News

On November 10, the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles will hold a vote on whether or not the state will allow special license plates -- bearing the Confederate flag -- to be issued in commemoration of the civil war's 150th anniversary. The proposal is sponsored by Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, on behalf of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization that has a man walk onto your screen and speak loudly if your volume is turned up when you visit the website.

The community college district that owns Orange County, Calif., PBS affiliate KOCE-TV has voted to sell the station to a group of local business and civic leaders. The board of the Coast Community College District voted 4-1 on Wednesday to accept the $32 million bid by the KOCE-TV Foundation, the one buyer that planned to preserve the station as a PBS affiliate. Most of the other bidders were religious broadcasters. The board will meet again Dec. 10 to finalize the deal. The vote came a day after a committee composed of college board member Jerry Patterson and George Brown formally endorsed the KOCE-TV Foundation's bid, which was the highest. "The district wins by realizing a savings of $2 million in operating costs per year," Patterson said. "KOCE-TV and the KOCE-TV Foundation win by maintaining the station as an Orange County PBS affiliate with a larger audience and a longer reach."...