Vandals in Jasper has reportedly stolen a 200-foot tower belonging to radio station WJLX-AM. Brett Elmore, general manager of WJLX-AM, reported the incident on February 3 through a Facebook post.
He wrote, "I have heard of thieves in this area stealing anything, but this one takes the cake. This morning, my bush hog crew went down to a tower site we have behind MarJac to do an early cleanup of the property before we did some more work down there. When he arrived, he called and notified me that not only was my building vandalized, but my TWO HUNDRED FOOT TOWER WAS GONE! They stole every piece of equipment out of the building, cut the guy wires to the tower, and SOMEHOW managed to down a 200-foot tower and take it from the property."
Elmore adds that this incident is currently being investigated by the Police Department and he informed Radio World of the station’s plans to file for special temporary authority with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). With this authorization, the station would be able to declare a silent AM status but also allow the FM translator to stay operational for the time being.
