By Paul Wetter -- Daily Telegram Staff Writer

ADRIAN TWP. -- Radio Free Lenawee has been silenced as the federal government renewed efforts to shut down low-power radio broadcasts by the Rev. Rick Strawcutter.

Listeners to Strawcutter's station at 99.3 FM on Friday heard nothing but static.

An Internet Web site not affiliated with the station posted a message Friday that the Federal Communications Commission had shut down broadcasts and told surfers to watch for details about the radio station at the site.

Strawcutter, pastor of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Adrian Township, hosts drive-time radio shows and offers other local programs at the radio station.

Listeners also hear a dose of "patriot talk radio" and programs that sometimes have sympathetic feelings for the militia movement.

Strawcutter was unavailable for comment Friday, but appeared at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Detroit before Judge Gerald E. Rosen.

The government is seeking an injunction against Strawcutter to end what they consider to be illegal broadcasts.

Strawcutter maintains that because the Federal Communications Commission does not issue licenses to broadcasters operating at less than 100 watts of power, he does not have to be licensed.

Strawcutter has said he believes FCC efforts to squelch his broadcasts violate his First Amendment right of free speech.

U.S. District Court Judge Julian Abele Cook Jr. dismissed the government's request to shut down the station in 1998.

The FCC had filed a lawsuit against Strawcutter to halt his broadcasts. The FCC also sought to confiscate Strawcutter's broadcasting equipment at the Adrian Christian Complex on Bent Oak Highway.

The lawsuit grew out of a November 1996 complaint that Strawcutter's broadcasts at

97.7 FM were interfering with a Toledo radio station's broadcasts.

Strawcutter claimed in court documents that he immediately shut down broadcasts when the interference was brought to his attention in July 1997.

After the federal lawsuit was dismissed, Strawcutter upgraded his equipment and broadcasting studio.

He went back on the air in August 1998 at the new frequency of 99.3 FM.

To push the public debate about low-power FM broadcasts, Strawcutter jetted to Las Vegas three years ago during a National Association of Broadcasters convention to consult with a group of 250 people interested in starting low-power FM stations.