KXLY switching 4:30 p.m. newscast for 11 a.m. show

KXLY-4 WILL LAUNCH a new 11 a.m. weekday newscast beginning Aug. 30. This new broadcast will replace the station’s 4:30 p.m. newscast, which will end on that date to make room for Jane Pauley’s new syndicated afternoon talk show at 4 p.m.

This will be the second time KXLY has tried an 11 a.m. newscast, and news director Leona Wood is optimistic.

“We hope to do very well, coming right out of ‘The View,’ ” said Wood. “The new show will have not only news, but stories and conversations with people in the community.”

The half-hour show will be anchored by the same team that does KXLY’s early morning broadcast: Mark Peterson, Susanna Baylon and meteorologist Shaun Stevens.

Debra Wilde will do a talk segment every day from the Davenport Hotel lobby. It will be called “Let’s Talk, With Debra Wilde” and will feature a conversation with a community member. Wilde will also continue to co-anchor the morning radio news on KXLY-AM.

John Travolta update

The Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre’s big John Travolta fund-raiser is coming right up — in fact, an hour earlier than originally planned.

The Aug. 1 start time has been moved up an hour. Now, boarding will begin at 5 p.m. on the docks at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, and the event itself (at Duane Hagadone’s lake home) will go from 5:30 to 8 p.m. The change in times was to make sure the daylight held out.

The tickets, all 800 of which sold out quickly, are printed with the correct times.

Meanwhile, attendees might want to bring some extra cash. Raffle tickets will be sold for $10 and will be drawn for three prizes. The first is for a night-on-the-town package. The second is a framed “Grease” poster signed by Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

The third, and most coveted, prize will be a free dance lesson from Travolta himself. He’ll give that lesson right there at the party.

Delehanty at the Civic

Jack Delehanty, the new interim artistic director of the Spokane Civic Theatre, is happy to be interim.

When contacted on vacation in Virginia, Delehanty said that he has no interest in taking over the job on a permanent basis. He just wants to give the Civic time to do a thorough, nationwide search for a new artistic director.

“With all the turmoil in the Spokane theater scene, the theater needed some stability,” he said.

Delehanty retired at the end of the school year from his job as head of the theater department at Gonzaga Prep. He has directed for the Civic’s Main Stage and Studio theaters, and is familiar with all phases of the theater’s operation.

He said he will get to work soon on making sure that the Civic’s artistic committees are up and running. He said he will also work on lining up directors for the rest of the season’s productions.

The interim job is open-ended, but Delehanty expects it to last about four to six months.

Civic’s board letter

Meanwhile, the Spokane Civic Theatre’s board issued an official response to the controversy surrounding its dismissal of previous artistic director Jack Phillips and two other staffers.

The letter, sent to all theater subscribers, emphasized that the board did not “make these recent organizational and personnel decisions lightly.” It said the board has a “responsibility to ensure the long-term financial health of the organization and to carefully consider the theatre’s strategic direction.”

The letter said it would be inappropriate to publicly discuss personnel matters.

“However, be assured the Board acted in a manner consistent with our responsibilities as trustees of Civic Theatre’s real and intangible assets, a shared vision for the future and our duty to the institution’s members,” said the letter, signed by Denny Lordan, incoming chairman of the board.

The letter has not quieted the board’s critics. Ann Russell Whiteman, an actress and director, wrote a response calling the letter “an expected defensive move to hide past process” and only “a palliative response.”

Phillips party

Friends and colleagues of Jack Phillips are throwing a going-away party for him today from 2 to 5 p.m. at Coeur d’Alene Park in Browne’s Addition.

Phillips is leaving this week for his new job as artistic director of the Theatre of Western Springs, in a suburb of Chicago.

Ya, Schuur, you betcha

Diane Schuur, the legendary jazz singer, tops the just-announced Spokane Jazz Orchestra season.

The Grammy-winning Schuur, who originally hails from the suburbs of Seattle, is the big name, but equally intriguing from a local angle are the two Mildred Bailey tribute shows in May. Bailey, born in Tekoa, Wash., was one of the most influential jazz singers of the 1930s.

Here’s the lineup:

“ Schuur, Oct. 1.

“ “Holiday in Jazz” with Charlotte Carruthers, Dec. 4.

“ Celebrity Jazz Concert, featuring local celebrities, March 19.

“ “Mildred Bailey Comes Home,” featuring vocalist Daryl Sherman, May 7 and 8.

Concerts are at The Met. Tickets will go on sale soon through TicketsWest.

Spokane Children’s Theatre lineup

The Spokane Children’s Theatre has announced its 2004-05 season as well.

The season includes a few changes. For one thing, three of the five shows will be at SCC’s Lair Auditorium, instead of the theater’s traditional home at the Spokane Civic Theatre. This allows the theater to do more daytime matinees.

Also, the ticket policies have changed. For $25, you can buy a season ticket to all five shows. Otherwise, tickets at the door will be $7 for adults and $6 for children.

The season:

“ “The Princess and the Pea,” Oct. 2-17, Lair Auditorium.

“ “The Snow Queen: A Christmas Musical,” Nov. 26-Dec. 12, Lair Auditorium.

“ “Henry and Ramona,” Jan. 22-Feb. 6, Civic.

“ “The Great Cross-Country Race,” April 10-24, Civic.

“ “The Hobbit,” May 7-22, Lair Auditorium.

For season ticket info, call 328-4886 or go to www.spokanechildrenstheatre.org.

September arts convention

Spokane will be the site of a major regional arts convention from Sept. 7 to 11: The Western Alliance of Arts Administrators.

Representatives of performing arts centers, colleges and other arts organizations from 11 Western states will gather.

Here’s an event they might hit in the evening: The Bad Plus, a cutting-edge jazz-funk-metal trio from the Midwest. They’ll be joined by special guest Critters Buggin’, a Seattle-based jam band, at The Met, Sept. 8.

Promoter Wayne Larson said he wanted to “open up the boundaries a bit,” especially since the arts pros will be in town.

Tickets will be $20 through TicketsWest outlets (325-SEAT, 800-325-SEAT, www.ticketswest.com).