Everybody’s business

Foxy news
Woosh! Zoom! Fast music! That was the intro to the first broadcast Feb. 9 of Fox 30 local news. The initial primetime offering was tight, its only notable shortcoming seeming to be a pink cast on some of the video.

Officials at KCVU Fox 30 and the station’s new partner, KRCR out of Redding, are excited about the deal that has resulted in Chico-dominated news being aired each night at 10 p.m.

Audiences have been clamoring for 10 o’clock news for years, and when Doug Holroyd became general manager at KCVU, he moved it to the top of the list.

Perhaps ironically, those same folks who don’t want to stay up late also crave a flashier presentation. “It’s for someone who wants to get the news and swallow it quickly,” Holroyd said.

The style is “edgy,” he said, without the “witty repartee” of the weatherman and anchor chatting about nothing between stories. “It’s just bam, bam and on to the next thing.”

Bob Wise, the GM at KRCR, said both stations will have access to the same stories, but usually only the news stories will be done for both. Separate features will be produced for KCVU. “We can’t just repeat ourselves,” Wise said. But, “if it’s a major story, both stations will have it.”

Holroyd said it’s not that Fox 30 couldn’t afford to staff its own news team; it was just a matter of priorities. So KRCR rounded up Mark Thoma to anchor, Mike Kruger doing weather and Mike Mangas and Dave Owens on sports.

Tower of cower
Tower Records’ parent company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Feb. 9, leaving Chicoans to wonder if the downtown store that has often seemed more like a neighborhood record store than a link in a big chain is on its way out.

Tower has already whittled its stores in the United States down to 93 and has promised that they will remain open.

The corporation’s goal seems to be to write off its debt so the mostly family-owned chain will be more attractive to buyers.

Local manager Lynn Brown said he’s also heard that no stores are to be sold, and referred questions to the corporate office. There, spokesperson Maya Pogoda said the restructuring process will take 45 to 60 days, and if “unprofitable” stores are closed during that time it would only be a normal business move.

Agro for business
Chico State University’s College of Agriculture is rounding up businesses to participate in its first Agricultural Career Fair and Internship Day.

The event will be held April 7 at the University Farm from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will also serve as a business showcase.

“We think it is important to introduce our students to the companies that hire ag graduates but more important to introduce those companies to our students,” said Dr. Charles Crabb, dean of the College of Agriculture.

To sign up, call 898-4262 or go online at www.csuchicoag.org

Hey, that wasn’t nice
What a mean meanie: During halftime of Sunday’s Sacramento Kings game announcer Jim Kozimor did a voiceover during a shot of some freeway traffic, saying “that’s a freeway, for those of you in Chico and Eureka.”

“We call that the Chico-Eureka segment,” he went on, a snarky smile on his goofy broadcaster face.

What a cheap shot. Who does this guy think he is, Herb Caen?