By Elizabeth Rodeno –
Congratulations to CAPS/KPPQ Radio host Nadine Piche for winning the prestigious the national Alliance for Community Media Hometown Media Award in 2025, recognizing excellence in community television, radio, and other media.
Nadine’s Ventura Vibe! program on KPPQ focuses on the people and places in Ventura. Her special episode “Ventura Vibe! ArtWalk 2024” was awarded Best Community Radio Audio Program. Nadine shares that she is “so honored to be recognized for the creative work that connects me with my community.”
August and September continue to be busy months at CAPS. With the new school year starting with the CAPS/VUSD high school program, ECTV, is in full production. In July, the CAPS team collaborated closely with crews from Ventura College and colleagues from city to help set up a temporary location for city council meetings during renovations at city hall. The interim home is at the Wright Event Center conveniently located next door to the CAPS Media Center on the college campus on Day Road. The successful collaboration was another example of Ventura resources working together to provide the city council members, staff, and the community at large with a productive environment for the important work of serving Ventura.
The public-private collaboration continued when the CAPS creative team is working with city staff on technical and logistical arrangements for the annual State of the City presentation by Mayor, Dr. Jeannette Sánchez-Palacios. On Wednesday September 17 the city is hosting a special first-of-its-kind combination open house and State of the City presentation at city hall. The CAPS team is live streaming the presentation and recording the festivities for later broadcast. The following morning CAPS is covering a similar presentation by the mayor hosted by the Ventura Chamber of Commerce at the Crowne Plaza hotel.
In this edition, the CAPS Staff Spotlight shines on Alex Uvari, the Director of Productions at CAPS. Alex has lived in Ventura for most of his life and has been a member of the CAPS Crew since he was a senior at Foothill Technology High School in 2006. Alex started out as an intern and then was hired on as a part-time videographer and trainer. For the past year Alex has been the primary producer for all the city productions, as well as outside fee-for-service productions for clients throughout the county including County Fire, the Ventura Housing Authority, Ventura Land Trust, Ventura Botanical Gardens, and others.
In a recent video production introducing the CAPS staff, Alex said, “CAPS has been instrumental in helping me grow as a creative professional all while being able to serve our community. My time at CAPS has allowed me to become a career technical education teacher, inspiring high school students all over Ventura County. I also enjoy training CAPS members on how to use our video camera equipment as well as their own smartphones to produce their own projects. We have a very collaborative and supportive team at CAPS. In many instances, I work with my post-production colleagues to hand off the footage after a production to complete the editing and finish the project.”
There is much more to share about CAPS Media resources, training, classes, programs, KPPQ radio, and other opportunities. To register for the free monthly orientation or learn more about CAPS visit capsmedia.org.
