[IRCA] Vandals topple 4 radio towers north of Phoenix

[AM-DXer@xxxxxxxxx (Patrick Griffith, N0NNK / WPE9HVW)]

Here's the story from the Arizona Republic: 

Brent Whiting 
The Arizona Republic 
Mar. 29, 2006 10:20 AM

Vandals took a torch and toppled four 197-foot radio towers that are
part of a seven-tower cluster in Black Canyon City, authorities said
Wednesday.

The damage has been preliminary estimated at "millions of dollars," said
Susan Quayle, a spokeswoman for the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office.

Knocked off the air was KMIA-AM (710), a Spanish station in Phoenix. It
broadcasts ESPN Deportes, a sports-talk format that was launched last
month.

Tom Duran, the station manager, said there was no immediate indication
when the station will be back on the air

It could take "several weeks," he said.
"It's disheartening to know that somebody would do damage like this to a
federally licensed facility," Duran said.

He said he's unable to say whether the damage may be linked to recent
immigration unrest throughout the nation. He said the FBI will be asked
to investigate.

The station is owned by Entravision Communications Corp., a Santa
Monica, Calif. firm that operates a string of Spanish stations
throughout California and the Southwest, including KLNZ-FM (103.5) in
the Valley, also known as Radio Tri-Color.

Quayle, the sheriff's spokeswoman, said the vandalism occurred late
Tuesday at the Krazy Horse Ranch Polo Club, which is west of Interstate
17 in the community 30 miles north of Phoenix, Quayle said.

Investigators have determined that somebody used a torch to cut the
steel support rods to four of the towers, causing them to crash to the
ground, she said.

The ranch manager heard the towers crash, but there were no injures to
people or horses at the ranch, Quayle said.

The towers, which went up in the late 1990s, became the focus of a
contentious lawsuit involving Black Canyon City residents opposed to the
cluster.

The opponents won a key ruling in late 2000 when the Arizona Court of
Appeal validated a referendum seeking to put the issue before Yavapai
County voters.

They were defeated in their bid to have the towers torn down when voters
approved the cluster in November 2002.

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