On Dec 20, 5:43*pm, "David Eduardo" wrote:

AM is dead, the prime formats moving to FM.

Dying perhaps, not dead, new stations still coming on the air. The
mosquito lobby errr wetland lobby has been fighting the station..

WASILLA, Alaska -- A new radio station has hit the airwaves in the Mat-
Su Valley, much to the chagrin of neighbors who live near the radio
tower.

The new, 1,000-watt station -- 1430 AM -- has been up and running
since Wednesday afternoon.

Spirit of Alaska broadcasting, which owns KMBQ-FM, has successfully
installed a new AM radio tower near Cottonwood Creek. The broadcasting
company received its FCC license Friday.

It's the first-ever AM radio station based in Wasilla. But it didn't
come easy.

The station's owner, John Klapperich, said he almost missed the
deadline to get the license because of a delay building the tower
caused by his neighbors.

In mid-October, Klapperich hit a road block when his neighbors built a
barricade on the road to his property.

Even though it's a Mat-Su Borough road, the road wasn't built where it
was supposed to be and actually runs across private property.

The neighbors say they oppose the tower because it sits on wetlands.

"The bottom line is get your tower up, make your money, it doesn't
matter what you do to the people around you," said neighbor Bonnye
Matthews.

And both Matthews and Barry Wise fear the health effects of the radio
waves.

Matthews says when she expressed that concern to Klapperich, he didn't
seem to care.

"His response to me was, ‘If I can't build my tower, then I'll sell it
to somebody else who will build one with a stronger signal,'" she
said.

But Klapperich said research showed he was not harming anyone's
health. So he went ahead with construction.

Klapperich and six others worked nearly two weeks to install the
tower.

"The entire project was put in by hand, Flintstone technology,
literally," Klapperich said.

The crew manually piled a 750-pound piece of steel into the ground and
used a pulley system to get the tower up.

The neighbors say they will continue to fight Klapperich by contacting
state and federal agencies.

But because the FCC has approved his license, Klapperich says it's a
done deal.

"I'd like to think it was the best for the community, the neighbors,
and Mother Earth, if I may," he said.

Whether Valley residents like it or not, KMBQ-FM can now also be heard
on the AM dial.

"We're simulcasting KMBQ-FM until we design some new, local-originated
programming," Klapperich said.