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                            Before the
                Federal Communications Commission
                      Washington, D.C. 20554


In the Matter of                   )      File Number EB-02-KC-508
                                                             )                      
Clinton Radio Company              )    NAL/Acct. No. 200332560021
Licensee of Radio Stations KDKD    )
and KDKD-FM                        )              FRN 0003-7593-05
Clinton, Missouri                  )


         NOTICE OF APPARENT LIABILITY FOR FORFEITURE

                                    Released: April 10, 2003

By the Enforcement Bureau, Kansas City Office:

                         I.  INTRODUCTION

      1.  In   this  Notice   of   Apparent  Liability   for 
 Forfeiture  (``NAL''),  we  find   Clinton  Radio  Company, 
 licensee of  radio  stations KDKD  and KDKD-FM,  apparently 
 liable for  a  forfeiture  in the  amount  of ten  thousand 
 dollars ($10,000)  for  willful and  repeated violation  of 
 Sections 11.35(a) and 73.3526(c) of  the Commission's Rules 
 (``Rules'').1  Specifically, we find  Clinton Radio Company 
 apparently  liable  for  failure  to  maintain  operational 
 Emergency Alert System (``EAS'') equipment,  and failure to 
 make  available  all   required  contents  of   the  public 
 inspection file during regular business hours.

                         II.  BACKGROUND

      2.  On  February  11,  1999, the  Kansas  City  Office 
 issued to Clinton Radio  Company a Notice of  Violation for 
 violation of, inter alia, Sections 11.35 and 73.3526 of the 
 Rules2  resulting from a February 9,  1999, inspection that 
 found stations KDKD and KDKD-FM failed  to have operational 
 EAS equipment and  the public  inspection file  was missing 
 the most  recent ownership  report and  the issues-programs 
 list.

      3.  On June  7, 2002, the Kansas  City Office received 
 an anonymous complaint  that station  KDKD was  not running 
 EAS tests.  On June  17, 2002, an agent of  the Kansas City 
 Office inspected  station  KDKD-FM.  No  station logs  were 
 available to show  evidence of any EAS  tests, activations, 
 or any explanations of failures to  receive or conduct such 
 tests, since at least May 1, 2002.   A log entry dated June 
 7, 2002, indicated the  EAS unit went out  of service.  The 
 station's chief  operator stated  that the  tests had  been 
 conducted up until June 7, 2002, when  the unit went out of 
 service, but that the tests had not been logged.

      4.  On  November 26,  2002, and  on January  28, 2003, 
 agents  of  the  Kansas  City  Office  monitored  broadcast 
 stations  in  the  Kansas  City  EAS  Operational  Area  to 
 determine  compliance   with   EAS  requirements.3    Three 
 stations were  monitored,  one  being KDKD-FM  and  another 
 being  a  station  that  KDKD-FM  is  required  to  monitor 
 pursuant to  the state's  EAS plan.   The agents  monitored 
 during the scheduled time for the broadcast of each month's 
 Required  Monthly  Test  (``RMT'').    In  both  monitoring 
 periods, the  two stations  other than  KDKD-FM rebroadcast 
 the RMT within less than 8 minutes  of each other.  In both 
 months, the  agents  continued to  monitor  KDKD-FM for  65 
 minutes after  the RMT  was last  broadcast by  one of  the 
 other two  stations.   In both  months,  KDKD-FM failed  to 
 rebroadcast the RMT within that time period.

      5.  On February 11, 2003, an  agent of the Kansas City 
 Office inspected broadcast stations KDKD  and KDKD-FM.  The 
 two stations shared  a single EAS installation.   The agent 
 found the EAS equipment removed from the equipment rack and 
 sitting on a  desk.  The  stations' logs  contained entries 
 indicating the EAS unit malfunctioned on  June 7, 2002, and 
 returned to service on  June 9, 2002.  The  stations' chief 
 operator stated that  the EAS  unit again  malfunctioned in 
 October, 2002,  and remained  non-operational.  Except  for 
 the June  7  and 9,  2002, entries,  no  station logs  were 
 available  showing the  EAS  unit  had  been taken  out  of 
 service.  Also,  no  station logs  were  available to  show 
 evidence of  any  EAS tests,  activations,  or reasons  for 
 failure to receive or conduct such  tests during the period 
 June 7,  2002, until  the  date of  inspection.  The  chief 
 operator confirmed that the station had  made no request to 
 the Kansas City Office  District Director to allow  the EAS 
 unit to remain out  of service longer than  60 days.  Also, 
 the public inspection file was missing letters and comments 
 from  the public  since  May,  2002  (even  though  station 
 personnel stated  the  station  received many  letters  and 
 cards from  the public  since that  time), and  the issues-
 programs list.

                      III.  DISCUSSION

      6.  Section 11.35(a) of the Rules requires a broadcast 
 station to be  responsible for ensuring that  EAS Encoders, 
 Decoders  and Attention  Signal  generating  and  receiving 
 equipment used as part of the EAS are installed so that the 
 monitoring and transmitting functions  are available during 
 the times the station is in operation.  From October, 2002, 
 until at least February 11, 2003, the EAS unit for stations 
 KDKD and KDKD-FM was non-operational.  No station logs were 
 available  with  the   required  entry  showing   when  the 
 equipment was removed from service.4  Clinton Radio Company 
 had made no  request to  the Kansas City  District Director 
 for additional time beyond 60 days to repair the unit.5  No 
 station logs were available  with entries of any  EAS tests 
 or activations,6  or  reasons for  failure  to receive  and 
 conduct such tests,7 during  the period from June  7, 2002, 
 to the date of inspection on February 11, 2003.  Monitoring 
 during the  months of  November, 2002,  and January,  2003, 
 confirmed that KDKD  and KDKD-FM failed to  retransmit each 
 month's RMT within 60 minutes of receipt, as required, even 
 though the test was received and  retransmitted by at least 
 two other stations in the area.

      7.  Section  73.3526(c)  of  the  Rules  requires  the 
 broadcast licensee to make available  the public inspection 
 file at any time  during regular business hours.   The file 
 is to  contain,  among other  items,  written comments  and 
 suggestions from the  public, and  a list of  programs that 
 have provided the  station's most significant  treatment of 
 the community  issues including  a brief  narrative of  the 
 issues and the  description of the programs  shall include, 
 but not limited to,  the time, date, duration  and title of 
 each program in which the issue  was treated.8  On February 
 11, 2003, the public inspection file  for stations KDKD and 
 KDKD-FM contained  no  issue-programs  list; only  articles 
 that had  been aired but  with no  defined issues  that the 
 program was addressing and no time, date or duration of the 
 programming aired.   The file  was for  the entire  year of 
 2002 and  not broken  down into  quarterly segments  of the 
 year.   In   addition,  the   file  contained   no  written 
 correspondence from the public since May, 2002, even though 
 the stations' staff stated they had received numerous cards 
 and letters during that time period.

      8.  Based on  the evidence before us,  we find Clinton 
 Radio Company willfully9 and repeatedly10 violated Sections 
 11.35(a)  and   73.3526(c)  of  the  Rules  by  failing  to 
 maintain operational  EAS  equipment  and failing  to  make 
 available all  required contents  of the  public inspection 
 file.

      9.  Pursuant to Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules,11 the 
 base forfeiture  amount is  $8,000 for  non-operational EAS 
 equipment, and $10,000  for violation of  public inspection 
 file rules.  In  assessing the monetary  forfeiture amount, 
 we must also  take into  account the statutory  factors set 
 forth in Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the  Communications Act of 
 1934,  as amended  (``Act''),  which  include  the  nature, 
 circumstances, extent,  and gravity  of the  violation, and 
 with respect to  the violator,  the degree  of culpability, 
 any history of  prior offenses,  ability to pay,  and other 
 such matters as justice may require.12  Because the station 
 maintained a portion  of the  required items in  the public 
 inspection  file,  a   downward  adjustment  of   the  base 
 forfeiture for  that violation  from $10,000  to $2,000  is 
 warranted.   Considering the entire record and applying the 
 factors  listed  above,   this  case  warrants   a  $10,000 
 forfeiture.

                       IV.  ORDERING CLAUSES

      10. Accordingly,  IT  IS  ORDERED  THAT,  pursuant  to 
 Section 503(b) of the Act,13 and  Sections 0.111, 0.311 and 
 1.80  of the  Rules,14  Clinton  Radio  Company  is  hereby 
 NOTIFIED of this APPARENT LIABILITY FOR A FORFEITURE in the 
 amount of ten  thousand dollars  ($10,000) for  willful and 
 repeated violation of  Sections 11.35(a) and  73.3526(c) of 
 the Rules by failing to maintain  operational EAS equipment 
 and failing to make available all  required contents of the 
 public inspection file.

      11. IT IS  FURTHER ORDERED  THAT, pursuant  to Section 
 1.80 of the Rules,  within thirty days of  the release date 
 of this  NAL,  Clinton  Radio Company  SHALL  PAY the  full 
 amount of the proposed  forfeiture or SHALL FILE  a written 
 statement seeking reduction or cancellation of the proposed 
 forfeiture.

      12. Payment of the forfeiture may be made by mailing a 
 check or similar instrument, payable to
 the order of the  Federal Communications Commission, to the 
Forfeiture  Collection  Section,   Finance  Branch,  Federal 
Communications Commission, P.O. Box 73482, Chicago, Illinois 
60673-7482.  The  payment should note the  NAL/Acct. No. and 
FRN  referenced above.   Requests  for payment  of the  full 
amount of this NAL under  an installment plan should be sent 
to:  Chief, Revenue  and Receivables  Operations Group,  445 
12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.15

      13. The response,  if any,  must be mailed  to Federal 
 Communications Commission, Office of the 
Secretary, 445  12th Street  SW, Washington DC  20554, Attn: 
Enforcement  Bureau-Technical &  Public Safety  Division and 
MUST INCLUDE THE NAL/Acct. No. referenced above.  

      14. The  Commission  will  not  consider  reducing  or 
        canceling a forfeiture in response to a claim of 
inability to pay unless  the petitioner submits: (1) federal 
tax  returns  for the  most  recent  three-year period,  (2) 
financial   statements  prepared   according  to   generally 
accepted accounting practices (``GAAP''),  or (3) some other 
reliable   and  objective   documentation  that   accurately 
reflects  the petitioner's  current  financial status.   Any 
claim  of inability  to pay  must specifically  identify the 
basis  for   the  claim   by  reference  to   the  financial 
documentation submitted.

      15. Under the  Small Business Paperwork Relief  Act of 
        2002, Pub L. No. 107-198, 116 Stat. 729 
(June 28, 2002),  the FCC is engaged in  a two-year tracking 
process  regarding   the  size   of  entities   involved  in 
forfeitures.  If  you qualify as  a small entity and  if you 
wish to be treated as  a small entity for tracking purposes, 
please so certify to us within thirty (30) days of this NAL, 
either in your  response to the NAL or in  a separate filing 
to be sent to the  Technical & Public Safety Division.  Your 
certification  should indicate  whether you,  including your 
parent  entity  and  its   subsidiaries,  meet  one  of  the 
definitions  set forth  in the  list provided  by the  FCC's 
Office of  Communications Business Opportunities  (OCBO) set 
forth in Attachment A of  this Notice of Apparent Liability.  
This information  will be  used for tracking  purposes only.  
Your response  or failure to  respond to this  question will 
have no effect on  your rights and responsibilities pursuant 
to Section  503(b) of the  Communications Act.  If  you have 
questions  regarding any  of  the  information contained  in 
Attachment A, please contact OCBO at (202) 418-0990.

      16.  IT  IS FURTHER  ORDERED THAT a  copy of  this NAL 
        shall be sent by regular mail and
 Certified  Mail Return  Receipt Requested to  Clinton Radio 
Company, P.O. Box 448, Clinton, Missouri  64735.   

                         FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION


                         Robert C. McKinney
                         Kansas  City   Office,  Enforcement 
Bureau


Attachment

_________________________

1 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.35(a) and 73.3526(c).

2 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.35 and 73.3526.

3 Among other requirements, Required Monthly Tests must be 
retransmitted within 60 minutes of receipt.  See 47 C.F.R. § 
11.61(a)(1)(v).  See also, Amendment of Part 11 of the 
Commission's Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System, EB 
Docket No. 01-66, Report and Order, FCC 02-64 (Feb. 26, 
2002); 67 Fed Reg (April 16, 2002) (effective May 16, 2002, 
the required monthly EAS test must be transmitted within 60 
minutes of receipt.)

4 See 47 C.F.R. § 11.35(b).

5 See 47 C.F.R. § 11.35(c).

6 See 47 C.F.R. §§ 11.55(c)(7) and 11.61(b).

7 See 47 C.F.R. § 11.35(a).

8 See 47 C.F.R. § 73.3526(a)(2).

9 Section 312(f)(1) of the Act, 47 U.S.C. § 312(f)(1), which 
applies to violations for which forfeitures are assessed 
under Section 503(b) of the Act, provides that ``[t]he term 
`willful', when used with reference to the commission or 
omission of any act, means the conscious and deliberate 
commission or omission of such act, irrespective of any 
intent to violate any provision of this Act . . . .''  See 
Southern California Broadcasting Co., 6 FCC Rcd 4387-88 
(1991).

10 The term ``repeated,'' when used with reference to the 
commission or omission of any act, ``means the commission or 
omission of such act more than once or, if such commission 
or omission is continuous, for more than one day.''  47 
U.S.C. § 312(f)(2).

11 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(4).

12 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D).

13 47 U.S.C. § 503(b).

14 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.111, 0.311, 1.80.

15 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914.