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The big silver DC-3 has been towed from the hangar, the Army surplus ammo boxes are being packed with microphones and cord, Fred Newman is practicing his woofs and dolphin cries and peacock shrieks, and the whole "A Prairie Home Companion" gang is all losing weight and building upper body strength because the Old Radio Show is heading off on another Rhubarb Tour.

Garrison Keillor and crew will be coming to the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines on Sunday, August 17 (house opens at 7:00 PM, performance at 8:00 PM). This concert will feature a thrilling Guy Noir adventure and the "Lives of the Cowboys," plus commercials for ketchup, rhubarb, and Powdermilk Biscuits, and of course the latest news from Lake Wobegon. There will also be some special surprise material tailor-made for the Iowa show. Special guest appearance by Suzy Bogguss. Tickets are $25 and available for purchase through Ticketmaster and the Iowa State Fair box office.

Iowa Public Radio is pleased to be the exclusive media sponsor of the Rhubarb Tour with Garrison Keillor. "A Prairie Home Companion" can be heard Saturdays at 5:00 PM on all Iowa Public Radio stations and Sundays at 12:00 PM on the IPR News network.

6/2/08 (update): We have completed the electronic interference studies and Dave Knippel, WOI Chief Engineer and Ottumwa Project Director, is working on a tower modification study. This should be completed during the next several weeks. We will then present our requests to the FCC with approval expected in 30 to 60 days and the final tower work taking a week or less. While the FCC change request is routine, we can't project a final date until the paperwork is completed. At this point, late August or early September seems probable. We will be back in touch when we have more definitive information.

3/21/08: The official launch of KDWI 89.1 FM in Ottumwa has been delayed due to technical issues. KDWI is operational but has not received final FCC approval. Once the station was up and running, we were able to test it and discovered that it doesn't deliver 100% of the coverage area we originally projected. We are now working on a technical adjustment that will expand the coverage area by approximately 4% and enable the FCC to give us that final approval so we can begin broadcasting. We are confident that we'll be able to make the necessary technical adjustments in the next few months and begin broadcasting on the second station serving Ottumwa, Oskaloosa and Fairfield. We are required by the FCC to have this second station on the air by June 2010. Read original press release.