I received a note this morning from Jim Pappas, KTRB's VP and GM. The station has FCC and FAA approval to construct a new transmitter in Sonoma County. The 50,000-watt facility would seriously augment coverage in the North Bay and Sacramento. By now you've seen the existing coverage map:

The new Sonoma Daytime transmitter map (exclusive of existing transmitter) looks like this:

Much better, right? It is a Daytime transmitter, and Nighttime operation is in the works as well, though it would come later (application with the FCC already on file). For those who believe in miracles, don't expect the transmitter to be ready in time for Opening Day. It's not like building a skyscraper in terms of complexity, but it's still quite tall and requires proper preparation and testing. Maybe before the end of the season. The deal between the A's and KTRB is only for one season, but this gives you an indication of where both parties would like the relationship to go. Both want to be serious Bay Area radio players, and they want to do it together.

This is where you come in. Construction of the transmitter is wholly dependent on approval by Sonoma County's Board of Zoning Adjustments. KTRB is ready to build pending approval. The transmitter has not yet come up for review by the BZA. When it does, KTRB will draft a letter to request fan support. I'll post it here. The board usually meets twice a month, and like the EIR process in Fremont, it is open to public comment. You can go to the meeting at 2550 Ventura Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA, 95403, or send written comments to that address.

I'll update this post when a hearing date is finalized.

I covered last night's ballpark workshop. I didn't catch anything new, but KTVU reporter Lloyd LaCuesta did. I took a screengrab.

This is considered a green light to talk with San Jose, a city that has to overcome territorial rights restrictions (Santa Clara County is Giants territory). Despite this, they have four things in their favor: a ballpark site, an adjacent site to develop, future BART and Caltrain/High Speed Rail nearby, and an already completed environmental impact report. I have received a few messages indicating that territorial rights will be discussed this week at the Winter meetings. Those talks may be limited to television rights as related to the launch of the MLB Network. They may be expanded to include Santa Clara County.

I will be at the Fremont City Council session tomorrow evening and will report here and at the ballpark blog.

Incumbent Fremont mayor Bob Wasserman won re-election last night, defeating councilman Steve Cho and former mayor Gus Morrison, whose attempt to turn the race into a referendum on Cisco Field fell short.

Excerpting myself from the ballpark blog:

Incredibly, the results paint a rather favorable picture for the A's and their hopes to get the baseball village built. Several potential obstacles in Fremont have been removed. Incumbent mayor Wasserman, who has been the staunchest public proponent of the project, will stick around to see it through the EIR process at the very least. Wieckowski, also a supporter, will be there as well. They'll be joined by Chan, who is also a project supporter. Neither of the project's biggest critics, former mayor Gus Morrison and Sierra Club chapter leader Vinnie Bacon, placed higher than third in their races.

Is it smooth sailing from here on out? Not quite. Wasserman may have violated election laws in recuiting students from local high schools to campaign on his behalf. The fallout from that is unknown. The EIR still has to pass muster. The council has lobbied hard for concessions and so far the city and the A's have been able to find common ground. There remain issues to work out with private parties such as nearby businesses and landowners, but those are very doable. The upshot from tonight is that there won't be obstructionists making the decisions. That's not to say that the council are yes-men - far from it, in fact. Instead, the governing body should be of an open-minded view to make a deal that works for Fremont's residents, not one that derails it in service of a narrow agenda.

These results effectively act as the nail-in-the-coffin for any future formal referendum on the ballpark project. Now it's onto the environmental impact report, which I suspect will be released sometime in the next couple of months.

With all of the complaints regarding the poor timeslot for the A's-Twins ALDS, I come bearing bad news: It's probably going to continue.

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Looks like Lew isn't waiting until Opening Day to move forward. Out of today's Tribune comes the following quote from Lew Wolff:

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A seven-alarm blaze is burning at the old HomeBase site just south of the Coliseum. All of the local news outlets are covering it, the news stations should all have video.

I took pictures of the site a few months ago and compiled them into an overview (PDF) for the ballpark blog.

The fire was threatening the EDD building next door. It probably doesn't threaten the arena or stadium, but there are some structures on the perimeter like a cell tower and the football seats that may be in jeopardy.

One of the items on tonight's agenda is the consideration of a preliminary feasibility study on a Fremont-area ballpark. I'll be at the meeting. Note the last sentence in the description below:

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I brought some coworkers to today's game for a little decompression time, which was well worth it despite the A's poor performance. One coworker who had never been to an A's game before asked me if I had season tickets, to which I replied, "Look around. Why would I need to buy season tickets?" That's a sad, unfortunate reality. Even those of us who go enough times to merit a partial plan (20-40 games) don't feel the need to invest in one as long as we can always get good seats when walking up or even just a few days before a game.

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I can't even remember the last time the A's actually won one of the these tiebreaker coin flips.

ESPN article

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I'm clipping this from the ballpark blog because, well, I wrote it so I'm not going to call myself out for copyright violations.

BTW, Blez, have you ever been asked for a business card when getting a media credential? I felt a little sheepish about that. I have business cards from my day job, but those won't exactly work. I did beat work several years ago, and I have to admit the blogosphere has changed things immeasurably.

Enjoy.
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