The future for Scotland’s Heartland FM has been secured after a merger with another Perthshire community station, Radio Earn.Heartland FM’s continuation has been uncertain since March, when the station scaled back its service due to spiralling costs. Now, following a merger with Crieff based station Radio Earn, run by the charity Creative Crieff, Heartland FM will continue with an extended coverage across Perthshire.Online station Radio Earn approached the Heartland Radio Foundation regarding a merger of the two stations on the basis that the existing Heartland FM transmission area be...…The future for Scotland’s Heartland FM has been secured after a merger with another Perthshire community station, Radio Earn.Heartland FM’s continuation has been uncertain since March, when the station scaled back its service due to spiralling costs. Now, following a merger with Crieff based station Radio Earn, run by the charity Creative Crieff, Heartland FM will continue with an extended coverage across Perthshire.Online station Radio Earn approached the Heartland Radio Foundation regarding a merger of the two stations on the basis that the existing Heartland FM transmission area be...WW…

Birmingham’s new BRMB is signing a number of ex-BBC midlands presenters for its weekend schedule, including Bob Brolly.Bob presented a long-running afternoon programme on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, which aired for twelve years until 2013, as well as his Irish music show, which was first broadcast in the mid-90s. Bob’s Irish show will now air on BRMB on Sunday afternoons at 2pm.Jimmy Franks is joining the team, initially on Saturday lunchtime. He spent some time as the BRMB flying eye and presented shows on Xtra-am, BRMB and BBC Radio WM.Also joining the weekend team is Ryan Kennedy...…Birmingham’s new BRMB is signing a number of ex-BBC midlands presenters for its weekend schedule, including Bob Brolly.Bob presented a long-running afternoon programme on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, which aired for twelve years until 2013, as well as his Irish music show, which was first broadcast in the mid-90s. Bob’s Irish show will now air on BRMB on Sunday afternoons at 2pm.Jimmy Franks is joining the team, initially on Saturday lunchtime. He spent some time as the BRMB flying eye and presented shows on Xtra-am, BRMB and BBC Radio WM.Also joining the weekend team is Ryan Kennedy...WW…

An old political maxim held that “as Maine goes, so goes the nation.”This year at least, it’s not the whole nation. It’s just Alaska.Maine will no longer be the only state to use ranked-choice voting to decide its elections after Alaskan voters narrowly approved a ballot question this month that restricts dark money, shifts to open primaries and adopts ranked-choice voting.“Voters in the red state of Alaska have followed the lead of voters in the purple state of Maine in adopting ranked-choice voting because we all want more choice and more voice in our elections,” said state Rep.-elect...…An old political maxim held that “as Maine goes, so goes the nation.”This year at least, it’s not the whole nation. It’s just Alaska.Maine will no longer be the only state to use ranked-choice voting to decide its elections after Alaskan voters narrowly approved a ballot question this month that restricts dark money, shifts to open primaries and adopts ranked-choice voting.“Voters in the red state of Alaska have followed the lead of voters in the purple state of Maine in adopting ranked-choice voting because we all want more choice and more voice in our elections,” said state Rep.-elect...WW…