guardian.

"Sure, Reading Rainbow is good for you, but is it any good?" A Seattle mother writing for the New York Times thinks so.

Filmmaker Michael Moore unexpectedly chipped in to help KVMR-FM in Nevada City, Calif., raise some cash during its fund drive. (Last item.)

Portland's KBPS is moving to buy its FM station from the city's public schools for $5.5 million. The school board will vote on the sale Monday.

WMHT in Schenectady laid off four on-air radio staff yesterday in an effort to break even financially. The station had already laid off 16 employees last month.

Maryland's Salisbury University will not sell WSCL-FM, but wants to strengthen the public radio station's ties to campus, reports the Salisbury Daily Times. A university English teacher says WSCL has been "snobbish" and "stand-offish," the paper reported.

WYPR-FM in Baltimore has grown since buying its independence from Johns Hopkins University a year ago, but has it been at a cost? "Public radio is increasingly treating its listeners as consumers, including at WYPR," says consultant John Sutton in The Baltimore Sun.

NPR is protesting the possible addition of a new strip club to its neighborhood, reports the Washington Business Journal. (Fourth item, registration required.)