When Salem-News.com stories show an east Marion County dateline, they often carry the name Ken Cartwright. Ken contributes stories so the informational needs of Salem-News.com visitors in Stayton and Sublimity are met.

Born and raised in upstate Pennsylvania, 90 miles south of Buffalo New York, Ken has always had music and radio in his life. Ken is a former US Navy radioman who was discharged in 1965.

Over the years Ken worked in a lot of small and medium radio markets as an air personality and station manager in Oregon, Pennsylvania and New York. He has been the owner/luthier of Cartwright's Music and Repair Shop since 1991.

He was the owner and primary luthier of Natural Sound, the predecessor to Cartwright's Music that existed since 1975. Ken moved to the Salem area in 1979 from Coos Bay Oregon. On September 4th 2007, he put Low Power AM 1620 KENC, community radio on the air in Stayton because this community had no voice. They operate under the 501-C3 of the Stayton Community Food Bank and donate 20% of all our proceeds to them. KENC operates 24-7 and is powered by a I-MAC and a automation system.

Currently Ken has 3 Hamilton transmitter/antennas up and operating in both Stayton and Sublimity, serving the news and music needs of 10,000 residents. He says he will be working with The Stayton Telephone Company to have audio live streaming via internet by the middle of April 2008.

He is also developing a local CATV system for this community. Between city council, planning meetings and being where we need to be, this east end of Marion county is finally getting the news out to the community in a concise and timely manner. He says people in east county rely on Salem-News. com for a lot of our local, regional and state news. You can email Ken at kenc@wvi.com, and phone messages can be left at 503-769-KENC.

Ken Cartwright
Program Director of AM 1620 Community Radio.

"It's not how big your watts are, It's how you use them!"