Author: SPMC Staff

On March 2, Sun Prairie City Administrator Aaron Oppenheimer announced the formation of a pedestrian safety task force. Led by Adam Schleicher, the city’s Public Works Director/City Engineer, the task force began meeting almost immediately to produce recommendations to enhance pedestrian safety throughout our community. The Pedestrian Task Force is now preparing a town hall that will be broadcast across several platforms at 7 PM on Monday, April 19. Topics covered will include the vision of the task force, the speed limit change on Main Street, the importance and benefits of speed reduction and eliminating distracted driving, and a discussion centering on crosswalks and right-of-way issues. The task force will also be answering questions and concerns from residents. That survey, located here, is currently open and will remain open until…

Tune in for the latest edition of the Multicultural Fair Radio Reboot this Saturday, April 17, on 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio. The episode, airing at 4 PM, will feature an interview Evelyn Cruz, a Sun Prairie resident who is the Director for Program Planning & Evaluation at Centro Hispano. The conversation includes loads of information on the services that Centro Hispano provides not only for Sun Prairie but throughout Dane County, as well as some of Ms. Cruz’s favorite music and spoken word content. The interview with Evelyn Cruz, conducted by Sara Milewski, will air for the next several weeks on Saturdays at 4 PM. It is also available to listen to via the Sun Prairie Media Center app as well as right here.

Have no fear . . . The Sun Prairie Media Center’s much-loved, often-imitated-but-never-duplicated summer workshops are back! If you know of someone aged 9-15 who loves to make videos, movies, or even podcasts and wants help taking their creativity to the next level, then you need to sign up for these workshops!These week-long workshops are designed for budding journalists, filmmakers, actors, and social media influencers who want a fun and creative way to express themselves. Participants will be introduced to media production in a fun, hands-on learning environment that is conveniently located – the Media Center is in the same building as the public library! These courses will inspire kids in a creative atmosphere to learn communication skills they can use for a lifetime. Nothing is impossible when you have…

Wisconsin Community Media, in conjunction with the Alliance for Community Media’s Midwest Region, has announced their annual award winners for the 2021 Best of the Midwest Media Fest. The Sun Prairie Media Center is happy to announce that 16 original shows created for either KSUN television or 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio are set to receive awards at the fest, which will be held virtually on May 27. Included in the 16 awards were two “Best in Show” winners: Library Director Svetha Hetzler was honored for “Best Cultural /Ethnic Program” for her “Books and Cooks: Book Talks and Tastings” series of short video programs, and SPMC radio producer Mark Gonwa won “Best in Show” for “LPFM radio show/podcast” for his weekly show “Bluesology,” which focuses on delivering the best…

Due to ongoing COVID-related concerns, the Sun Prairie Area School District and other surrounding schools are prohibiting or limiting spectators for sporting events. Fortunately, the Sun Prairie Media Center and the SPASD are working together to make sure that many sporting events can be seen on TV and online. The SPMC is making arrangements to provide coverage for an extensive schedule of girls’ volleyball, boys’ soccer, and football games in the coming weeks. Both home and away games will be covered, with most (if not all) games featuring Sun Prairie-centric announcers. “Cardinal sports are undoubtedly some of our most popular programs,” said SPMC director Jeff Robbins. “Now with public health restrictions affecting spectator access, that coverage is more appreciated than ever. And we are grateful to be working with the…

Sun Prairie residents will have a lot to decide when they head to the polls on April 6. And the Sun Prairie Media Center is offering extensive programming to help residents make those decisions. Thanks largely to candidate forums hosted by Chris Mertes and Don Hooser of the public-affairs program “Talk of the Town,” KSUN viewers will soon have access to programs specifically produced to assist voters in making informed choices during the upcoming spring election. “Talk of the Town” will soon tape two candidate forums at the Sun Prairie Media Center: On March 5, District 2 incumbent Bob Jokisch and challenger Bill Baker will be featured, followed by a March 12 tape date for SPASD School Board candidates Alwyn Foster, Becky McCright, and incumbent Bryn Horton. In that race,…

The Sun Prairie Media Center is proud to announce that “Sun Prairie In Focus,” the Dan Presser-produced weekly video newscast, is expanding from its roughly 10-minute length to a full 30-minute weekly newscast. The expansion took effect with the episode first released on Friday, February 12, 2021. There are several elements being added to “Sun Prairie In Focus” to accommodate the longer length. There will be a weekly Sun Prairie sports segment anchored by Sun Prairie Star sports editor Jeff Seisser. There will also be regular contributions from Rep. Gary Hebl, who will be providing updates from the state capitol, as well as former City of Sun Prairie alderperson Bill Connors, who will be providing updates, previews, and news from city council and Sun Prairie boards and commissions. On the…

The Sun Prairie Media Center is happy to be premiering “Community Conversations,” a newly-produced special with the intent of informing the Sun Prairie community about what has happened during the past year and what lies ahead in 2021. The cornerstone of the special is Mayor Paul Esser’s annual “State of the City,” which will look at the breakdown, impact, and distribution of residents’ tax bills, challenges and successes the city had in 2020, what city leaders forecast in 2021, and more. Following the Mayor’s “SOTC,” Esser and his co-host Taylor Brown of the city’s economic development will speak to Colonial Club executive director Bob Power, Chamber of Commerce executive director Amy Skicki, and Joanna Cervantes, who until very recently was the executive director of Sunshine Place. Power, Cervantes, and Skicki…

Just this past week we received the rotten news that Nancy McMahon passed away. For those unfamiliar with Nancy, she was a tireless advocate for public television and specifically the role youth could play in media. McMahon, along with Marieli Rowe (who passed away late in 2020) and Bob Rodriguez, created KIDS-4 and founded Sun Prairie Cable Access in the mid-1970s. All that we do to this day at the Media Center and with the KIDS-4 program would not be possible without the visionary and pioneering efforts of McMahon. We try every day in some small way to add to the legacy that she created. Nancy McMahon obituary.

The Sun Prairie Media Center is pleased to announce that as the Sun Prairie Cardinals boys’ and girls’ basketball teams head on the road to compete outside of Dane County, 103.5 FM The Sun Community Radio is going with them. This follows the decision of the Sun Prairie Area School District to begin winter sports competitions on January 23 outside of Dane County as in-county competitions are still forbidden under the latest Public Health Madison and Dane County guidelines. These are the games that the Media Center is planning to carry live on 103.5 FM: Saturday, January 23                   1 PM               Girls Basketball at Appleton EastSaturday, January 23                   7 PM               Boys Basketball at FreedomThursday, January 28                   7 PM               Boys Basketball at EdgertonFriday, January 29                        2 PM                Boys Basketball at…