“I am glad we are able to help in some small way…”
From time to time, we share a short story that touches us. Here is a portion of a response to a donation thank-you from a KNOM listener. She writes: While we are not Catholic, KNOM has been our preferred radio station for years, and we do appreciate your prayers. These last few months and the upcoming ones, we […]
A missing girl found, and the threats of fall storms
Recently, KNOM coordinated with the Nome Police Department to locate a missing 10-year-old girl who had disappeared on her way home from school. Just as we always do for all missing-person cases, we immediately began broadcasting announcements with the girl’s description and her last known whereabouts, in the hopes that someone in our listening range […]
October 1992: Seas surge in fall storm
October 5, 1992 The worst storm in eighteen years strikes Nome: a low-pressure center swells a storm surge to eight feet above normal, with waves cresting ten feet above that. Covered with flotsam and jetsam, Nome’s main thoroughfare is under water, and where it runs along the beach, half of it is gone. Several roofs […]
September 1997: A solution for drifting snow
September 25, 1997 Chief engineer Les Brown (pictured) has almost single-handedly built the extended fence around the AM tower, preparing for the mission’s higher-power, 25,000-Watt signal. Snow drifting has always been a problem there, and Les tries an innovative solution. For (fence) pickets, he uses 1/2-inch plastic pipes, which he figures will be aerodynamic and […]
September 2001: Our broadcasts on a terrible day
September 11, 2001 Starting at 6am, KNOM airs 68 hours of live, continuous news coverage on the terrible events of today, interrupted only three times: for weather, for important announcements, and for the Rosary.
Fish and wildlife reports, and help from a KNOM alumnus
Fish are moving upriver, muskoxen are roaming the tundra, and bears are perched at the edge of streams looking for their next meal. Summer in bush Alaska means wildlife and fish reports on KNOM will keep everyone informed and safe. As summer progresses, our daily high temperatures are typically about 50 degrees, and we have been […]
August 1992: A thank-you from the governor
August 2, 1992 A letter arrives out of the blue from Alaska governor Walter Hickel. “Thank you for your generous commitment and devotion to the communities in the Nome area,” He writes. “Your radio broadcasts are really making a difference.” The governor and his wife are annual KNOM contributors.
July 1999: Rod Ewing paints the tower
July 21, 1999 Rod Ewing begins to apply a new coat of paint to the KNOM tower. How do you paint a tower? “The first thing you do,” Rod jokes, “is take a bucket of paint and pour it over your head, so you get that part taken care of right off the bat.” Actually, […]
July 1971: Thanks to a nurse, a last-minute fix
July 13, 1971 One day before scheduled sign-on, a copper strap burns apart in the antenna tuning unit, removing the antenna from the transmitter. Six small resistors burn in the transmitter’s final section. In isolated Nome, they are impossible to replace. However, support nurse Kitty Orris (pictured, in the middle of the photo) has just escorted a […]
Looking Back on Four Decades of Volunteers
In our four decades of service, there have been more than 300 generous volunteers who have served at KNOM. Their names are written on cassette and reel-to-reel tape labels, on script and information file folders, on old log sheets, and on so many of the historical records here at KNOM. Without these volunteers, KNOM would […]