After going off the air at the end of April, Leah Jones has succeeded in her efforts to save the two stations she worked for in Keokuk IA.

Jones has partnered with Michael Greenwald, who serves on the Keokuk City Council, to purchase Country 1310 KOKX Keokuk IA and Classic Hits “Z93” 93.9 WCEZ Carthage IL from Doyle and Carolyn Becker’s Riverfront Broadcasting under the name Keokuk Broadcasting Inc. Purchase price was not disclosed, but the pair of stations resumed operations on Friday, June 1.

Jones served as afternoon host at WCEZ and Office Manager for the duo under previous ownership. She led efforts locally to find a new owner for the stations before before becoming the actual owner.

Original Report 4/19: Riverfront Broadcasting plans on shuttering Country 1310 KOKX Keokuk IA and Classic Hits “Z93” 93.9 WCEZ Carthage IL should it not find a new operator for the stations by the end of the month.

WCEZ afternoon host Leah Jones, who also served as Office Manager for the company, was the only employee not terminated last week. Jones, a Keokuk native who previously served as a Producer for The Brother Wease show at iHeartMedia’s “Radio 95.1” WAOI Rochester NY, is also leading efforts to find a new operator for the stations. Tri-States Public Radio reports that Jones has been meeting with city leadership and business owners to find a way to acquire the stations. She told TSPR, “What we are really trying to do right now is use the shop local initiative, but put it towards our local radio station.”

Riverfront, led by Doyle and Carolyn Becker and Dave Brock, purchased both stations from Withers Broadcasting in December 2015 for $100,000 and flipped both to their current formats in June 2016. The sale was accompanied by Withers sale of 95.3 KOKX-FM and 96.3 KRNQ Keokuk to Educational Media Foundation for $500,00. KRNQ was since spun off to Bott Radio Network’s Community Broadcasting last May for $125,000.

Riverfront Broadcasting owns seventeen other stations across Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota.