The City-County Observer is pleased to announce the addition of a new reporter, Johnny Kincaid to our staff.  Kincaid will cover the Evansville City Council, E-REP, and DMD meetings. He will also cover various events in and around Evansville.
Johnny Kincaid is the former morning radio personality who spent 27 years waking up the good people of the Tri-State. He came to Evansville in 1987 to take on the morning show on WKDQ. When Kincaid added the program director to his job duties, he led the station to ratings success and brought one of the Freedom Festival’s most successful events. The first Mike Harvey sock hop from the Evansville riverfront drew 18,000 fans, establishing an annual tradition of dance parties with Harvey.
During the first Gulf War, Kincaid heard about a giant flag made in Evansville. The Great American Flag was sewn together at Anchor Industries in 1980 and at the time, the 7-ton flag was the largest in the world. The flag had been sitting in a warehouse in the DC area for years until a group that included Kincaid was able to get the flag displayed at the base of the Washington Monument on Flag Day. A busload of Evansville residents went to DC to assist in unfurling the flag.
When KDQ switched from oldies-based to country music, Kincaid moved to 106.1 WJPS.Â
Kincaid decided to move away from radio and went to work for the University of Evansville as director of Smokefree Communities and eventually persuaded city and county leaders to adopt a law to eliminate smoking in workplaces.
He left U of E and went back on the radio on 105.3 WJLT. When the Evansville Police launched Coffee with a Cop, Kincaid decided to broadcast the morning show live from the event. He broadcasted from Coffee with a Cop every month.Â
After leaving radio, Kincaid was hired by Vincennes University to be an instructor in training classes for corporations. The job morphed into teaching job skills to incarcerated men in Brachville Correctional Facility. He still volunteers for ministry weekends at Wabash Valley Correctional Facility.
Last year, Kincaid decided to enter the world of podcasting with “This Week in Evansville,†a 30-minute weekly show that gives in-depth coverage of the news and interviews with newsmakers. He has recently teamed up with the City-County Observer to post his latest episodes on the CCO webpage.Â
Kincaid has a life-long interest in politics. “I voted in my first presidential primary in 1976. I voted for Ronald Regan, who was running against President Gerald Ford.†Kincaid said. As a morning show entertainer, he avoided tipping his hand about his political beliefs and will continue to do so at the City-County Observer.
Look for his byline on CCO articles and check out episodes of his podcast on City-County Observer near future.
