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Senator in the building

Laureli talks with Senator Mark Begich

Longtime readers of the Static may find it no surprise that, last month, KNOM received a visit from US Senator Mark Begich, the junior member of Alaska’s Congressional delegation (pictured, mid-interview, with news director Laureli Kinneen). As one of the leading news organizations in rural Alaska – and one of the largest in the state […]

August ’93: Meet Tom Bunger

August 15, 1993 From Tacoma, Washington, Tom Bunger is among KNOM’s six volunteers, all new. He’s assigned as news reporter, working under the supervision of news director Katy Clark. In 1994, Tom is hired as a salaried news director, a position he holds for three years before leaving the station for a career in the […]

Fond farewells

This month and next, we’re bidding farewell to the volunteers who have completed their 2012-2013 service years at KNOM. As with every class of KNOM volunteers, their departures make for a bittersweet time; we’re sad to see our hardworking volunteers depart but know that they’ll continue to do excellent work in the future. In a […]

June ’88: A “friendship flight” to Russia

June 13, 1988 KNOM volunteer Claire Richardson is Alaska’s pool radio reporter on a precedent-setting trip to Provideniya, USSR, traveling on the historic Alaska Airlines 737 “Friendship Flight.” Her live reports of Provideniya’s festivities and the reunion of Eskimo families are carried by more than a dozen radio stations throughout the state.

In the wind

You’ll often find KNOM’s dedicated news team – including volunteers Eva DeLappe and Margaret DeMaioribus, pictured – reporting on location in Nome, despite our region’s often-inclement weather. Last month, however, the news was the weather. As Margaret reported, a shifting wind pattern called Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) has been at least partly to blame for […]

May 1998: Plane crash near Nome

May 14, 1998 A Cessna Caravan airplane with ten people aboard crashes on a hilltop three miles north of Nome in near zero visibility. KNOM broadcasts frequent live reports from search and rescue headquarters and from the scene as rescuers battle heavy snow and fog looking for the aircraft. This is one of many crashes […]

Back at the microphone

Western Alaska’s listeners – and KNOM’s crew – recently delighted in hearing a familiar voice on our airwaves: staff alumnus Paul Korchin, who volunteered a week at our station in mid-March. Paul, a longtime news director who now serves on our board of directors, generously contributed many hours to KNOM’s coverage of winter “race season” […]

From Rome to Nome

Like many of our listeners – and, we imagine, many of our supporters – we were excited last month to hear the news of the newly-chosen Pope Francis. Thanks to you, the Catholic faithful throughout Western Alaska were kept informed on the headlines from Vatican City with hourly national and world news provided by ABC […]

Welcoming the next generation of broadcasters

Education has been an essential component of our mission since KNOM’s inception in 1971. Last month, we realized the goal of education in a special way: by welcoming a broadcasting student with special ties to the region we serve. Janice Homekingkeo (pictured at left) hails from Koyuk (COY-uck), a Western Alaskan community nestled on Norton […]

Welcome back, Ben!

A familiar (and smiling) face graced KNOM studios last month: that of volunteer alumnus Ben Matheson, who donated a week of vacation time to help our mission with our coverage of the Norton Sound 450 (described in more detail elsewhere in our March newsletter). Ben’s presence within our studios was invaluable. A two-year veteran of […]