» Thanks For Giving: ADX Communications' WYCT/Pensacola, FL morning co-host Dana Cervantes is spending Thanksgiving week in Kuwait and Iraq for the third annual Operation Letters From Home. Cervantes and WEAR-TV/Pensacola reporter Bill Pearson are delivering thousands of handwritten notes from local schoolchildren to Marines, sailors and hospital corpsmen, based or trained in northern Florida. Both are broadcasting on their respective stations while abroad.

» More Than A Couple Turkeys: Riverbend Communications/Idaho Falls, ID's five-station cluster held its annual Supermarket Saturday this past weekend, collecting 188 turkeys and several hundred pounds of food. Country KTHK and its sister stations set up donation spots at two local Albertson's, benefiting the Salvation Army.

» One Less Email To Answer: Many Country Aircheck subscribers have inadvertently received a "Request for confirmation" email from one of our soon-to-be-former Internet services providers. Please disregard the message. No action is required. If you happened to click the link, no harm has been done. It is not malicious. We apologize for the inconvenience.

» Now Hear This: The impact of Arbitron's PPM methodology on radio diversity will be the subject of a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing December 2. Chairman Ed Towns (D-NY) says, "The current system jeopardizes the future of minority broadcasting." Arbitron CEO Michael Skarzysnki said on September 23, "We look forward to a fact-based dialogue as we clarify some of the erroneous conclusions, and will continue to work to resolve these issues." As it relates to Country in markets of significant ethnic composition, nearly 6% of the format's listening is credited to Hispanics and another 2.1% to African-Americans.

» Spruce Bruce: Songplugger Ray Bruce has joined Sharp Objects as Creative Dir./Special Projects Coord. He will be responsible for securing major label artist cuts from the company's catalog. Reach him at 615-320-1030 or here.

» Cast Of Thousands: The Nov. 14 Opry Live webcast featuring Rodney Atkins, Martina McBride, Jake Owen and Carrie Underwood is now available for a limited time on the official Grand Ole Opry MySpace page. The live stream drew more than 300,000 total viewers.

» MPfree: Fans of Billy Ray Cyrus can get a free download of his new song "We'll Get By Somehow (We Always Do)" by becoming a Facebook fan of the Hallmark Channel. The promotion runs through Nov. 28 and is intended to stir interest in Cyrus' starring role in the network's original movie Christmas In Canaan, which premieres Dec. 12.

» Country Aircheck Today Top 5: Here are the Top 5 songs for Nov. 23:

Toast Of Texas: RCA's Chris Young poses backstage with the KASE/Austin crew before a listener appreciation show for the station. Pictured (l-r) are Promotions Dir. Whitney Bond, label rep Josh Easler, APD/MD Bob Pickett, Young, morning co-host Bama Brown and PD Mac Daniels.

Fast Ryde, Faster Ride: Republic Nashville's Fast Ryde stop by the WKIS/Miami trailer at the Homestead-Miami Speedway before the NASCAR Ford 400 Sunday (11/22). The duo also performed prior to the race. Pictured (l-r) are morning teamers Scott Simon and Matt Walker, FR's James Harrison and Jody Stevens and traffic reporter U-Turn Laverne.

LP Listening: Newcomer Matt Gary welcomed an industry crowd to a Nashville listening party for his debut self-titled album, to be released in early 2010. Pictured (l-r) are PCG/Nashville Pres. Bernard Porter, Nine North Pres. Larry Pareigis, Gary, 17 Music GM John Nagara and Nine North VP/Promotion & Marketing Tom Moran.