Matthew Carrington of Pleasant Hill died after drinking huge amounts of water while pledging. CNN.com: Woman drinks so much water she dies - Jan. 13, 2007, Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Can You Drink Too Much Water?" Matt Carrington Ran on: 02-08-2005 Ran on: 02-10-2005 Ran on: 06-04-2005 Employer Liability for Employee's Bad Acts. Jennifer Strange, 28, was found dead Friday in her suburban Rancho Cordova home hours after taking part in the Hold Your Wee for a Wii contest in which KDND 107.9 promised a Nintendo Wii video game system for the winner. Citing that its continued operation could affect Entercom's proposed acquisition of CBS Radio, KDND was shut down on February 8, 2017, and its format and branding were moved to KUDL two days earlier on February 6. Terms of Service apply. The KDNDs on-site station management and crew of the Morning Rave show were fired after Stranges death. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate. About: Chemistry. During the contest, participants were given two minutes to drink an 8-ounce bottle of water and then given another bottle to drink after a 10-minute break. In January 2007, KDND's morning show controversially held an on-air contest in which contestants were challenged to drink as much water as they could without urinating, in order to win a Nintendo Wii video game console. At the time of the incident, Laura Rios, one of Strange's co-workers at Radiological Associates of . [2], In 1970, the KXOA stations were split by then-owner Fuqua Industries, with the AM station leased to investors involved in the ownership of KSJO in San Jose and the FM to a group led by L. Ray Rhodes. [37] On January 17, the Los Angeles Times reported that Sacramento Sheriff John McGinness had ordered homicide detectives to investigate whether a crime had been committed. At the time of the incident, Laura Rios, one of Strange's co-workers at Radiological Associates of Sacramento said Strange "said to one of our supervisors that she was on her way home and her head was hurting her real bad She was crying and that was the last that anyone had heard from her.". On September 25, 1945, Lincoln Dellar, who had signed on KXOA (1470 AM) on May 20 of that year,[1] applied to the FCC to build a new FM radio station in Sacramento, originally specifying 95.9MHz as the frequency. Originally, the sheriff had said that because the contestants entered under their own free will, there might have been no crime. [24] KXOA was sold to Entercom, which simultaneously acquired KSEG and KRXQ (93.7 FM) from Jacor Communications;[25] the two purchases, totaling $65million, gave Entercom a trio of rock-oriented radio stations. My bladder couldnt handle it anymore, he added. In other words, the employer will generally be liable if the employee was doing his or her job, carrying out company business, or otherwise acting on the employer's behalf when the incident took place. display: none; Speaking after the verdict, juror LaTeshia Paggett said the contest had never gone to the legal department "and it was supposed to go to legal. Format will move down the dial ahead of planned merger", "CBS Sets Radio Division Merger With Entercom", "CBS and Entercom Are Merging Their Radio Stations", "Sue from Fiddletown took a stand in the public interest", "Entercom settles with media watchdog over license dispute", "FCC Report 2/9: Reminding 107.9 Sacramento Applicants Of Short-Spacing Protections", "Delay of Auction of FM Broadcast Construction Permits", "FCC Auction 109 Comes to an End; iHeartMedia Wins 107.9 Sacramento", "Amendment to a New FM Full Power Construction Permit Application", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=KDND&oldid=1150926302, "The End" (station located at the right end of American FM broadcast spectrum), KXOA-FM (1945-1961, 19621971, 19781997), This page was last edited on 20 April 2023, at 20:48. Among the fired employees were three morning disc jockeys. After the contest, Strange called in sick to work. It has certainly worked for KDND's "The Morning Rave," which has become one of Sacramento's top-rated drive-time shows. [2] For most of this time, KXOA simulcast the AM station, which since its launch had been an affiliate of the Mutual Broadcasting System. As the contestants dropped out, it became clear that some of them were having serious health problems. His latest book is Crouching Father, HiddenToddler: A Zen Guide for New Dads., A stupid radio stunt's tragic finale / Sacramento DJs joked as contestant guzzled fatal quantity of water, In this undated photo provided by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, Jennifer Strange, of Rancho Cordova, Calif., is shown. That in turn can lead to swelling of the brain, seizures, comas and in some cases death. [47] Subsequently, both DJs settled with Entercom for an undisclosed amount. NYPD officer Troy Patterson dies 33 years after being shot in robbery The family of a California woman who died trying to win a Wii in a radio contest has been awarded $16.5 million in its suit against the station, according to the Associated Press. A preliminary autopsy indicated that Jennifer Strange, 28, died from water intoxication after participating in KDND-FM 107.9's on-air "Hold Your Wee for a Wii" contest Friday. Strange finished second among 18 contestants, and complained that her head hurt and she felt lightheaded when dropping out of the contest. A work colleague said Ms Strange had reported her head . [17], In the early 1990s, KXOA-FM's popularity began to wane following the launch of competitors in KYMX and KGBY; ratings fell by roughly half from 1990 to 1993. display: block; The purpose of this rule is fairly simple: To hold employers responsible for the costs of doing business, including the costs of employee carelessness or misconduct. They were heckling her. [46] In August, two of the KDND DJs, Adam "Lukas" Cox and Steve Maney, sued Entercom over a wrongful termination of their contract. Jennifer Lea Strange, 28, entered and she and other contestants vomited. Several years ago, when Nintendo first released the Wii gaming system a radio station had a promotion titled "Hold Your Wee for a Wii." Contestants periodically drank water to see who could refrain from urinating the longestthe winner would win a Wii gaming system. We want to thank all of our listeners for their continued support and we ask that you join us by keeping Jennifer and her family in your thoughts and prayers.". The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also investigated the incident; in 2016, it designated the renewal of KDND's license for hearing, questioning whether the station had operated in the public interest. The contest awarded a Nintendo console to the person who could avoid urinating (or vomiting) after drinking a large quantity of water. Over the next month, the jury heard testimony from over 41 witnesses as 192 exhibits were entered into evidence. There were lots of reasons to think Jennifer Strange was in deep trouble after she spent hours guzzling in a water-drinking contest at a Sacramento radio station. A preliminary investigation found evidence consistent with a water intoxication death, said assistant Coroner Ed Smith. Listeners including Eva Brooks had even called into the show to warn about the potential consequences of the game. about FindLaws newsletters, including our terms of use and privacy policy. [52] Maney hosts mornings on WNKS in Charlotte, and Sweet hosted mornings on WPLJ in New York City under the name Jayde Donovan until the station's sale in 2019; she now hosts a show on Apple Music 1 and a show syndicated through Westwood One. Strange left after taking second place, winning a pair of concert tickets. "Your body is 98 percent water. a Nintendo Wii video . Twenty-eight years old, married and the mother of three, Strange had entered the "Hold your Wee for a Wii" contest to try to win a Nintendo Wii video game player for her kids. And another jumped in to wisecrack that everyone in the contest had signed releases, "so we're not responsible.". [33][34] Some later remarked on the physical discomfort they suffered during and following the event. The survivors of a woman who died almost three years ago after her participation in radio. He co-wrote Splash Hit, about building the Giants waterfrontstadium, with Joan Walsh. Ybarra said he quit after drinking five bottles. ", But the DJs at KDND-FM apparently figured that was her problem, wasn't it? October 30, 2009 / 9:58 AM [58][59] The next day, Entercom announced that KDND would cease operations effective February 8 and that its license would be terminated and returned to the FCC. 2023 CNET, a Red Ventures company. Now the Sacramento radio station could lose its licence. Drinking large quantities of water rapidly can throw off the body's balance of electrolytes, causing brain swelling and leading to seizures, coma or even death. Copyright 2023, Thomson Reuters. ", "Your body is 98 percent water," one of the hosts remarked to his on-air audience. Inside the cell, there are more electrolytes; outside the cell, there is more water. IE 11 is not supported. The FCC auctioned the frequency in 2021; iHeartMedia won the bidding, and KSTE-FM (now KZIS) began broadcasting on May 4, 2022. She called in sick to work after the contest, complaining of a bad headache, and about five hours later, her mother found her dead in her Rancho Cordova, Calif., home. [12] The station re-branded as Super Stereo K108, featuring Top 40 music and album-oriented rock (AOR) at night. The London Free Press. The FCC ruled that Stolz's arguments had no merit and that he was not a party of interest in the dispute between Media Action Center and Entercom that led to the license revocation hearing. In severe cases of water intoxication, coma and death come fairly quickly as a result of brain swelling. "Those people that are drinking all that water can get sick and possibly die from water intoxication," Brooks said, to which disc jockeys replied they "were aware of that" and that contestants had signed a release "so we're not responsible.". Drinking large quantities of water rapidly can throw off the body's balance of electrolytes, causing brain swelling and leading to seizures, coma or even death. Strange was one of the original 20 contestants who were put in a room with one DJ separate from the studio where they could not hear on-air comments or callers. Ran on: 02-08-2005