Progressive talk radio used to be vailable to El Pasoans from Air America on KHRO, 1650 AM. Recently, however, and despite public protest, Entravision's general manager, David Candelaria, decided to squelch the free debate of ideas and numb the minds of his listeners with moldy oldies from the musty vault, ostensibly to satisfy sponsors.

Free and open debate is the life blood of a democracy, and it cannot take place in the absence of shared ideas and information.

We, the undersigned, do not believe that members of our business community are so closed-minded. We, therefore, call on Mr. Candelaria to reinstate Air America on El Paso's public airwaves, and we further request the business community to show its support for the station by sponsoring free speech.