San Diego

San Diego /ˌsæn diːˈeɪɡoʊ/ (Spanish for "Saint Didacus") is a major city in California, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico.

With an estimated population of 1,381,069 as of July 1, 2014, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California. San Diego is the birthplace of California and is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the U.S. Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.

Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, San Diego was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the entire area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. The Presidio and Mission of San Diego, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of newly independent Mexico, and in 1850, became part of the United States following the Mexican–American War and the admission of California to the union.

KBEM-FM

KBEM-FM (88.5 FM, "Jazz 88") is a Minneapolis, Minnesota public radio station broadcasting a jazz format. The station is operated by Minneapolis public school system and has also been known since the mid-1990s as a partner with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), providing traffic congestion reports for commuters in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. KBEM is part of Minnesota's Independent Public Radio network, formerly known as AMPERS.

History

KBEM first took to the air in October 1970. Its broadcast studios were originally in the former Vocational High School in downtown Minneapolis (since converted to an office building in which WLOL now operates) and has, since 1984, been located at North Community High School. The current jazz format began in 1985. Students are a part of the station's operation during the day, delivering news reports and other programming. Minneapolis School Board meetings and Minneapolis City Council meetings have been carried live for over 20 years.

KSDS

KSDS (88.3 FM, "Jazz 88.3") is a full-time mainstream/traditional Jazz radio station, licensed to the San Diego Community College District, broadcasting 24 hours a day from the campus of San Diego City College. The station is owned by City College, although their transmitter and antenna are located near their partner college, Mesa College, located north of City College, in Kearny Mesa.

KSDS, founded in 1951, began programming jazz in 1973 and in 1985 became San Diego's only full-time jazz and blues station. KSDS is licensed by the FCC as a non-commercial, non-profit educational radio station and, for many years, operated with 3,000 watts at 88.3 MHz FM. In 2007, KSDS was granted a Construction Permit by the Federal Communications Commission allowing the station to increase its power to 22,000 watts, greatly improving the signal coverage area. They also feature a live stream and a playlist archive at their website.

In 1992 KSDS/Jazz88 was nominated "Jazz Station of the Year" by the radio industry trade publication The Gavin Report, and in 1993 was named "Jazz Station of the Year" by the National Association of Broadcasters, receiving the prestigious Marconi Award. Numerous nominations and awards have followed, including finalist nominations for "Jazz Station of the Year" in both 2004 and 2005.

Jazz

Jazz is a music genre that originated from African American communities of New Orleans in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It emerged in the form of independent traditional and popular musical styles, all linked by the common bonds of African American and European American musical parentage with a performance orientation. Jazz spans a period of over a hundred years, encompassing a very wide range of music, making it difficult to define. Jazz makes heavy use of improvisation, polyrhythms, syncopation and the swing note, as well as aspects of European harmony, American popular music, the brass band tradition, and African musical elements such as blue notes and African-American styles such as ragtime. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience to the music as well. Intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as "one of America's original art forms".

Westgate Hotel

The Westgate Hotel is a Grade II listed hotel in Newport city centre, whose name and site is famous as the scene of the 1839 Chartist riot, the so-called Newport Rising. It is located at the bottom of Stow Hill.

History

Original Hotel: 1800-1883

After the demolition of the original West city gate of the city of Newport, the site was reclaimed and a hotel constructed.

On 4 November 1839 local politician and activist John Frost led a march of 3000 Chartists into the centre of Newport. Here he discovered several Chartists had been arrested and were held in the Westgate hotel. British Army troops protecting the hotel opened fire on the marchers, killing over 20 people and wounding 50 more. Holes in the pillars at the entrance to the hotel are assumed, by some, to be bullet holes from the insurrection, however, this is unlikely as the building was rebuilt in 1884.

Present building: 1884-present

In 1884, the original hotel was demolished, and the present structure constructed. Designed by local architect E.A. Lansdowne, it incorporated six shops at ground floor level to increase the sites rental income, and placed a new five storey hotel on top, which was twice the floor size of the hotel it replaced, and included the provision of an ornate ballroom. Built by local builder John Linton, it was leased from its opening in 1886 to Samuel Dean of the Castle Hotel for twenty one years. In recent times the building has been converted into an entertainment complex.