6 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

Friday July 6th, 2007

8:22am to 11:00am - A-Channel's Stephen Andrew hosts a Town Hall Meeting examining challenges in downtown Victoria.
Drop by the studios at A-Channel, 1420 Broad Street to join in the conversation live on C-FAX 1070. Among the many guests scheduled to appear: Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe, Police Chief Paul Batterhill, Downtown Victoria Business Association General Manager Ken Kelly.

I have been invited to take part as well. I hope you take time out to listen and call in.

[Ms. B. Havin]

Is this a radio station or tv? (Sorry, I don't listen/ watch MSM, I guess...! ) If it's radio, where do I find them on the dial? And is it AM or FM?

[Ms. B. Havin]

Another question: if it's a radio station, can I stream it on my computer? It has to be stream-able, and I have to be able to call it up when I want it, otherwise it's nowhere...

[Holden West]

Poor Ms. B. Versed in all the latest steaming technologies but still baffled by Marconi's doohickey. We have to use the good old fashioned A.M radio--once everything's on the Internet, radio just becomes another utility we have to pay for! Long live free radio!!!!

C-FAX: 1070 on your a.m. dial or listen live:

http://stream.netro.ca/cfax

[Ms. B. Havin]

Excellent -- thanks for the link, Holden, works fine! I shall endeavour to be present for this conversational delight...

[Ms. B. Havin]

Well, I listened to the whole thing (now I know why I don't usually listen to commercial radio: commercials!), and it was really interesting. The moderator (Steve something?) was very good, kept everyone on track and managed to pin people down, too. The guy from the late night eatery on Wharf had some interesting push-back to the police and to the city, and yet because of that and the discussion that ensued, it seemed everyone actually made some positive progress, together. Nice discussion around transportation (why are there no late night buses to get the bar patrons home?, why are there not more commercial taxi licences -- and taxis -- available, and why aren't taxi stands distributed as well as near non-residential areas, so that people can get home when the bars pitch them into the street?). DRA's Robert Randall brought the taxi issue to the fore first, and he also pushed for more people living and working downtown, and at the end of the program he spoke to Victoria's need for some real first-class/ world-class cultural institutions in downtown, which in turn got some Art Gallery reps involved in the discussions, as well . (There's an article in today's T-C by Grania Litwin on that topic, btw.) The moderator (Steve?) threw down the gauntlet several times, pointing out that Langford is leaving us (Victoria) in the dust, and maybe it's time we "kicked off the Birkenstocks and put on some running shoes to catch up" (his words, not an exact quote, but verbatim). The discussion around affordable housing was good, too, with the moderator once again asking some tougher questions that didn't always let respondents off the hook with wishy-washy passive voice language. Ken Kelley sounded avuncular; the councillors (Bea Holland, Charlayne Thornton-Joe, Helen Hughes) all made a good showing, and Bea Holland in particular seemed very much on top of the material, even though she said at one point that Steve, the host, intimidated her! Lots more, many other voices.

It would be nice if a recording of the show were available later.

[Baro]

Sounds interesting!!

Also, welcome to the world of free ad-sponsored media!