Ryan Krull
The state of affairs at KDHX has been tumultuous since the station dismissed volunteer DJ Tom "Papa" Ray earlier this year.
On Friday evening, Paul Stark, host of the show Musical Merry-Go-Round, announced on Facebook that he'd been suspended via an email from KDHX Executive Director Kelly Wells and Board President Gary Pierson.
"The Board of Directors and staff have received complaints about comments you made on your September 2, 2023, radio show and have begun a review of your show," the email read. "While we undertake a full review of this matter, you are suspended from conducting your radio show or any other on-air content for KDHX."
Stark, whose family-friendly radio show has earned him the moniker "Grandfather Stark," wrote that he'd been volunteering at KDHX for more than 30 years.
"At least they gave me 14 hours notice instead of waiting until I arrived at station at 6:30am. There won’t be a Musical Merry-Go-Round Saturday morning," he posted.
Stark declined to comment for this story.
The suspension comes in the wake of KDHX firing two longtime volunteer DJs, Drea Stein and Andy Coco, on August 29. They were fired by Wells and Director of Volunteer Connection Andrea Dunn, who said that the DJs had tried to defund the station. Both Stein and Coco denied this allegation.
The volunteer DJs' termination follows one in March, when KDHX let go Vintage Vinyl owner Tom "Papa" Ray, who had been volunteering for the community radio station more than 30 years.
Online outrage toward KDHX, which had been high since Ray's firing, swelled after the more recent incident. Members poured into the SAVE KDHX 88.1 group, which now numbers more than 2,000. Many shared the news of Stark's suspension as well as the September 2 show that seemingly got him in hot water, while warning that it might soon be deleted — as had Coco and Stein's archives.
Stark, like many of the still-on-air DJs who have dedicated their shows to their fired brethren, had shared on-air his disappointment and outrage. But he may have gone a little further than those who kept it vague, talking directly about Stein and Coco's dismissal and saying that it was because of their criticism of the station.
On the September 2 show, he talked about the volunteers creating something like a union and said there is a project in the works.
"Pretty much getting everybody on board to try to question if this is the right way to run a community radio station, instead of having input from the community to have one person in charge of everything," Stark said in the intro of his show. He went on to play music, but returned briefly to the topic and the contributions of Coco and Stein during breaks, speaking about what he perceived as Wells' singular power and the volunteers' longtime service not being valued, the lack of a programming committee and more.
He even dedicated songs to Wells and Pierson at one point.
"Keep up the good work, guys," he said.
Stark — or Grandfather Stark, as he's known on air — broadcast Musical Merry-Go-Round on Saturdays from 7 to 9 a.m. His show shares "family-friendly music, stories and guests" of varying genres for listeners of all ages. You can listen to his show archive — for the moment — at
kdhx.org/archive/archive_gen.php?show=musicalmerrygoround.
Email the author at [email protected]
Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.
Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
