Who you gonna call? Aaron Harber, Saver of Desperate Situations!
Harber, the genial and knowledgeable host of his own weekly political show on KBDI-Channel 12, got a frantic call from the station last Wednesday. Peter Boyles, regular host of KBDI’s “Colorado Inside Out Live,” turned up ailing from his tour of duty on Border Patrol, so the station asked Harber to fill in at the last moment.
It was so last moment that he was outfitted in sweats to go work out and was taking his daughter to karate. “They called me about 6 o’clock. I said, ‘Being the team player I am, I’ll see what I can do.”‘ Heroism despite the fact that he had just taped five of his own shows on Monday.
What he did was make arrangements for the karate lesson, change clothes, gas up the car and speed from his home in Erie to the station for the 8 p.m. live start.
It turned out fine, despite a breakdown in the station’s phone system for the last 10 minutes of the show, which meant no callers could get through. His background in talk radio paid big dividends.
“The subject was something I know nothing about – alcohol and marijuana, two things Peter was an expert on.” We agreed he was talking about the long-ago Boyles, not today’s stone-sober model.
Running hot, cold
The Weather Channel kicks off its four-day look at the country’s hottest, coldest, driest and wettest large cities tonight.
Lucky us, we’re in the top 10 in three of the four categories.
My colleague Bill Husted is among the locals who will try to explain our wild and wooly weather.
The series airs at 7 nightly through Thursday.
“Silenced” to be heard
“A Voice for the Silenced,” five one-hour shows devoted to the cultural devastation brought on by the Holocaust, debuts tonight (8 p.m., KVOD 90.1-FM).
Conductor James Conlon and host Monika Vischer focus on composers Arnold Schoenberg, Walter Braunfels, Kurt Weill and others in the series, first aired last year.
Around the dial
Veteran traffic reporter Jayson Luber paired with KMGH-Channel 7 helicopter pilot Rich Westra as part of the station’s new 4 p.m. newscast, starting in June. Luber spent 10 years doing traffic reports at KOA 850-AM. … Former tennis star Billie Jean King profiled in “Portrait of a Pioneer” (8 p.m. Wednesday, HBO). … Davin Fesmire joins the lineup as afternoon voice at KALC 105.9-FM (“Alice”) on Wednesday. He was previously heard here on KJMN 92.5-FM and KQKS 107.5-FM. … Yonder Mountain String Band headlines KBCO 97.3-FM’s Kinetic Ball at the Boulder Theater on April 29, a preamble to the Kinetic Race at Boulder Reservoir on May 6. … Quotable: “I love talk radio” Aaron Harber
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
