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WSUN-FM is a commercial modern rock music radio station in Tampa, Florida, broadcasting on 97.1 FM.

History[link]

The station signed on September 1, 1978 on the 106.3 FM frequency as WHBS, a station that served primarily Pasco and northern Pinellas Counties. The station later became WVTY, then WLVU, carrying an easy listening format. In 1998, the station would relocate to 97.1 FM (swapping frequencies with Citrus County's WXOF), to better reach the Tampa Bay market. Soon afterward, Cox Radio would acquire WLVU in a swap (see below), and transfer its WSUN calls to FM, adopting an oldies format as "Oldies 97.1".

Mired with a subpar signal and being one of two Oldies stations in the market did not allow WSUN to take off in the Tampa Bay area. While rumors of Cox flipping the station to All-80’s ran rampant, the station began stunting with music from 2001: A Space Odyssey. At 5:00 p.m. on November 3, 2000, the Tampa Bay area got its first taste of an alternative rock formatted station in many years with the debut of 97X. The first song, Hemorrhage by Fuel was dedicated to Modern Adult-Contemporary WSSR and Active Rocker WXTB, both of whom are owned by competitor Clear Channel Communications.

The call letters[link]

The "WSUN" calls have been used in the St. Petersburg area since 1927, when WSUN signed on, then a time-share with WFLA. The station moved to its longtime 620 kHz frequency in 1929, and got the frequency all to itself in 1941, when WFLA moved to 940 kHz (then to 970 shortly afterward). From the 1960s into the 1980s, WSUN was known as a leading country-western formatted station, benefiting from its signal that covered all of Florida's Gulf Coast by day and reached into Texas by night.

Owned by the city of St. Petersburg throughout most of its early life, the city sold WSUN radio and its television counterpart, WSUN-TV, to Hy Levinson, a Detroit broadcaster and owner of that city's WCAR radio. In 1970, WSUN-TV would go dark, while WSUN radio and its then-sister, WQXM-FM, would be sold to the broadcasting arm of pharmaceutical company Plough, Inc. In the mid-1980s, Plough would later sell WSUN and WQXM separately, with WSUN being sold to Taft Broadcasting, then-owner of WTSP television and WYNF-FM.

In the late-1980s, WSUN flipped to all-news, following its purchase by CBS Radio from Taft. It then later flipped to a news-talk format, which remained after its purchase from Cox Broadcasting in the 1990s. In 1998 Cox swapped its 620 AM signal for the 97.1 signal owned by the Concord Broadcasting Group, whose easy-listening station, WLVU-FM, moved from 106.3 to 97.1 shortly before the swap. After the move to FM, WSUN adopted an oldies format as "Oldies 97.1", while Concord changed 620's calls to "WSAA", becoming a simulcast of Bay News 9. (It would later be sold to Clear Channel Communications, becoming the new frequency for WDAE.) [1]

Concerts[link]

• The Next Big Thing concert series, formerly at Coachman Park in Clearwater, Florida, is now being held at the 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre.^{[citation needed]}

Air staff[link]

Current[link]

• Drew, Seth, and Danielle - Mornings
• Danielle - Middays
• Fisher - Afternoon Drive
• Geo - Nights
• Dick - Weekends / Tasty Fresh

Former[link]

• Rich Fields, the current announcer for CBS's The Price is Right and Gameshow Marathon, was a DJ at WSUN-FM during its oldies format period.
• Napoleon - The first version of the morning show was Fisher and Napoleon.
• Crissy - The original night jock (7p-12a).
• Pat Largo - The original morning drive jock (10a-3p). Also the first host of Local Motion.
• Ford Prefect - Did a few weekend shifts, but best known for hosting Sunday School (old school alternative) on Sunday nights.
• Professor Brian- Hosted Sunday School with Ford Prefect
• Jimmy - Original part-timer. Did weekends, over-nights, and fill-shifts. Also hosted Local Motion with Tre.
• Kate - Was the on and off night jock after Crissy left.
• Tre - Weekends, Fill-shifts, and co-hosted Local Motion with Jimmy.
• Phoebe - Nights & Middays | Currently midday host and music director for Hot101.5
• Jesse Kage - Kage Kult Show (7p - 12a) | Currently 3p - 7p 98Rock.

97X Green Room[link]

The 97X Green Room is a annual series of compilation albums of live music recorded for WSUN-FM's Green Room series. All albums contain acoustic versions of popular songs from artists heard on the station. It was released for sale primarily at Tampa Bay area Best Buy locations, although later volumes were made available at other locations. Proceeds from the first album's sales benefited Audubon of Florida's Coastal Islands Sanctuaries Program. For subsequent albums, proceeds from the sales benefit The Nature Conservancy. The albums' goal is to provide exclusive acoustic performances and to help raise money and awareness to the needs of environment in Florida.

The latest installment in the series, Volume 7, released on September 8, 2011, includes performances by Foster the People, A Day to Remember, Silversun Pickups, Manchester Orchestra, Matt Schultz from Cage the Elephant, Sick Puppies, Young the Giant, The Joy Formidable and Grouplove.^[1]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Query the FCC's FM station database for WSUN
• Radio-Locator information on WSUN
• Query Arbitron's FM station database for WSUN
• WSUN Becomes 97X

Coordinates: 28°10′59″N 82°46′05″W / 28.183°N 82.768°W / 28.183; -82.768

Ronald White, better known by his stage name Ron Ron,^[1] is an American rapper, producer, director, videographer, CEO of The Gold Mind Business Corporation, head of indie label Brainiak Muzik and former affiliate of Universal Music Group.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Ronald F White Jr. was born on October 3, 1981,. This day will forever be marked as the day a musical genius was born. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri. He grew up between his mother's home and his father and step mother, Rachelle White's home. They collectively contributed to his care. As a child he endured trials and tribulations of living between the two different environments. He had a strong grandparents who were also influential in his personal development. His grandparents were very special to him. He also formed a close brotherly bond with his older cousin,Shah. He learned a lot from Shah who is from Los Angeles, CA. As a pre-teen, Ron-Ron moved to California with his mother and baby brother. He was exposed to a whole new world. By 14, he was back in KCMO. He attended Paseo Academy School of Fine and Performing Arts. He had the opportunity to major in Theater. His major study during high school complimented his already dynamic personality. He participated in productions at the school. Also because of his comedic and charming personality he hosted talent and fashion shows with ease. Due to the love of music he also began to hone his craft in Applied Technology, a course offered in school that offered a technical foundation to his understanding of musical production. He is an intelligent mind and considered a genius by plenty. High school wasn't a challenge for him although he got suspended often, mostly for truancy problems and class disruption. He juggled home life and the reality of the streets, all the while he graduated a year early from high school. He briefly attended Lincoln University in Jefferson City, MO. He left after two violent altercations, one in which he was badly injured by a group of men. He ultimately decided that he belonged with his family and colleagues in a southern KC ghetto affectionately known by its residents as "the 50s". On 51th and Bellefontaine, the same neighborhood where his spent time as a kid, many of his family members reside either on the block or very close to it. Ron-Ron always identified with his own kind. On "the block" he felt at home. Although the neighborhood didn't offer the most positive influences, he managed to make life long and life changing connections with those who were raised there just like him.

Personal Life.[link]

He comes from a large family. He has a host of uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins. All of his family is important to him but two in particular he holds a special bond. Steve "Moody" Wright and Dionysus "Dion" Spriggs. Both are incarcerated in the federal penal system. They all grew up in the neighborhood together and became known as the "Bellfontaine Boys", taking the name from their uncles and older relatives in the era before them. Seeing them get caught up in the system for so many extremely serious crimes had a tremendous impact on Ron Ron, driving him to stay on a more positive course while still trying to remain true to his roots. Coming from such a big family with decades of history it was difficult to truly shake his past but instead he had to learn to use it to improve his future. After all of his legal misfortune, Ron came to the realization that because of his local notoriety and street credibility, he could use his own personal experience to encourage Kansas City's at risk youth to do better. He was affiliated with the a local non-profit group called Aim4Peace. He briefly went to Kansas City area high schools from 2009 to 2010 to speak to high risk teens.

Legal Trouble[link]

Shortly after leaving college he immediately began getting in serious legal trouble. In between the major charges were dozens of minor arrests and investigations. He was first arrested for felony forgery and burglary charges. A year later he was picked up for possession of pcp. And a few months after that he was sent to jail for several months for felonious restraint (minor kidnapping) of two men. Once released with another chance at freedom, but on probation, he seemed to stay under the radar for a year or two when he was captured at a drug rehab for two counts of first degree murder. He spent a year in detention and then bonded out with a condition of house arrest. He spent 3 years released on bond apart for being re incarcerated twice for violations of house arrest conditions. During these years is when he and some of his close friends and relatives got a studio and began making and selling professionally recorded songs and mixtapes. The popularity of the music grew rapidly but due to circumstances the music traveled hardly any further than Missouri and Kansas. This momentum was also halted when a brief but intense turf war broke out in Kansas City causing police to investigate rap groups with gang ties irreversibly damaging the local independent music scene in Kansas City, not just for him but just about every rapper in the city. On June 11, 2007 he began trial for the murders and included lesser charges. On June 15 he was fully acquitted of all charges and immediately released off of house arrest. His attorney was the well known Patrick Peters. Unfortunately this freedom would only last a couple months when the prosecutor arraigned him on a drug case that happened prior to the murders he went to trial on. Back on probation again his music career was once again put on hault, a trend so familiar to him since the age of 18.

Musical Accomplishments[link]

Commercially and Independently[link]

Ron has appeared in major videos with national recording artists Rick Ross, Marques Houston, Tech N9ne, and Hurricane Cris. He has made songs with Rick Ross, Yo Gotti, Nipsey Hussle, Torch, Busta Rhymes, Mon-E-G, Saw Money, Popper, Tech N9ne, J Stalin, Thiz Ent., Matt Blaque, Rich the Factor, and many more. He has toured and performed with dozens of national recording artists including the likes of Monica, Plies, Rick Ross and many many more. In 2009, Ron and Stik Figa, won a Pitch Award for Hip-Hop song of the year.^[2] His success is measured more in terms of influence and not sales as he has never had a true financially successful record. It was rumored that his club hit "Hey Honey" made him rich but the song ended up in limbo and ultimately in court in which Ron stays adamant on staying away from avoidable legal issues, thus leaving the potential profits on the table rather than fight for them in a courtroom.

Music Feud[link]

Prior to death of Fat Tone he and Ron were involved in short and unofficial rap feud where no names were mentioned on record but was rumored to be intense even though the two grew up together and even have songs together under their rap group name "5150". The 51 was for Ron and the 50 was for Tone. The two were on speaking terms though at the time of Tone's death but were unable to reconcile. After that situation Ron vowed to refrain from rap beefs, wars, etc. after seeing how closely the music and street world were intertwined. Ron never made any more of his issues public since then, although there is speculation swirling the streets of Kansas City with countless people.

Rap Groups and Labels[link]

Rappers in his neighborhood "unofficially" went by the name Bucc Clicc which was representation of a large group of youngsters. They never released any projects but recorded dozens of amateur songs for a few years at various houses in the 51st Street area. With everyone constantly in and out of jail no real progress was made outside of the area of the 50's.

He first co founded a rap group called 5-1-2 which was him and Todd "Lace" Williard who died in 2005 after being shot. The two were childhood friends. The 5-1 was for Ron and 1-2 was for Todd. Later other rappers changed the 1 to "ace" and the 2 to "deuce" to include other group members. This led to a cult following on the streets blurring the line of art and life. The controversy forced Ron to step back from the scene which had random unaffiliated people causing serious trouble under that banner. Ron maintains his ties are based solely on the memory of his fallen comrade and in no way to promote gang membership.

His next venture was co-founding the label Die Hard Ent. with family members.They enjoyed a few years of success and even ran a professional recording studio for several years on the corner 59th and Prospect, which is an infamous street in Kansas City known for decades. They released projects every few months and even did a few Ron Ron shows in Missouri.

Ron started up his own indie label "Brainiak Muzik" under THE GOLD MIND BUSINESS CORPORATION in 2008 which he still operates at a limited capacity in music and video production. He's released his most well known music under this label although it is argued that his "best" music was with Die Hard. Ron has refrained from using curse words in his music since 2007 which may be the reason for debate although his subject matter has only expanded while still being firmly grounded in the streets.

In the years since he has attempted to partner with Hush Ent. distributed through Universal. He also partnered briefly with Southside Recordings. Neither yielded much more than song recordings and networking opportunities.

Film and Video[link]

One his lesser known talents is in the video production field. He has directed and edited videos for years. He has also produced hundreds of songs earlier in his career but really doesn't do it anymore, and it is usually just co-production work when he does. He has had songs he's produced placed in several indie films as he is a member of the Kansas City based IFC (Independent Filmmaker's Coalition). His work is displayed on YouTube. He has directed and edited "Grimmy Muffucca" 2006, "G.A.N.G.S.T.A." 2006, "Hey Honey" 2008, "100 Barz" 2009, "Life Worth Livin" 2010, "Lyric 100 Barz" 2010, "Caked Up" featuring Stik Figa 2011 and "Ron DMC Party Song" 2011. In totality he has over a million views on YouTube.

Albums[link]

"Ironic" (2005)

"Ironic" [remastered re-release] (Fall 2011)

Ironic Pt. 2 (Deja Vu) (Fall 2011)

Ron DMC 1.0 (May 31)

Mixtapes[link]

Cholie Brown (2005)
"Mr. Mixtape" (2006)
Mr No It All (2008)
Frank-Einstein (2008)
Skitzo-Frinik (2009)^[3]
"EXPERT" (postponed)
"Left Brain:Right Brain" (Out Now)
Therapy (Postponed)
"Mr No It All 2'" (Winter 2011)

External links[link]

• Official website

References[link]

Ann Curry
Curry at the 2012 Time 100
Born	(1956-11-19) November 19, 1956 (age 55) Guam, United States
Alma mater	University of Oregon
Occupation	Television personality Television journalist
Years active	1978–present
Notable credit(s)	Today Show   (1997–present) Dateline NBC   (2005–2011) Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade  (2011–present)
Title	Correspondent/Anchor
Spouse	Brian Ross
Children	McKenzie William Walker
Website
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12536386/

Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American television news journalist, photojournalist,^[1] and co-anchor on NBC's morning television program Today. She is the former news anchor on Today, a role she began in March 1997, and was the host of Dateline NBC from 2005–2011.^[2]

Curry is a Board Member at the International Women's Media Foundation.^[3]

Biography[link]

Curry was born in Guam to Bob Curry, of Cherokee, French, German, Scottish and Irish descent from Pueblo, Colorado, and Hiroe Nagase, originally from Japan.^[4] Her American father, a career Navy man,^[5] met her mother during the U.S. occupation of Japan following the Second World War. The U.S. military initially did not allow the marriage, but her father returned to Japan two years later to marry Nagase.

Curry lived in Japan for several years as a child, attending the Ernest J. King School on the military base in Sasebo. Later she moved to Ashland, Oregon, where she graduated from Ashland High School. She graduated with a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon in 1978.^[6]

Curry was raised Roman Catholic by her mother, who was a convert to the religion.

Curry is married to software executive, Brian Ross, whom she met in college. They have a daughter, McKenzie, and a son, William Walker Curry Ross. The family lives in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of New York City.

Professional career[link]

Curry began her broadcasting career in 1978 as an intern at then, NBC-affiliate, now CBS-affiliate KTVL in Medford, Oregon. There she rose to become the station's first female news reporter. In 1980, Curry moved to NBC-affiliate KGW^[7] in Portland, where she was a reporter and anchor.

Four years later, Curry moved to Los Angeles as a reporter for KCBS-TV and received two Emmy Awards while working as a reporter from 1984 to 1990.

In 1990, Curry joined NBC News, first as the NBC News Chicago correspondent then as the anchor of NBC News at Sunrise from 1991 to 1996. Curry also served as a substitute news anchor for Matt Lauer from 1994 to 1997 at Today. From 1997 to 2011, she served as news anchor at Today, being the show's second-longest serving news anchor, behind Frank Blair, who served in that capacity from 1953 to 1975. During this time, she also served as a substitute anchor for Today. In May 2005, Curry was named co-anchor of Dateline NBC with Stone Phillips; she remained as the primary anchor when Phillips left in June 2007 and has since moved off the show after replacing Meredith Viera on Today in 2011.

Curry has been known at NBC News for anchoring three of the four major broadcasts. She has read the news on The Today Show since March 11, 1997, she has anchored Dateline NBC. From 2005 to 2011, she was the primary substitute on NBC Nightly News. In 2007, after Lester Holt took over weekend editions (Holt had previously been the primary substitute but left that position to become weekend anchor, giving Curry the position), there have even been days when Curry has anchored all three broadcasts in one day. A segment on Today, Ann on the Run, follows Curry around a day where she must read the news on Today, tape Dateline, and fill in live for Brian Williams on Nightly News.

Curry covering the 2009 Commander in Chief's Ball, with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen

Curry is known for her international reporting of major stories, filing stories from places such as Baghdad, Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Albania, and Darfur. Curry hosted NBC's primetime coverage and highlights of the Live Earth concerts on July 7, 2007 and also contributed with interviews for the special with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Al Gore. Curry reported from the USS Theodore Roosevelt during the invasion of Afghanistan in November 2001, and had an exclusive interview with General Tommy Franks. She reported from Baghdad in early 2003, and then from the USS Constellation as the war in Iraq began. Ann was also the first network news anchor to report from inside the Southeast Asian tsunami zone in late 2004.

On December 17, 2007, Curry bungee jumped off the world famous Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough, England to raise money for charity. Her jump was shown live on the Today show at about 8:13 am. During a February 4, 2008 appearance as a guest on NBC's Late Night with Conan O'Brien, asked if she would ever bungee jump again, Curry said she would if O'Brien would jump with her.

Ann Curry replaced Meredith Vieira as co-host on June 9, 2011, with national correspondent Natalie Morales replacing Curry as news reader.

In 2011, Ann Curry appeared in the first PBS Kids Sprout "Kindness Counts" PSA.

Volunteerism[link]

• Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation^[8]
• Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation^[8]
• Americares^[8]
• Save the Children^[8]
• Médecins Sans Frontières^[8]
• Airline Ambassadors^[8]
• Buildon^[9]

Awards[link]

• Emmy Awards, presented for coverage of the 1987 Los Angeles earthquake; another presented for reporting on the explosion of a San Bernardino gas pipeline,^[10] and a third in 2007 for her reporting on NBC Nightly News about the Darfur crisis.^[11]
• Golden Mic (4), presented by Radio & Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA)
• Certificate of Excellence, Associated Press
• Gracie Award, presented by The Foundation of American Women in Radio and Television
• Excellence in Reporting, presented by the NAACP
• National Journalism Award, presented by the Asian American Journalists Association, 2003^{[citation needed]}
• Pioneer Award, presented by University of Oregon, 2003
• Hall of Achievement induction, University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication, 2002^[5][10]
• Sexiest Newscaster and "Hottest MILF Newscaster" as voted on by readers of Ask Men magazine ^[12]
• Common Wealth Award of Distinguished Service, presented by PNC Bank for outstanding achievements in mass communications, 2008
• Honorary Doctorate in Journalism from Southern Oregon University on 6/5/2010 after giving the commencement address
• Curry received an honorary degree from Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island on May 16, 2010.
• She received an honorary doctorate from the Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts on May 22, 2010.^[13] There she delivered the graduation keynote address. However, she gaffed as she cited several famous alumni, only one of which graduated from that college. The others graduated from the Wheaton College near Chicago. Curry apologized for the gaffe.^[14]

Funded scholarship[link]

• Ann Curry Scholarship for University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication Broadcasting Students, 2002^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ann Curry

• Ann Curry on Twitter
• Ann Curry at the Internet Movie Database
• Bio on About.com