Susan Kelley joined KVMR as its development director on April 1, 2008, assuming responsibility for fund raising and marketing for our community radio station. Prior to joining the KVMR team, she served as the marketing and development director for the Feather River Land Trust in Quincy, California. Kelley's experience in public radio started in 1978 with what is now Capital Public Radio where she helped the then fledgling KXPR get up and running and stayed for the next 15 years in the position of marketing and development.

In 1992, Kelley started a consulting firm, which became Sagecraft-offering full service management, marketing, and fund development services to not for-profit organizations in the Sacramento area.

Kelley brings thirty years of development experience to KVMR at a time when the station is enjoying an expansion in its listernership and service to a market which reaches from Truckee (105.1 FM) and the Nevada City/Grass Valley region through the Sacramento Valley (89.5), streaming at kvmr.org.

Listeners to KVMR's early evening programming are no doubt familiar with the sturdy and unmistakable voice of Mike Thornton. He greets us with his trademark sign-on... "You are tuned to the Nightly News - I'm Mike Thornton." A distinctive voice is only the beginning of what he contributes to the airwaves. His newscast brings us the important issues affecting our town and his dexterous reporting brings the lens on global issues into focus. Mike's fair and straightforward approach to news and his distinctive voice have won him legions of fans and loyal listeners over the past fifteen years at KVMR. So it is with sadness that we will soon say goodbye to Mike as he steps down as KVMR's News Director so he can explore a new career path as a Community Organizer with The Sierra Fund.

Mike, a native of Chicago, was a listener and fan of KVMR and KDVS (the college radio station in Davis) beginning in the mid 1980's. While on a camping trip with some friends in 1989, he heard Eric Rice's show and became inspired to try out his musical style on the radio. By this time Mike was already a resident of Nevada County working as the program manager and counselor for the County of Nevada. Like all KVMR broadcasters before him, he went through the broadcaster training class and like most new broadcasters, started out playing music from midnight to 4 a.m. - playing reggae, punk and classical. He went on to air a program called Full Logic in Reverse for three years and filled several 4 a.m. - 7:00 a.m. time slots. Opportunities presented themselves many times to put his inquisitive talents to work interviewing musical acts and he found he enjoyed the dialog and fact finding aspects of those interviews. Soon he was approached by Paul Emery, the Program Director at the time, to air a two hour mid-day public affairs program called, "Public Planet". This popular show, in addition to his keen interest in area politics, led him to his long standing gig at the news desk. Among other positions at KVMR,Mike served for a year and a half as President of the Board of Directors of KVMR.

From the respect he has deservedly earned with community leaders over the years, largely due to his superb memory and ability to tell the whole story fairly, Mike has had an entree that others have not. He has globe trotted at times, reporting from Guatemala, a maximum security prison in Colorado and the Middle East. He has interviewed the leader of the neo-nazi Aryan Nations and witnessed an execution at San Quentin.

Mike's future work for The Sierra Fund's "Mining's Toxic Legacy Initiative will involve extensive travel to small towns and Native American communities throughout the Sierra's to help educate and organize communities regarding the environmental effects of over 50,000 abandoned mines across the Sierra and the State with special attention on how the chemicals like mercury, arsenic, asbestos, and other heavy metals are affecting our the environment and the people who live in it.

As part of his send-off I asked Mike what his theme song might be. He said it would probably be "Oh My God" by Michael Franti. Give a listen to that song, and you will gain some insight into this kind and enigmatic man who has contributed so much to KVMR.

Over the years, Mike's work in the news department blazed a trail and he has helped to define the culture at the station. KVMR is truly the voice of the community and the "news" of the world. Thank you for your many contributions Mike. You will be missed.

By Edy Cassell, KVMR's Volunteer Coordinator