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Wednesday July 6, 2005
Ney Spokesman Says Nay to Intimidation Charges; Wheeling Radio Station Vows to Continue Crusade Against Corruption
by David M. Kinchen
Editor, Huntington News Network
Wheeling, WV (HNN) –George Kellas of radio station WKKX here plans to continue to crusade against all forms of government corruption and is not scared by what he calls "intimidation" from the office of U.S. Rep. Bob Ney, R-OH.
Kellas and fellow talk show hosts Dave Blomquist and John Blackmore say they received intimidation threats from the St. Clairsville, Ohio congressman's office after they read news articles on the air linking Ney with controversial GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The AM station broadcasts at 1600 frequency across the Ohio River into Ney's district, Kellas said. Abramoff is currently under investigation by the federal government for bilking Indian tribes in connection with tribal-run gambling casinos.
"I am on a personal crusade to clean up all government corruption, regardless of political party affiliation or where it occurs," Kellas told HNN in a telephone interview Tuesday, July 5, 2005. "We're going to continue to cover the news and follow the case wherever it leads."
Kellas said his relatively low-power station - 5,000 watts -- has many more than the "four" listeners Ney's office said it had: "Our web site had 5,000 hits on a recent day, more than the big high-powered WWVA in Wheeling." WWVA, AM 1170, bills itself at the "Big One" in Wheeling radio, according to its web site. Kellas said WKKX is also available on a computer web stream, like New York's big WABC, enabling it to reach many more people than its power rating would indicate.
Brian Walsh, a spokesman for Ney's office in Washington, D.C. told HNN Tuesday, July 5, 2005 that charges of intimidation by Ney's office are "outrageous…not even worthy of comment. We're not interested in WKKX because its signal doesn't even reach St. Clairsville." Walsh said Ney, representing Ohio's 18th Congressional District, has been contacted to appear on WWVA and another Wheeling talk radio station.
