Zimmerman attorney a former WMMR DJ

DON WEST, the defense attorney for George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case, used to be a DJ at WMMR.

Former 'MMR DJ Michael Tearson said West worked for the station between 1977 and 1978, during the second tenure of legendary program director Jerry Stevens. "He was there for basically a long sip of water," Tearson said about West's short stint.

Other 'MMR employees who worked at the station around the same time could not place West.

"Although he appears to have a made-for-radio name, not even the longest tenured employees recall his time at 'MMR," said program director Bill Weston. "Was it pre-'68 during our Sinatra years?"

West received a bachelor's degree and a master's of education from Penn, according to his LinkedIn profile, and has a history in radio, working at Los Angeles' KROQ before his "not very long and not very successful" (according to Tearson) WMMR shift. He then moved up to Toronto's CHUM-FM.

West made waves during his opening statement when he told a joke: "Knock, knock. Who's there? George Zimmerman. George Zimmerman who? Congratulations, you're on the jury."

Yeah, I didn't think it was very funny, either.

Don Imus is back on Philly's radio dial after a six-year absence.

The outspoken radio DJ returned to the local airwaves this morning, taking the 6 to 9 a.m. on IQ 106.9 FM. Previously occupying the morning-drive spot was "Philly Morning News," hosted at one point by Larry Mendte and Al Gardner until Mendte was fired in December, with Gardner getting the ax in March. Recently, the show was hosted by Lionel and Michelle Murillo.

Imus hasn't been on the air in Philly since 2007 when he was fired from CBS for making racially insensitive comments about the Rutgers' women's basketball team.

Recent Arbitron ratings show IQ 106.9 FM tied with similarly formatted talk-radio station 1210 WPHT, with each taking a 2.1 market in the most recent data. The previous two months of data show IQ 106.9 with a lead over WPHT, however.

Cory Monteith, the "Glee" star who was found dead in his Vancouver hotel room on Saturday, filmed what will now be one of his final roles in Philadelphia last year.

"McCanick," directed by Josh C. Waller, starred Chestnut Hill's David Morse and Warminster native Mike Vogel. Morse plays Eugene "Mack" McCanick, a detective who, along with his partner (Vogel), hunts a criminal recently released from prison (Monteith).

Greater Philadelphia Film Office chief Sharon Pinkenson referred to "McCanick" as a "microbudget" film and a labor of love for all involved when it was shooting in Philly. The film does not yet have a release date.

Monteith was interviewed on WMMR's "Preston and Steve" show hours after filming wrapped. The show's Twitter account wrote yesterday that he was "such a nice guy."

If you were around LOVE Park on Thursday, you might have caught the 6ABC morning team, including Matt O'Donnell, Tamala Edwards, David Murphy and Karen Rogers, shooting a promo for the station. Five hundred people applied through Facebook to talk with the morning team and write on a big board what 6ABC meant to them. About 150 people chosen showed up despite the not-so-nice weather.

Fun fact: O'Donnell wears two friendship bracelets on his wrist made by his daughter. So cah-yoot.

Our own "Big" Reuben Harley will put on his chef's whites tomorrow night at classy pizza-centric joint Zavino as a guest chef. Rube will be serving ground turkey lasagna, pesto linguine with broiled chicken, seasonal salad with Dijon vinaigrette, caramelized onion goat cheese with beef bacon and a "Sumthin' sexy cocktail," featuring Malibu Bay Breeze with Patron and peach Schnapps

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