Wichita radio host Orin Friesen is celebrating 50 years of his show "Bluegrass from the Rockin' Banjo Ranch" this weekend at The Bartlett Arboretum with a show that includes a performance from his friend, singer Michael Martin Murphey. Friesen says that one of the keys to his longevity in radio has been keeping current with the music he plays. Friesen recently spoke about his 59-year career in radio, which began in the 1960s at KMUW, with the station's Jedd Beaudoin.
Plus more on these stories:
- The City of Wichita is hosting a public meeting Saturday to discuss updates on the clean-up of groundwater contamination.
- The state health department says doctors in many parts of Kansas are likely prescribing too many antibiotics
- Kansas is one of the last states in the country that has not yet joined a federal program that expands food stamp eligibility.
- A Kansas commission is recommending increasing legislator pay to an annual salary of $43 thousand dollars.
- This harvest season is bringing a bigger threat of fire.
- Officials with the Kansas Department of Corrections say an inmate at the Lansing Correctional Facility has died.
- Wichita East High School will celebrate 100 years at Douglas and Grove with a rare home football game and other events this weekend.
Producers: Beth Golay and Lu Anne Stephens
Editors: Beth Golay and Tom Shine
Contributors: Jedd Beaudoin, Sheila Brummer, Rose Conlon, Celia Hack, Dylan Lysen, Blaise Mesa, Suzanne Perez, Tom Shine
Theme music: Torin Andersen
Digital editor: Karlee Cooper
