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Former Owner of Virginia AM Loses Appeal of Fine

A former Virginia AM station owner will have to pony up $18,000 for violating the FCC's EAS and public file rules.

A former Virginia AM station owner will have to pony up $18,000 for violating the FCC’s EAS and public file rules.

Ora Roberts Smallwood III was the licensee of WCRR(AM) in Rural Retreat, Va. The commission declined to reduce or overturn its earlier fine against him. The fine was for failure to maintain equipment for EAS monitoring and failure to make available a complete public inspection file.

The case dates to a 2006 visit to the station by an enforcement agent from the Norfolk office. The commission said neither of the station’s EAS receivers were operative; there were no records to indicate that the station had received required weekly or monthly EAS tests in 2006; and there were no records documenting when the EAS receivers became inoperative. Also the station manager was unable to produce a public inspection file.

The station subsequently was transferred to a new owner but the FCC said Smallwood was licensee at the time and further that he did not substantiate his argument that he couldn’t afford to pay.

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