© 2023 Iron County’s own WFER 97.9 FM 1230 AM, an Iron River Community Broadcasting station.
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WFER 97.9 FM 1230 AM
(906) 265-9622
MEET OUR STAFF
GENERAL MANAGER
Bob Black
Bob lives in Crystal Fall Township with his wife Tina and dog Tank. They have 3
grown sons- Clifford & Medea with grandson Tristan of Iron Mountain, Dustin &
Bethany Black of Sumiton Alabama, Staff Sargent Tyler & Whitney Black with
grandsons Harley and Raylan at Fort Bragg North Carolina. Bob enjoys
motorcycling, mixed martial arts and the great outdoors such as fishing, hunting,
alligator wrestling, crab trapping, snorkeling and scuba diving. He wears his own
deer skin Jacket and has been branded “Buckskin Bob” while doing a weekly
outdoors report on WIKB’s Telephone Time.
Bob has been an account executive with WIKB since the fall of 2014 and he also operates Bob Black Promotions. His promotion
company puts on “The End of Summer Blues Fest” in Alpha MI. This has been an annual event for the past four years and is growing in
popularity. He is past Executive Director of the Iron County Chamber of Commerce. He was the recipient of a special tribute from a
state representative, senator and governor of the state of Michigan for his outstanding community involvement, promotion and
service to Iron County.
Bob proudly served as Iron County Commissioner for 6 years until he ran for state representative. Bob was instrumental in renewing
the concealed pistol laws in Michigan, taught thousands in self-defense and worked as federal firearms dealer. He also has served as a
volunteer firefighter for the Alpha-Mastodon Fire Department, served as an officer for the Iron Range Fire association, 2009 President
of the UP Firefighters assoc., 2005 UP Firefighter of the year and still is a firefighter instructor for the state of Michigan. Bob is a
member of the Crystal Falls American Legion, Men’s auxiliary of the Crystal Falls VFW and serves as Sgt. At arms for the Stambaugh
American Legion Riders. Bob is an active volunteer in the Iron County community. He is often the Master of Ceremonies for many
events and their organizations.
News Director
Jeremy Johnson
Jeremy is a graduate of Ripon College. He has a Major in History, and a Minor in National Security Studies. He also organized the
Remembrance Day event there, and couple other things.
He’s been living in Iron County since he leaving Wisconsin in 2010, working at WIKB nearly the whole time. During his tenure, he’s done
it all. Jeremy has hosted Telephone Time, and has been a studio-side fixture of sports broadcasts since before Lexi Gussert tore up
Forest Park courts. Between feeding fibre-optic cable through ceilings, to finance management: been there, run that.
His current thing is running the station’s news. He doesn’t have a “overwhelmingly strong editorial slant”, so to speak; if something
affects a community within the listening area, he cuts copy for it. You might be able to spot him anywhere in the north woods, from
L’Anse, down to Three Lakes. His method is simple: he just puts his ear to the ground, and writes down what it picks up.
And he’s a solid hand at that kind of research. He got his start back when he was a kid, traveling with his parents to the Wisconsin
State Historical Society archives, helping them dig up information on his ancestors just off of UW-Madison since the late 1980s.
Jeremy is also technically capable: he’s cut his teeth on every computer system known to Man: from standard Windows systems, to
1980s Atari 8-bits, up to Apple Mac’s with OSX, and Linux on top of it. It’s no surprise that he’s built, or at least opened up, many of the
computers powering the station.
When he’s not researching news for the station, he’s researching things for fun. He thinks all knowledge has some kind of value. That’s
not to say he doesn’t have a little normal fun from time to time: traveling overseas, roles in feature films here and there...it’s all good.
Jimm Haney
Jimm’s a radio old salt that’s back in the saddle again at WIKB. He cut his teeth at KGMO, KYRX, and KAPE in Saint Louis, Missouri, back
in the 90s. He then spent a fair amount of time as a mobile DJ, slinging tunes where needed.
He actually has a piece of paper making him an certified broadcasting expert; if you ask, he’ll wave his Bachelors in Mass
Communications from the University of Saint Louis in front of your face. All nice like. But not too shy, since he does have a military
background – Army time – from just after high school, in the late 80s.
As you might have guessed, there’s a lot of Saint Louis here, and he is indeed an import from down south. He moved up here at the
start of 2020s. Iron County was well in line with his interests: camping, hunting, cooking, and woodworking. The full nine yards for
outdoorsmen.
Recently, he got a shot a Telephone Time, and has been running away with it. As far as everyone else here is concerned, it is his to own.
Oh yeah, he’s also an auction guy. And he’s got a professional slip for that, too. Nothing like being a professional in everything you do.
Program Director
Mitch Ness
Hey, thanks for listening! My name is Mitch and I’m the Director of Programming and Operations here at Iron
River Community Broadcasting. I grew up in Crystal Falls and began my Music and Media Production journey
playing in bands through middle and high school, eventually self-producing several solo EPs and most
recently, a Full-Length album under the moniker “RUMHAM!”. When I’m not playing/writing/recording music
and podcasts, you’ll find me obsessing over my Fantasy Football Lineup, Binge-watching shows or podcasts
like The Expanse or Joe Rogan Experience, reading Dostoevsky and Jordan B Peterson, chillin’ on some Xbox
or out getting rowdy with the boys!
While I like to consider myself a Producer and Musical Artist, at WIKB I wear many hats - including Show Host, Production Engineer,
Traffic Manager, Visual Media Designer and Social Media Manager, just to name a few. My radio broadcasting career actually started
right here at WIKB, where I was hired as a Board Operator in 2015, quickly becoming a weekend and fill-In Telephone Time host and
eventually gaining more responsibility in Station Operations. Through almost 5 years, a move downstate where I refined my craft while
still working (remotely) for the station, I’ve learned quite a bit and am STOKED to be back in the place I know like the back of my hand –
beautiful Iron County – and at the helm of the radio station I grew up with.