Rick Koshko

How long must newscasters describe a cease fire that obviously hasn't held (and is actually questionable as to whether it took effect) as being fragile, on shaky ground, etc.?

Shortwave is dead. Someday, if the radio noise emitting electronics all go away, people may rediscover the HF bands. They'll be amazed that people used to hear radio signals from all over the world without internet connections or satellite receivers.

I and other shortwave listeners are listening to CHU for the last time this morning. The Canadian time signal station goes off the air at about 1410 UTC.

Three planets, the moon, and a star in this photo from Tuesday night. Upper left to lower right: Venus, Jupiter, moon, Mercury. Sort of in the upper right, you can spot Pollux. Pentax K10D, ISO 400, 4 sec, probably 50mm focal length, f-3.5 aperture. About 9:15pm CDT.

If we still counted the way the British prefer to, Elon Musk would be the world's first billionaire. Before that he would have been a thousand-millionaire or a milliardaire, if they even say such things. Is there a game called milliards?

Start looking for Mercury joining Jupiter and Venus in the evening sky.

Three planets are in the west at dusk. And there's a meteor shower you may be able to hear on the radio. This week's SkyCaramba podcast is available on many platforms, including Listen Notes. lnns.co/Ftybp3Uleg8

Kathleen Thomas was issued a citation in February after a Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy pulled her over for allegedly using a phone with her right hand. But Thomas doesn't have a right hand. This week, the officer requested that the citation be dismissed. Here's bodycam footage of the traffic stop.

Uranus is in conjunction with the sun. It has left the evening sky and you'll find it in the morning in a few weeks.

@JohnStossel @NielsHoven Being against phonics because a conservative likes it is as stupid as being against Ebonics because a liberal likes it. Use what works. I learned to read because of phonics on The Electric Company before I started school. I used phonics to teach three children to read.

Teaching reading "became this holy war!" says reading app designer @NielsHoven. One reason is that George W. Bush pushed phonics. Teachers said "if George Bush is telling us what to do, we aren't going to do it." Seriously.

Mission accomplished and hungry for galaxy hunting. This week's SkyCaramba podcast, available on many platforms, including Podcast Addict. podcastaddict.com/?id=https%3A%2…

The moon will be at last quarter tonight.

What's that by Jupiter? Venus by the V. The moon hides Antares. Uranus gets harder to see but Neptune gets easier. And how to pick out Pluto. This week's podcast is available on many platforms, including Podbay FM. podbay.fm/p/skycaramba

There's a cluster of planets in the morning sky this week. skycaramba.com/monthly/wp-con…

This week's podcast: planetary proximity and plagues. Seriously, several planets appearing close in the sky was considered a possible cause of a plague nearly eight centuries ago. Also, the Lyrid meteors peak this week and there's a solstice on Mars. tunein.com/embed/player/p…

@NewsroomIba I always trained new reporters to ignore the nonsense about the tax rate going down. The tax levy's going up. The government unit is getting more property tax money. Where's it going? That's the story.

Making a Property Tax Story More Interesting For Your Viewers This is a good example of presenting a story in a different way to keep the viewers attention. Take a look. Think about what kind of story you can do locally to make something that may seem dull more interesting....

International Dark Sky Week. Preserving night skies should be important, even if you're not an astronomer. The subject of this week's SkyCaramba podcast, heard on many podcast platforms, including Tune-In, and also WRWO 94.5 FM in Ottawa, Illinois. tun.in/pmy9Z

The SkyCaramba podcast is newly added to the program lineup at WRWO 94.5FM in Ottawa, Illinois. It's being dropped in at various times without a set schedule. I hope that encourages people to listen to community radio. wrwo.org/hosts-and-bios

Jupiter at quadrature. The moon hides Antares. Saturn pokes into southern hemisphere skies. A smudge of light that looks like a beehive in a telescope is high in the sky at dusk. And there's a constellation named for an air pump. Yes, really. podbean.com/podcast-detail…

April 2026 astronomy events: Mars's south pole tips toward Earth. Several planets get into a tight group in the morning. Venus and Uranus pair up in the evening. Jupiter passes close to Wasat. skycaramba.com/monthly/april-…