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Every weekday at noon since the March 13 Order restricting public and private gatherings, KZSM. org has broadcasted a live update on the COVID-19 emergency. We always report on the latest facts and numbers, but our conversations with callers provide the deeper insights of a human connection. We talk to San Marcos City Council members, San Marcos CISD Trustees, Hays County Commissioners, and other local officials. We hear from medical professionals such as Dr. Lee Johansson, Chief Medical Officer at Central Texas Medical Center and Dr. Rodney E. Rohde, Professor and Chair of Texas State’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program. Social service providers such as Reuben Garza of the South Side Community Center explain how they work to serve those who may be most in need of help and support in this difficult time, and local clergy describe their efforts to serve their congregations while maintaining social distance.
If you miss the noon special, you can access the podcast. Go to KZSM.org and click on the white “expand” arrow in the lower left corner of the KZSM logo. Click the red menu on the upper left, click on “Podcasts,” then select “KZSM. org News Specials” and scroll down to today’s date.
Stay tuned after our noon broadcast for an hour of carefully curated Texas music. Dave Wendel, host of The Handsomest Boy on the Radio (Tuesday 6-8 p.m.) and Rock Your Face (Thursday 8-10 p.m.) has painstakingly assembled a library of Texas music, so that all our musical interludes feature regional and local artists. Wendel searched the internet for Texas music artists and found many of them in his personal collection of CDs, then added music recorded live in our studio by Rob Roark on his Revolving Door show (Sunday 5-7). He continues to cull music compilations to build a definitive Texas collection. The library is already so extensive that even he can’t remember all of it: “Part of the fun for me is that when I program a lot of the music in and start listening to it, I still have to look up and see who the artist is.”
Like everyone else at KZSM.org, Wendel is a volunteer. As a self-supporting non-profit, we also are feeling the economic effects of COVID-19. To help sustain our programming, find the “donate” button on our website, KZSM.org. Tune in, stay in, help out.
