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TV Middletown is back on the air

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer 5:20 PM Monday, January 30, 2012

MIDDLETOWN — TV Middletown is back on the air.

The local public access television station had been off the air since Jan. 22 until Monday afternoon. The station has been in darkness when its building at 1131 Central Ave. was flooded when a water pipe to the sprinkler system burst. The station is being powered by backup generators, said station executive director Ty Thomas. He said Duke Energy has not yet given the OK for power to be restored to the entire building.

“We’re just glad to be back on the air,” Thomas said.

Thomas said he could not power up the television station before Monday “because there was moisture everywhere.”

While the flood forced TV Middletown to shut down for eight days, the Community Pregnancy Center had to find temporary shelter at Enabled Ministry, 1035 Central Ave. Pregnancy center executive director Candice Keller hopes the center can move back into the TV Middletown building, where the center occupies the first floor, in two to three months.

Keller said this week they’ll be moving into Enabled Ministry, which is about 10 doors down from the TV Middletown building.

The pregnancy center provides free counseling and baby clothes, formula, diapers and other baby supplies to pregnant teens, Keller said. About 1,800 teens a year are assisted.

To contact the Middletown Community Pregnancy Center for assistance or to offer help, call (513) 318-9272.

Thomas said there’s no damage or cost of repair estimates yet known for the building. It’s also unknown yet when Duke will turn the power back on to the building, he said.

Normal programming is expected to return on today, though some programming started to air midafternoon Monday.

TV Middletown can be viewed in between 24,000 and 26,000 households in Middletown, Trenton, Monroe, Carlisle, Franklin, Lemon Twp. and Madison Twp.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at twitter.com/mdpitman.

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