station had obtained a construction permit in the mid-1950s for WEOL-TV on channel 31, but the television station never made it on the air. Personalities who worked at WEOL in their early years include Alice Weston (later with WUAB-TV - and who was present at WEOL's sign-on), Dick Conrad, Gary Short (later with WERE, WDBN, WDOK, WJW-TV, WUAB-TV), Ron and Dick Barrett, Ron Penfound (better known as "Captain Penny" on WEWS-TV), Neil Zurcher (later with WJW-TV), Jim Mehrling (later with WERE and WCLV), David Mark (later with WEWS-TV, WNCR/WKSW, WQAL, and WDOK, the promotional voice of many Fox and UPN TV stations across the country, and radio image voice for radio stations around the world) and Jeff Baxter (later with WWIZ/WLRO, WDBN, WLEC, who later teamed up with Jack Riley at WERE). For over 30 years, Jim Mehrling has produced and hosted The High School Scholastic Games of Lorain County programs on WEOL with David Mark as the program announcer. Jeff Baxter also helped make nationally popular a recording artist in Laura Lee Perkins. Laura, who recently moved to Elyria from her home state of West Virginia, broke out into a song while visiting the WEOL studios. Hearing her sing, Jeff gave her airtime on the station, and eventually parlayed it into a west-coast recording deal. In 1968, WEOL-FM started separate programming under new calls WBEA with an automated easy-listening format that still served the Lorain County audience. The format changed in 1982 to top-40 while retaining the same call letters. Initially an independent station, WEOL affiliated with the Mutual Broadcasting System in the early 1960s, and then switched to ABC Radio's American Entertainment Network in 1968. Throughout the 1970s, '80s and '90s, WEOL was "Your Hometown Radio Station," a middle-of-the-road outlet that put a heavy emphasis on local news and sports programming. WEOL also hired the first radio newswoman in the county back in the mid-1970s with Sandy Kozel, now with Associated Press Radio. In 1982, WEOL and WBEA moved to new studios on 538 Broad Street, where WEOL remains to this day. WEOL began broadcasting in C-QUAM AM stereo in the mid-1980s before dropping the standard in the late 1990s. On New Year's Day 1987, WBEA changed to "Z-Rock" WCZR with an automated rock format; then eleven months later, WCZR changed to smooth jazz as "The Wave" WNWV, positioned to serve the Cleveland market. WNWV was sold off