Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee … wait, that was that other Davy. This one was born on a cattle and wheat farm on the Great Plains of North Dakota. Farm-fresh common sense, work ethic and imagination forged in the fields of great grains. Like spaghetti? Thank my dad. After an Honor Society high school career in Lakota, N.D., I attended junior college on a basketball scholarship where I repeatedly demonstrated that white men indeed can’t jump. But I did manage an associate’s degree in wildlife management. From there, a semester at the University of North Dakota, where I started to pursue a background in broadcasting and a minor in goofing off, so… To further educational opportunities and real-world experience, I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1974 and eventually became part of the first all-volunteer army. I served three years as a radio/TV information specialist with extra training in newsprint and leadership. The bulk of my tour was at Fort Lewis, Wash., and I made a note to return to the great state of Washington one day. Honorably discharged in 1977 I returned to North Dakota and Minot State University, where I received degrees in communications and psychology. While attending school I worked as a radio DJ and a TV news reporter at a local combo operation. It was there that I discovered that what was taught in classroom didn’t always square with what was going on in the real world. Good to know. From there I moved to Blacksburg, Va., and a radio/TV producer job for Virginia Tech University -- Go, Gobblers! Go, Hokies! Two years on the East Coast was enough and I headed west to the hippie enclave of Eureka, Calif., for my first TV news director/anchorman gig. Yes, I had a mustache and comparisons to Ron Burgundy would one day be appropriate … just keep them “classy.” At a news guy conference in Las Vegas I met legendary newsman T.J. Close, who was from Washington state! Here was my callback to the Evergreen State, but I wound up on the never-green side of the Cascades. T.J hired me to come to Yakima and KIMA-TV in the winter of 1982. I worked a couple of years there, then spent 10 years across town as news director/anchor at KAPP-TV. I tried my hand at TV sales and radio sales and ultimately got a morning talk show radio gig for about two years on KCHT. (K-chat. Get it? Me, neither) By then KNDO-TV, the only TV station in town I hadn’t worked for, was looking for a news director/anchorman and they came calling based on my track record of past success and the fact that I work cheap. That was a successful five-year run, but the station was sold and the new owners wanted their own people in place, so early in 2001 I was about to be out of a job when KIT’s manager called and asked me to breakfast. Best meal ever! LOTS of bacon. Sixteen years later the Morning News with Dave and Lance rolls on as Yakima’s most popular morning radio show, presenting a variety of news , sports, weather, talk and fun -- Information and good conversation wrapped in our tell-it-like-it-is kinda style. We champion our advertisers, we pull for the underdogs, we love kids, veterans, seniors, animals, America and everything else that’s good and true that list doesn’t cover. We are A.M Proud with conservative values and a love for the people of the Yakima Valley. And it sure beats working on the farm.
Dave Ettl
The High Cost of Carol…Christmas Carol-The 12th Day I’m Broke
Measuring the current cost of getting all the items mentioned in a full verse of the Christmas carol since 1984, the index is up 5.7 percent this season, the largest jump since 2013.
Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is – With Animals Who Need Help
We are celebrating the Yakima Humane Society (YHS) and the animals and precious potential pets they serve.
Tweets – Should The Old Crows Leave The Perch For The Young Birds
People feel more out of place by using social media that doesn’t match their age profile, leading them to feel out-of-sync.
What Politics Needs Most To Serve The Public Best
What this new research shows is that when the Democrats and Republicans are in close competition with each other in a state, its people benefit more than when it's either a significantly Democratic or significantly Republican state.
Prep It Right, Keep It Safe, Run It off – The Turkey Trifecta
When the CDC isn't too busy, changing its collective minds about the proper Coronavirus pandemic protocols, the health organization even has something to say about the do's and do not's of Thanksgiving Turkeys!
Buy A Box Of Madison House Apples And Help Kids Build A Future
Madison House exists to help kids with homework help, guidance in personal responsibility, encouragement in character & spiritual growth, providing a safe space for young people ages 5-20,
Winner Winner Turkey Dinner?- Good To Go? Sorry, No Gobbla!
According to statistics from the American Farm Bureau Federation, the numbers show an increase of 14% in the classic meal.
Native Families Want To Know, MR. AG, What’s The Holdup?
We worked hard with our tribal partners and local advocates to get Savanna’s Act signed into law, and now we urge Attorney General Garland to act swiftly to execute these bipartisan policies in order to deliver justice to the families and loved ones of these women.
We May Ask “Where Were You” But We Wonder “Who Did It & Why?”
What really happened...What might have been, had President JFK not been shot?
What Does Your Dog Dream About For Christmas?
I saw a charming commercial in which this cute scruffy dog was obsessed with his owner's red flannel shirt. The smell, the comfort, the memories all seemed to be so important to this pooch.