by Michael Deeds

After years of witnessing the promises, hype, fundraising and Webcasting, it is with great pleasure that I broadcast this important news update: BOISE COMMUNITY RADIO IS REAL.

The Federal Communications Commission has granted the non-profit organization a construction permit, which, barring unforeseen circumstances, will result in a broadcast license. Finally!

By spring 2009 or sooner, it is reasonable to expect that Treasure Valley residents will be able to tune to 89.9 FM and hear non-commercial, locally generated, grassroots radio.

Nobody is more stoked about this breakthrough than Jeff Abrams, executive director of Boise Community Radio, which we'll call BCR.

Abrams has spent more than five years chasing this dream. Boise is the largest market in the United States without community radio, Abrams says. BCR's current offering, RadioBoise, only broadcasts via the Internet.

Now that BCR has cleared its major regulatory hurdle, the real work begins.

BCR has applied for federal grant money of about $400,000. Grant or not, Abrams estimates, BCR will need to raise about $250,000 for first-year operational expenses, plus transmission and studio equipment - all the building blocks it takes to operate a radio station.

"It's all really right within our grasp," Abrams says. "There's absolutely a lot of work to be done now. But the point is, we're not in a vacuum. We have actually moved the effort to the front burner where we can take it to the community now and say, 'Look, if you guys want to make this happen, it's all in your hands.'

"There's nobody else we need to rely on in terms of federal agencies to make this happen," Abrams adds. "We already have this blessing."

Boise's community radio station would be about 8,000 watts. Its tower site is 25 miles west of Caldwell but would reach listeners from Ontario, Ore., to east Boise, Abrams says.

Currently, 15 programmers create shows for RadioBoise. If you're interested in hearing what community radio sounds like, check them out at RadioBoise.org. The Web site is a useful place for curious Idahoans to "plug in immediately if they want to give involved with the station now," Abrams says.

"We've got plenty of room for people to promote new programs," he adds. "We've got plenty of opportunities for people to volunteer."

Up to this point, Boise Community Radio's budget has been held together by "duct tape and baling wire," Abrams admits.

Serious outreach efforts will begin immediately. You'll notice BCR booths at the Eagle Island Experience and Idaho Green Expo in May.

Volunteers will ask for money. And help. The difference is, now they can point to a light at the end of the tunnel.

Until now, "People have been apprehensive to really dive in," Abrams says, "because they have not known as to whether this is a certainty or not."

"There were a lot of doubters and people who thought we should be doing something differently," Abrams adds.

I fit into that category. I admit that.

But there's no denying it now: Boise Community Radio is tantalizingly close.

We just have to grab it.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/deeds/story/361273.html