Salem Media Group, a media company that owns dozens of conservative and Christian radio stations and publications, announced on Tuesday that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Miami radio stations WWFE La Poderosa 670 AM and WRHC Cadena Azul 1550 AM.

The deal, which includes the stations’ FM affiliates, marks the latest shift in Miami’s Spanish-language talk radio landscape, with La Poderosa, a longtime voice for Cuban exiles in Miami, the latest to change hands.

Salem Media Group explained in a press release announcing the deal that it intends to continue broadcasting the stations in Spanish.

An executive was quoted in the announcement saying “leading Spanish-speaking voices of freedom” will be added to the lineup, but a La Poderosa spokesperson said that in a meeting between Salem Media Group and the station, La Poderosa representatives were told that there were no plans to add new programming or new hosts at the station.

Salem Media Group reaches over 11 million radio listeners, owning more than 100 radio stations and with more than 3,100 network affiliate stations, according to the press release. Salem’s programming includes conservative personalities such as Charlie Kirk, Brandon Tatum, Hugh Hewitt, Mike Gallagher, and others. Salem Media Group also owns news and opinion websites Townhall.com and Redstate.com.

Republican rhetoric paints America’s cities as cesspools of crime, homeless and, uh, out-of-touch elites, and the party has largely given up courting urban voters. The GOP may be able to hold on to power thanks to voting systems that favor rural areas, but legislating as though their responsibilities stop at the city lines is a growing concern for the Americans who actually live there.

Guest: Henry Grabar, staff writer at Slate.

Steve Vladeck
@steve_vladeck

The district court needed only five pages to dismiss plaintiff's suit for lack of (taxpayer) standing:

https://wpr.org/sites/default/files/will_lawsuit_dismissed.pdf


The Seventh Circuit issued a one-sentence order refusing an injunction pending appeal.

This ... is not going anywhere.

Steven Mazie
@stevenmazie

BREAKING at SCOTUS: Biden's student loan forgiveness plan has arrived on the shadow docket

Gov. Ron DeSantis’ war chest is almost bottomless.

And it’s padded with donations from officials he appointed to positions throughout the state.

While it’s common for governors to stack commissions, boards and task forces with their supporters, DeSantis has done so at a significantly higher rate than his predecessor, according to an analysis of campaign contributions and political appointments.

Since assuming office in 2019, DeSantis has accepted roughly $3.3 million in campaign donations from about 250 people he selected for leadership roles — a 75% increase in the number of donors appointed compared to former Gov. Rick Scott’s first term in office, and over 10 times the amount of money.

So far, DeSantis has raked in about $189 million to his campaign and PAC ahead of next month’s election.

“There’s nothing Ron DeSantis won’t do to line his coffers — including selling state appointments for contributions to his campaign,” Drew Godinich, a spokesperson for American Bridge, wrote in an email.

DeSantis’ office didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.

Donor-appointees

At the top of the list of donor-appointees are Craig Mateer and Keith Wold, who gave $400,000 and $300,000, respectively, to Friends of Ron DeSantis.

Mateer, a hospitality, logistics, and real estate businessman, previously served on the Florida State University Board of Trustees, and he was appointed to the Board of Governors of the State University System in March after he contributed $200,000 in February 2020 and $100,000 in May 2021. He gave another $100,000 in June 2022.

Wold donated to the governor in 2018 and was appointed to the Government Efficiency Task Force in August 2019.

Val Demings
@valdemings
US Senate candidate, FL

This one’s real.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley saw her fundraising advantage over Republican rival Ted Budd widen during the past three months and entering the campaign’s final weeks.

Budd’s campaign reported over the weekend — on the Federal Election Commission’s deadline date — that it raised $4.77 million during the three months ending Sept. 30. That’s barely one-third the $13.36 million that Beasley told the FEC that she raised — in keeping with what her campaign already had disclosed last week.

Beasley has been the top fundraiser among all of the candidates that sought to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr since she entered the race 18 months ago. Her campaign also outspent Budd during the quarter by a 4-1 margin.

“Cheri has earned unmatched support in every quarter of this race because North Carolinians know she is the only candidate who will stand up for the people of North Carolina and put them first — every day, every time,” Beasley campaign manager Travis Brimm said in a news release.

For the entire election cycle, Beasley has raised $29.4 million compared to $11.1 million for Budd.

Acyn
@Acyn

Demings: How long will you watch people being gunned down in 1st grade, 4th grade, high school, college, church, synagogue, a grocery store, a movie theater, a mall, and a night club and do nothing

https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1582516378610765824

A 15-year-old and his father shot at a woman they mistakenly thought had tried to break into their home, according to a Florida sheriff.

The neighbor found that the medication had been mistakenly delivered to his door at around 7 a.m. on Oct. 15, Judd said.

He brought the medicine to the father and son’s apartment, where it was supposed to have been delivered, and left it hanging on the door.

The father and son saw Ring doorbell camera footage on their cellphones of a person at their door and thought that someone was trying to break in, Judd said.

They both picked up their .45-caliber firearms and went outside to look for the person they thought was trying to get in, he said.

“They’re searching for their quote-on-quote burglar,” Judd said . “There is no burglar.”

About 100 yards away from their residence, they saw a woman sitting in her car looking at her phone, “minding her own business,” Judd said.

The father drew his weapon, pointed it at her and screamed at her to get out of the car. She put her car in reverse and tried to speed away, but the son started shooting into her vehicle, Judd said. His father began shooting, too, according to the sheriff.

“The two of them shot at an innocent lady sitting in her car, where she had the right to be, looking at her cellphone,” he said. “They shot at her seven times.”