The Orioles have started their 2012 season, and WLEE News Talk 990 is once again Richmond's exclusive home for Orioles baseball!  We will air over 125 Orioles games this year, including all weeknight and Saturday games.  Local programming (such as Retro Richmond and the Afternoon Constitutional) will preempt baseball when in conflict.  See the full broadcast schedule on our Sports page and follow us on twitter @WLEE990 for the latest updates.

Our first broadcast of the 2012 Orioles will be tonight as they take on the Twins.  Tune in at 6:37 for the pregame show leading up to a 7:05 first pitch from Camden Yards!  We will also air all three games of the Yankee series next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Both Sides Now, an entertaining look at the week's news, will debut on WLEE News Talk 990 on Sunday, March 4 at 9:00 am.  Featuring two of the most informed, opinionated, and well-known women in American media -- Mary Matalin and Arianna Huffington -- the program emphasizes intelligent discussion from both sides of the political spectrum.

Mary Matalin, host of her own CBS radio show in the '90s, is a former top aide to Bush-Cheney and appears regularly on TV, often with her husband James Carville.

Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, the #5 news website in America, is seen frequently on MSNBC and CNN and is the author of 12 books.

Mark Green, the Host, is a veteran of such programs as Firing Line, Crossfire and Hardball. He is also the former NYC elected Public Advocate, and author/editor of 22 books.

Listeners will be sure to hear their points of view expressed and challenged in an appealing exchange that is sure to educate and stimulate.

WLEE News Talk 990 is proud to announce the addition of a new talk show to our lineup, starting Monday, January 30.  The Bill Wattenburg Show will air every Monday morning from midnight to 3am, featuring veteran radio talk show host and accomplished scientist Dr. Bill Wattenburg.  The show is mostly an open-line listener-driven call-in show, where Bill answers questions ranging from fixing cars to physics, and everything in between. His combination of experiences and scientific background gives him a great wealth of knowledge that he applies to entertain and inform his audience.

Dr. Wattenburg’s accomplishments are as varied and remarkable as he is. He has personally developed a method to measure explosive yields for underground nuclear tests. He is credited with stopping the waste of blood collected at blood banks. He fixed the BART train control system for the State of California. He improved the security of magnetic strips on bankcards. He developed the plan for extinguishing oil well fires in Kuwait, and many more humanitarian and practical applications of science.  For more details go to wattenburg.us.

The WLEE News Talk 990 mobile app is now available for all platforms!

Use the app to listen live from your smartphone or tablet, call or e-mail the studio, visit our twitter and facebook pages, watch the studio cam, and set an alarm to make sure you don't miss a minute of your favorite shows!

Android users click here to visit the Market.

 Apple users click here to visit itunes.

 Blackberry users click here to visit the store.

Please direct all questions and comments about the apps to wlee@davidsonmediagroup.com. 

The studio cam is only turned on during live, local programming.

Tune in all season long as the Keydets take on teams from Virginia and the Big South.  Each broadcast begins with the pregame show 30 minutes before kickoff.

After a long and successful broadcasting career, Dr. Laura will be ending her radio program on December 31, 2010.  To see the video of her announcement on Larry King Live, click here.  Share your thoughts on potential replacements and our talk lineup by e-mailing wlee@davidsonmediagroup.com.

For about a month Norfolk’s  WCPK 1600 AM has been broadcasting the Jack Gravely Show, a popular radio talk show that started in Richmond almost three years ago.

People call in to talk about the economy, politics, Donald Trump, racism, and other timely topics. Now listeners in Norfolk can tune in to hear Gravely’s show, which originates in Richmond at WLEE 990 AM. It is transmitted live from Richmond’s station to Norfolk’s WCPK 1600 AM., Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to Noon.

“This is a talk show you should not judge, until you listen,” Gravely said of his radio talk show which is also available online on his website (the jackgravelyshow.com).

“While I’m not going to try to jump through a flaming hoop to attract listeners in Norfolk, I plan to give everyone a good solid talk show,” said Gravely, who lives in Petersburg but commutes to Richmond to do his radio talk show.

“I talk about sports, education, religion, politics, international relations, prison, crime,”  said Gravely, a Vietnam veteran and a Fayetteville State University graduate. “I talk about issues that are happening in all communities. We discuss numerous issues so I would not paint us in a box.”

Gravely’s diverse background led him to  seat himself behind a microphone 15 years ago. A graduate of the law school at the University of Virginia, he has also been a guest on many popular TV talk shows, including the Today Show, Nightline, Crossfire and Tony Brown’s Journal.

He also rose through the ranks of the NAACP, serving as the state director, board chair, and special assistant to Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks. At the Federal Communications Commission he was appointed as the first diversity director. He has testified before congressional committees. His editorials have appeared in numerous publications, including the Washington Post, the Richmond Times, the Richmond Afro-American, and the Free Press of Richmond.

“I thought there was a need for a different voice and view on the radio,” Gravely said.

“I became frustrated with the drab right wing and conservative views on talk shows, especially when it came to examining the black perspective.

“There are a multiplicity of ideas across the landscape,” he continued. “But we never heard any of those views coming from the African American community. But African Americans are just as concerned about their churches, the work ethic and their families. We just never hear these views expressed too often.

“Frankly, I resent turning on a talk show on MSN or CNN and hearing a white commentator on non African American pundit talk about what is going on in the black community,” Gravely said. “I think black folks can decide for themselves how they feel about a specific issue.”

When you tune in from Norfolk, expect to hear listeners and guests from all over. On April 11, for example, listeners heard from black Tea Party member Dr. Earl W. Jackson, the founder of Exodus Faith Ministries in Chesapeake. Jackson is running for the newly vacated Senate seat in Virginia.

Meanwhile, the Uncle Tom term was discussed on March 29. Talk show guest E. Ethelbert Miller explored the issue with listeners, who often give Gravely’s show high marks.

One listener, who admires Fox commentator Glenn Beck, said in a blog, “Dear Mr. Gravely. It was an honor to speak to you today, live on the radio.” The blog was signed by Blackstone Mayor Billy Coleburn.

Another listener wrote, “Jack, I really enjoy your show. . .I am a conservative Republican and I’d rather listen to you than Limbaugh because he screens all his callers to bow unto him.”

Gravely, who hopes to eventually host a national syndicated radio talk show, said, “The calls come in everyday. The secret to becoming a syndicated show is hard work, luck, and good people. We are not going to stop in Norfolk. Someday we will do our show all over the country.”

Original Article