By:  Zaffirini                                         S.R. No. 301

 1-1     By:  Zaffirini                                         S.R. No. 301

 1-2                              SENATE RESOLUTION

 1-3           WHEREAS, The Senate of the State of Texas takes pride in

 1-4     recognizing KVOU-AM radio, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary

 1-5     of doing business in Uvalde, Texas; and

 1-6           WHEREAS, After founder E. J. Harpole was discharged from active

 1-7     duty in the United States Army Air Corps at the end of World War II,

 1-8     he and his wife, Mary, decided to start a radio station in Uvalde;

 1-9     and

1-10           WHEREAS, In January, 1947, they received a construction

1-11     permit from the Federal Communications Commission to build an AM

1-12     station; right after the war, materials were hard to locate, but

1-13     the obstacles were overcome, and KVOU-AM signed onto the air at

1-14     noon, April 4, 1947, with 250 watts on 1490khz; and

1-15           WHEREAS, The popular station was an affiliate of the Mutual

1-16     Broadcasting system and a subscriber to United Press International;

1-17     and

1-18           WHEREAS, In 1952 the station was moved to the frequency of

1-19     1400khz, and in 1957, the station joined the Associated Press and

1-20     later joined the Texas State Network as soon as it was possible,

1-21     and by 1985, power was increased to 1,000 watts for both day and

1-22     night; and

1-23           WHEREAS, E. J. Harpole died on March 29, 1983, and control of

 2-1     the station passed to his son, W. J. Jay Harpole; his mother, Mary,

 2-2     became chairperson of the Board of Directors of Uvalde Broadcasters,

 2-3     and Jay accepted the position of president of the board; and

 2-4           WHEREAS, As the population grew, the Harpole family acquired

 2-5     more stations; on April 6, 1976, KYUF-FM signed on; E. J. Harpole's

 2-6     lifelong dream had been to provide a full-time Spanish station for

 2-7     the area's large Hispanic population; that dream was fulfilled in

 2-8     June, 1996, when radio station KUVA-FM was acquired and the Tejano

 2-9     station went on the air on January 13, 1997; and

2-10           WHEREAS, On April 5, 1997, KVOU-AM will celebrate its 50th

2-11     anniversary of superlative service with an open house for invited

2-12     guests; it is a rarity for one family to maintain a business for

2-13     50 years; the event is certainly worthy of legislative recognition;

2-14     now, therefore, be it

2-15           RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas,

2-16     75th Legislature, hereby congratulate radio station KVOU-AM on

2-17     the momentous occasion of its 50th anniversary with continued best

2-18     wishes for the future; and, be it further

2-19           RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be prepared for

2-20     the station as an expression of the high regard and esteem of the

2-21     Texas Senate.

2-22                                  ______________________________________

2-23                                          President of the Senate

2-24                                       I hereby certify that the above

2-25                                  Resolution was adopted by the Senate

2-26                                  on March 10, 1997.

2-27                                  ______________________________________

2-28                                          Secretary of the Senate

2-29                                  ______________________________________

 3-1                                           Member, Texas Senate