Naked City

The KOOP radio controversy took another twist last Friday, Oct. 29, when station founder Jim Ellinger -- who was recently barred from entering the station after being suspended from his program by the station's trustees -- was arrested on a charge of harassment, a class B misdemeanor. Austin Police Dept. officials would not describe the arrest in further detail, and an arrest report was not available.

According to station trustee Glen Riley, Ellinger was making "obscene messages and harassing calls" to a show on the community station. "We had a lot of accusations about Ellinger, that he was operating a campaign to harass members and programmers ... I said, 'Look, if he's calling and harassing, let's get some proof.'" The trustees, according to Riley, "set up a trap" with the cooperation of the police and the phone company, and soon caught Ellinger making the calls.

Ellinger, a spokesperson for the Austin Music Network, confirmed on Wednesday that a pair of police officers showed up at his office and escorted him to to the Municipal Court Building. "A couple of hours later," Ellinger said, "I was back at my desk like nothing happened. By far the worst of it was having to sit and listen to entire shows of Jerry Springer and Sally Jesse Rafael in the waiting room."

Ellinger said that he hasn't seen any charge against him. "I have no knowledge of the specific allegation," he said.