Murmurs: Wolfson Kickstarts Radio Show

1. It took less than a week for Carl Wolfson to raise the $40,000 he needed to start an Internet talk-radio show. The former morning host on progressive talk station KPOJ-AM 620 surpassed his Kickstarter fundraising goal Dec. 17, six days after launching the campaign. Clear Channel Communications canceled the liberal talk format on the station soon after Election Day and switched that spot on the dial to Fox Sports Radio (“Who Killed KPOJ?” WW, Nov. 28, 2012). Wolfson plans to keep raising money through the Jan. 16 cut-off date. He’s pledging that 20 cents of every dollar raised beyond his goal will be donated to families of victims in the shooting sprees at Clackamas Town Center and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. His show is set to debut Jan. 21.

1. wweek.com broke the news Monday night that Dick’s Sporting Goods, a national chain with 500-plus stores, had stopped selling semiautomatic rifles in the wake of the Oregon and Connecticut shootings. On Tuesday, Dick’s released a public statement confirming the decision. But before you start shopping at Dick’s out of gratitude, know that the ban may be only a temporary gesture. “Out of respect for the victims and their families,” the statement says, “during this time of national mourning we have removed all guns from sale and from display in our store nearest to Newtown and suspended the sale of modern sporting rifles in all of our stores chainwide.” No word from Dick’s whether the Pennsylvania-based chain will resume sales of the weapons once media attention to the shootings dies down.

1. One of The Oregonian’s best writers has left the newspaper. Anne Saker has told friends via Facebook she had resigned and returned to her home state of Ohio for personal reasons; she’s been on leave for the past few months. Saker’s best work included her investigation of the state’s Indigent Burial Fund. “I flash on walking east across the Hawthorne Bridge and seeing Wy’east oh-so-close,” Saker wrote in announcing her resignation, “then when I realize that I am not in PDX, my little heart goes plink.... I beg you to maintain your weirdness.”

1. Give!Guide is almost halfway to its goal of raising $1.75 million.  Please give now to one of the 110 nonprofits profiled in this year’s guide. If you’re under 35, you can take part in the new Stumptown Challenge. Nonprofits with the most individual donors 35 and under in their individual categories will be awarded $500, thanks to Stumptown Coffee Roasters. You can read about other great incentives—and follow the progress of this year’s efforts—at wweek.com/giveguide.

WWeek 2015