Starting Monday, Art Astor is turning off the music at adult standards “Spa” KSPA, Ontario (1510) in the Riverside market and San Diego-area KFSD, Escondido (1450) to go talk. The lineup includes a number of Talk Radio Network-distributed personalities, such as Mancow, Laura Ingraham, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Michael Savage and Rusty Humphries. Don Barrett’s LARadio.com site says Michael Horn, founder of Cable Radio Networks, will function as the new program director and sales consultant for “Southern California Talk.” Some CRN programming will be part of the lineup on 1510/1450, including a 9-11am mid-morning show named “What’s Cooking Today.” That’s followed by Chuck Wilder, 11-noon, and then Dr. Laura, noon-3pm and then Michael Savage. The Los Angeles Board of Radio-Info is talking about the signals and the programming, here.

Elvis Duran now has his first West Coast affiliate, adding Cumulus-owned KEHK-FM “Star” (102.3) for mornings starting March 15 … Bonneville International promotes Greg Solk from VP of Programming to SVP of Programming, effective immediately … Steve Cakebread, the former president and chief strategy officer for Salesforce.com, joins Pandora as its new CFO … Following the move by Citadel’s WLTI-FM to flip to talk, the syndicated Delilah has moved down the dial to WYYY-FM (94.5) for evenings seven days-a-week, says CNYRadio.com … Bustos Media’s smooth jazz outlet KKHI-FM (101.9) adds Florida-based Alicia Kaye for middays, who’s also heard on CBS-owned WSJT-FM (98.7) in Tampa – Discuss it … Envision Radio Networks adds KFXS-FM (100.3) in Rapid City, South Dakota as their newest affiliate for “The Rockin' 80’s” … The Arena Football League’s Cleveland Gladiators name Radio One’s WJMO-AM “Praise” (1300) as their radio home for the 2010 season … Frank Herzog announced his retirement. The longtime radio voice of the Washington Redskins and news anchor at WTOP-FM (103.5) is hanging up his headphones after a 41-year career, says the Washington Post.

He’s already put his $14 million Manhattan penthouse condo up for sale. As for where conservative talker Rush Limbaugh will live, it appears Costa Rica is high on the list. Responding to a Florida caller on his radio show, Limbaugh was asked by a caller what he would do if he needed health care. Limbaugh responded, “I'll just tell you this, if this passes and it’s five years from now and all that stuff gets implemented — I am leaving the country. I'll go to Costa Rica.” Limbaugh, who has railed against the Democratic-led health care bill almost daily, may want to research his new proposed home. Costa Rica’s government-run health care system is a network of 30 hospitals and over 250 clinics around the country. Foreigners living in Costa Rica can pay a monthly fee, based on income, for coverage, or join the national health care insurance provider. You can hear Limbaugh’s vow to vacate the US here.

The 5-kw fulltime station recently went dark, as Radio Disney continues to pull out of medium and small-size broadcast markets in favor of delivery by Internet and new media. WCOG was originally owned by the city of Greensboro, and the calls stood for “Wonderful City of Greensboro.” It had been carrying Radio Disney’s kids programming since late 2000 and had been acquired by Disney in 2005. Now the station is being sold to Raleigh-based Don Curtis for $350,000. Brokers: Bill Schutz for seller Radio Disney, John Pierce for buyer Don Curtis.

Last year it threw a lifeline to Sirius XM, which was teetering on bankruptcy. Now, John Malone’s Liberty Media is close to adding the assets of a second satellite radio company. Silver Spring, Maryland-based WorldSpace, which has been mired in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since 2008, owns three orbiting satellites and broadcast spectrum. A subsidiary of Liberty Media had already bought an interest in WorldSpace, which at one time had subscriber-based operations in Asia and Africa. The Denver Business Journal says that “Liberty Media has pumped $21 million into WorldSpace since assuming control,” but WorldSpace “could be on the hook for $2.2 billion in debt.” Tom Taylor’s “Taylor on Radio-Info” on Tuesday reports Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin has said he’s “willing to be a ‘strategic partner’ in assisting WorldSpace – if asked.”

It was only recently that Missouri Rep. John Shimkus, a Republican, and Lacy Clay, a Democrat, took to the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington to denounce the sale of KFUO-FM (99.1) in St. Louis. Now, Missouri Senator Kit Bond has added his voice to the bipartisan chorus, formally asking the FCC to investigate the sale and pending format change. KFUO-FM was sold by the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod to Gateway Creative Broadcasting for $18 million, pending FCC clearance. When the sale is approved, Gateway Creative will abandon the 60 year-old classical format, replacing it with the Christian contemporary “Joy FM.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch says there are other discrepancies regarding the proposed sale, including an allegation that Gateway Creative lied to the Commission on its application – Discuss it.

The beta testing was done on CBS-owned modern rock “Live 105” KITS, San Francisco, and now CBS adds the feature to its Las Vegas modern rocker, “X107.5” KXTE. Jelli, distributed by Triton Media, offers listeners a catalog of tunes online and encourages them to either vote for it (giving it a rocket) or against it (a bomb). Even when it’s playing on the air live, they can say it “rocks” or “sucks”, and if it gets enough negatives, it’s pulled off immediately. Kirk Stirland, president of programming at Triton Media’s Dial Global syndication unit, says there are two versions for affiliates – Rock Jelli and Pop Jelli. Early signups include Greater Media’s modern rock WBOS, Boston (92.9) and Nassau’s hot AC WPST, Trenton-Philadelphia. Jelli CEO Mike Dougherty says crowd-sourcing lets radio participate in the “cultural transformation driven by the social web, giving a new voice to millions and millions of consumers.”

Tyler Broadcasting’s country KKNG (King Country) is moving up the FM dial from 93.3 to 97.3. A short message on the station’s Web site confirms, “The music that made King Country great is returning and moving to 97.3.” There’s quite a bit of chatter on Radio-Info.com’s Oklahoma discussion board about the changes, including the loss of morning hosts Bill Thomas and K.C. Sheperd as well as afternoon driver James Ayers, who posts on the board that it was “the best job I ever had.” In fact, all of the station’s air personalities are now missing from the on-air section of the Web site, which now yields a blank page, and the station is reportedly running jockless. Readers are discussing the station here and here.

The name change, to “reflect the changes in the industry and the marketplace”, was approved by a strong majority vote of the membership and then voted on by the board this past weekend. “American Women in Radio and Television” was founded 59 years ago as a support group for those in broadcasting, and it welcomes men, as well. The “Alliance for Women in Media” plans a 12-month transition into its new name.

Minnesota Public Radio, with its more than two dozen stations and a big presence in St. Paul, has long been a target for politicians who want details about its spending. Now it and other radio (and also TV) pubcasters face a total elimination of state funding under Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty’s Fiscal 2011 budget. David Brauer at the online MinnPost.com says Pawlenty would strike the entire $2,015,000 allocation from an earlier version of the budget, costing Minnesota Public Radio $250,000 and other individual public radio stations $387,000. The stations are planning to fight back by pointing out that lost state funds will mean they won’t qualify for federal matching funds. The Minnesota board has started discussing it.

Bill Kerr tells a Credit Suisse Media Conference session (3/8) that he'll meet with House Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns (D-NY) about Arbitron’s roster of proposed changes to the PPM system. Arbitron disclosed in a recent SEC filing that on February 12, it had suggested these possible changes: doing in-person recruiting of PPM panel members in the high-density black and Hispanic areas in the top 25 PPM markets by year-end. Going to address-based sampling in all 50 meter markets by 2011. Convening a minority leadership council. And conducting “advertiser outreach” on behalf of minority radio.

ENGLAND: BBC Radio 2 has lost 800,000 listeners since Chris Evans replaced Sir Terry Wogan on the morning show … Outrage continues over the BBC budget-cutting plan to eliminate 6 Music and the Asian Network. In related news, the planned closure of 6Music brings criticism from former Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker and the legendary David Bowie … IRELAND: Cork’s Red FM (106.1) filed a lawsuit against Ipsos MRBI, the company that does ratings surveys, claiming the latest ratings were mistakenly switched with another station, causing Red FM to have poor results … NIGERIA: South Africa’s radio station RSG announcer Johann Russouw is one of three people being held hostage after their bus was attacked by terrorists … GERMANY: Armed Forces Radio & TV will be experiencing 20 minute signal blackouts through March 13 due to solar radiation … For the latest on radio North-of-the-Border, check out the Radio-Info Canada board – Discuss it.

The events happened this morning on Bakersfield, California’s KERN-AM (1180). California Republican State Sen. Roy Ashburn joined mid-morning talk host Inga Barks to discuss his embarrassing arrest last week in Sacramento, for suspicion of DUI. He was driving a state-owned vehicle after leaving a gay nightclub. Saying, “I've brought this on myself,” the father of four who has led a 15-year crusade against gay rights legislation admitted to Barks and listeners, “I am gay…those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long.” Ashburn, who is a longtime Christian conservative, told listeners he broke the law with the driving offense and owed the public an explanation. As for his votes against gay rights, he said he voted the way his constituents wanted him to, adding, “I am gay, but it won’t affect how I do my job.” You can listen to Barks' complete interview with Sen. Ashburn. The Central California Board of Radio-Info is talking about the news-making interview with State Senator Ashburn, here.

The plan at Pamplin’s KPAM-AM (860) takes shape today, and begins with the move of Victoria Taft into middays. She will be sandwiched between Fox News host John Gibson from 9-11am, and Michael Savage in afternoon drive. The moves by KPAM come as crosstown KCMD at 970 (Alpha Broadcasting) adds syndicated talkers Sean Hannity and Mark Levin from KPAM, as previously reported by Radio-Info. Hannity will go up against Taft’s local show, while Savage and Levin will be head-to-head in afternoon drive. Both KPAM and “Freedom 970” are streaming online.

The schedule for WEPN-AM (1050) will change starting April 5, when the new local one-hour “ESPN New York,” hosted by Seth Everett, debuts from 10am-11am. The syndicated Colin Cowherd moves up one hour, from 11am-1pm, and will be followed by the addition of former WFAN-AM (660) host Jody MacDonald, who recently worked for ESPN’s Philadelphia affiliate WPEN-AM/FM (950/97.5). “Jody Mac” will team up with Brandon Tierney, who loses his mid-morning solo show. In other ESPN 1050 moves, the afternoon drive Michael Kay Show will lose one hour, becoming a four-hour show, and the station adds “ESPN New York: The Leadoff Spot with Ryan Ruocco,” which will air live at 5am to discuss the previous night’s games.