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