WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2004
STATE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Legend juggles radio, eatery
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — Back in the 1960s, when gas could be had for 23 cents a gallon and cars would cruise Topeka Boulevard all hours of the night, Louie Louie was there, spinning 45s on request on the local radio station WREN.
Gas is now $2 a gallon, and 45s are more commonly associated with handguns, not records. People driving in cars now talk on cell phones. But Louie Louie remains the constant that has bridged the decades in Topeka.
At a time in life when many people are looking for ways to slow down, Lou Constantino seems to be going faster.
The 57-year-old local radio legend, known as Topeka's "Godfather of Gold," can be heard playing everything from Elvis Presley to Stevie Wonder to the Rolling Stones from 6 to 10 a.m. weekdays on Oldies 99.3 FM.
Constantino has been a fixture on Topeka's airwaves since the 1960s when he landed his first gig on the old WREN-AM radio station. But some things are new.
When he hands off his headphones and leaves the Oldies 99.3 studio in southeast Topeka, Constantino's real work begins.
He heads to the Italian restaurant that bears his family's name, where he and his wife, Cindy, oversee the operation in
what Constantino describes as a highly competitive market.
The days are long and seem to be getting longer, Constantino conceded. "My alarm goes off at 4:30 in the morning, but I'm usually up by 4:15," he said, as a tune played in the Oldies 99.3 studio. "I didn't sleep worth a darn last night," he added, trying to conceal a half chuckle. "I can't eat pizza anymore before I go to bed."
Radio is as much in Constantino's blood as is his Italian heritage, and he has no plans of stepping away from the microphone any time soon.
There is never a dull moment with Louie Louie in the morning. He is part Wolfman Jack and part Johnny Fever, with a little bit of Robin Williams rolled into the mix. He says he usually does fine stamina-wise until about 10 a.m., when his radio shift is over. Then, he said, he begins to feel the fatigue setting in.
But Constantino runs downtown to make sure things are going well at his restaurant, which opens for the lunch crowd at 11 a.m.
At the restaurant, Louie likes to sit under a Pittsburgh Steelers banner — a reminder of his hometown team in the Steel City — and greet guests as they come to dine. When needed, he will don an apron and help with the meals in the back of the house.
There are times, Constantino said, when he wishes he and his wife would have had 14 children to help with the restaurant. As it is, the burden falls on the shoulders of the Constantinos.
Known as "Louie Louie" since he took to the airwaves 40 years ago, Constantino says he makes sure he takes off his radio hat when he gets to the restaurant.
Constantino prides himself in his special "red sauce" for spaghetti and other pasta dishes from a recipe that was handed down to him by his mother. His "back-East" style of cuisine is like nothing else nearby.
"This restaurant is special to us, because it has our family's name on it," Constantino said. "We live here — we spend more time here than we do at our home.
"We're not trying to be millionaires here, but it would be nice to take some money out of it at the end of the day."
One of the restaurant's regular customers, Ralph DeZago, a native of Bronx, N.Y., has his own table where he sits nearly every day at lunch.
DeZago says Constantino's has the style of food he would expect to find in New York City.
"I've gotta be honest with you," DeZago said. "It's all good here. It really is."
STATE
Wheat crop damage limited to northwestern Kansas
WICHITA — Sprout damage in the winter wheat crop appears confined mostly to northwest Kansas, the state's chief inspector said Monday.
"Colby is the worst area," said Kansas Grain Inspection Service vice president Randy McCormick. "They had the worst of everything — the drought, the freeze and now we are seeing sprout damage."
The agency's Dodge City office has also seen a "little bit" of sprout damage, he said.
Affected samples seem to be coming primarily from southeast Thomas County and northwest Gove County near Oakley, he said.
Grain inspectors have not found any sprout damage in samples brought in at most of the agency's offices, he said.
It is still too early to estimate statewide yields, McCormick said.
Meanwhile, Kansas Agricultural Statistics Service reported Monday that the wheat harvest statewide was 69 percent complete.
Widespread rains the past two weeks have helped replenish drought-plagued soil moisture levels, KASS reported.
Recent rains bode well for spring-planted row crops in the state—corn, soybeans and sorghum.
The Associated Press