Organization History and Purpose Radio Free Moscow, Inc.

(KRFP) was established in Moscow, Idaho in 2001 for the purpose of establishing a community radio station that would serve Moscow and the surrounding community. As a low power community radio station, KRFP not only broadcasts news and music to the citizens of Moscow and the surrounding areas, it also serves as a medium for the Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS). IPAWS is a program of the Federal Emergency Management Agency that monitors for potential warnings and emergencies like regional AMBER alerts and dangerous weather conditions. If warnings are detected, the scheduled programs are interrupted and the message is transmitted. Through this program KRFP ensures the safety of Latah County listeners and provides an early warning alert for developing situations. The mission of KRFP is and always has been to maintain a volunteer driven radio station devoted to the citizens of Latah County. KRFP broadcasts reflect the progressive values of the community including peace, justice, democracy, human rights, multiculturalism, environmentalism, and freedom of expression. KRFP airs news, opinions, diverse music and multi-cultural programming that is rarely heard through mainstream radio. Radio Free Moscows goals are to: Create broadcasts that foster the communitys ethical, social, and intellectual awareness. Nurture the communitys capacity to think independently, skillfully, and critically. Advocate for education, arts, and cultural diversity. Encourage citizens to be involved in their community. Alert citizens of impending crisis in an efficient manner. Programs aired on KRFP are a mixture of music, news, and talk shows hosted by local DJs who volunteer their time, expertise, and drive. Some of the shows, like the Evening Report, are captured as podcasts and posted on the station website. By using the Internet as a medium for the broadcasts, citizens outside of the listening area are able to tune in at their convenience. KRFP works with individuals from various interests groups within the local community to plan and create shows that are culturally diverse in order to encourage an ethical and conscientious community. Current projects include various radio broadcasts such as late night and early morning syndicated programs that do not involve volunteer DJs creating their own content. Other time slots are filled with local programing including news shows like KRFP Morning Mix and The Evening Report, as well as music shows like Native American Fusion. Currently KRFP is working towards updating the stations Emergency Alert System. The current system needs to be updated in order to reach Moscow citizens efficiently if a disaster occurs. The current emergency system monitors alerts from Lewiston, Idaho and Spokane,

Washington for Emergency Alert System signals over the air waves. Updating the IPAWS software will allow for the specialized warning program to reach community members efficiently as the new hardware monitors the Internet as well as radio broadcasting malfunctions. Service Statistics: Since 2001, KRFP has served the citizens of Moscow and surrounding communities. Since the creation of KRFP, nearly 300 Moscow citizens have helped serve their community by becoming DJs and helping with the general upkeep of the station. In 2010, KRFP created a website that allows citizens to interact using a new medium through podcasts, web posted schedules, and a list of fundraisers KRFP takes part in. The station has seventy-five volunteers a year and fifty-five volunteers monthly that help with the maintenance, running, and airing of the radio station. Accomplishments and Strengths: KRFP nurtures the communitys capacity to think independently, skillfully, and critically. KRFP is proud that it is able to provide members of the Moscow community a place to interact with their fellow citizens. This interaction allows citizens to hear opinions that they might not be able to without the progressive content provided by KRFP and foster community growth. As an alternative Moscow community station, KRFP reaches out to a broad audience. It provides what large regional stations cannot, a honed reflection of the communitys values and a station that airs news paramount to the Moscow community and surrounding areas, but that may not be included by the larger stations. KRFP is a station of the community that is run by members of the community. It is a place where individuals of diverse backgrounds can impact the community without being affiliated with any other organization. This makes KRFP an ideal organization to broadcast or report local issues. Purpose of Grant The Situation a grant from the Latah County Community Foundation will fund is an FCC upgrade to KRFPs Emergency Alert System to include the more efficient and internationally accepted Common Alerting Protocol (CAP). The new system is being implemented as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agencys IPAWS alert program. This system allows Federal Emergency Management Agency to originate messages about emergencies and send them to multiple media sources in the form of texts, photographs, videos, and audio alert via the Internet, allowing for one broadcast to cover all media sources. The current Emergency Alert System sends messages only through television and radio. The new system would allow the reception of the emergency signal via Internet instead of just airwaves so KRFP does not miss an alert due to power outages or blocked radio waves. These emergency alerts provide a vital service to the Moscow community and surrounding areas by broadcasting regional AMBER Alerts, weather emergencies and warnings, natural disaster alerts, and presidential addresses.

This upgrade requires a device called an Emergency Alert System Common Alerting Protocol replacement unit that modifies the stations current Emergency Alert System. This unit includes the hardware, a microchip, and a software upgrade. As a public media source within the Moscow community this system is essential to many citizens for receiving important information in time to effectively act upon it. The Emergency Alert System Common Alert Protocol modification can be done by KRFPs engineer with the station manager supervising the installation. No outside labor would be required. The overall project goals would be to upgrade the Emergency Alert System hardware in compliance with the FCC by the June 30th, 2012 deadline and provide the Moscow community and surrounding area with reliable emergency alerts via the new system. Evaluation The effectiveness of implementing Common Alert Protocol into the Emergency Alert System can be measured by the decrease of disruptions during the broadcast. The new software for the upgrade uses an Internet feed, as opposed to radio waves; this will eliminate nearly any disruptions in receiving and broadcasting information relating to the emergency. On average KRFP broadcasts to the citizens of Moscow and the surrounding area one AMBER Alert, eight severe thunderstorms warnings, five flash flood warnings per year and presidential addresses. With the upgrade of the Emergency Alert System, citizens can be assured important information regarding emergencies will be disseminated without disruptions. The reliability of the broadcast increases with the implementation of the Common Alert Protocol into the Emergency Alert System. The criteria for upgrading the Emergency Alert System are to have the software purchased by late May and installed by June 2012. Once the software is purchased and installed KRFP will conduct an initial test in accordance with the Federal Communication Commission to determine whether the installation was successful and KRFP can receive an Emergency Alert System transmission via the internet. After the initial test KRFP will conduct a weekly test to confirm the proper functioning of the Common Alert Protocol. The Federal Communication Commission tests the Common Alert Protocol and Emergency Alert System monthly. During these tests KRFP broadcasts the alert to the public for confirmation the citizens receive the alert. Evaluators will be the Federal Communications Commission, KRFP, and the stations volunteer engineer Dave Willard. The Federal Communications Commission upon approval of the upgrade and in turn test to make sure it is functioning properly. KRFP will also test the system after

implementing Common Alerting Protocol into the Emergency Alert System. With tests from both the radio station and the Federal Communications Commission the upgrade will be evaluated on a frequent basis. Improvement of the system will be a more efficient dissemination of important alerts. Citizens of the Palouse will be informed with fewer interruptions and given ample time to prepare for an emergency or respond to an AMBER Alert. The system will increase citizens awareness of possible dangerous situations and alleviate some anxiety about being prepared to respond adequately to an alert. KRFP streams their live broadcast online. Measuring the number of website hits during an emergency alert, whether an increase or decrease, will determine whether or not the alert has been successful in informing the public. Also, KRFP will be able to continue their regular broadcast as they have adhered to Federal Communications Commission regulations regarding the Emergency Alert System. The station will continue to inform the public in an effective manner.

Finances (KRFP) Financial Statement from most recent fiscal year- provided as attachment in final version and print for final mail version. (KRFP) Copy of current, valid IRS 501(c)(3) form- attachment in PDF form, and printed for mailed version. Project Budget Operating Cost, personnel salary, and other indirect expenses do not factor into the proposed project for the upgrading of KRFPs Emergency Alert System. Radio Free Moscow requests simply the funding for the upgrade hardware and software to be installed by Dave Willard, a volunteer engineer for KRFP.
Expenses:

Trilithic EAS/CAP........$1599.00 Total Expense....$1599.00

Support:

Latah County Community Foundation..$1599.00 Total Support......$1599.00

Other Supporting Materials Board Members KRFP currently has seven board members: As president Kami LaMoreaux uses her skills to plan, network and promote the station. Vice-President Cass Davis is an activist who is involved in various campaigns advocating equal rights. Rick Hensley is the Treasurer; he has volunteered at KRFP since 2007 as a DJ. He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1975 with a Bachelor of Architecture. Hensley worked as an architect in Spokane for twenty years before returning to Moscow in 1997 for a B.S. in Computer Science. Craig Joyner is the Secretary. He worked with the Cove/Mallard Coalition at the Nez Perce National Forest for two summers. Mort Demers is a member of the board and a DJ. He graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in Criminal Science. He works as a contractor in Moscow. Michelle Adams and Sunil Ramalingam are both members of the board. Description of Key Staff Leigh Robartes is the Station Manager. Robartes has been involved in the building and programming of the station since the beginning of construction and implementation. Before he started working at KRFP he spent two decades producing stories for national programs such as Pacifica Network News, and Free Speech Radio News. Robartes is the former manager of KUIO-FM. Dave Willard, volunteer engineer, has a degree in engineering from Washington State University in 1988. Dave Willard will be installing the EAS/CAP upgrade.