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
Catholics Urge Civility in Times of Political Tumult
How bad has the great political divide gotten? Bad enough that we need to call in God to referee!
Remembering a Champion for Charity — With More Charity!
Yakima Rotarians will prepare 40,000 meals to be shipped to Africa while remembering Dale Carpenter and the Feed the 5,000 project.
Is Yakima ‘Ignorant?’ Among the Worst? The Numbers Say We Really Are!
Compared to hundreds of other cities, Yakima has a fairly uneducated population -- and that has significant implications for our economic future.
Yakima Federal To Award More Scholarship Money
Yakima Federal has provided over two million dollars in college scholarships to local graduating high school seniors and this year will provide up to 60 scholarships of $2,000 each.
Get The Rake – Yakima Yard Waste Collection To Resume
A sure sign of Spring, beginning Monday, March 2nd Yard waste collection resumes in the City of Yakima..
Crime Report – Some People Just Aren’t Cut Out For Crime!
The first case is a "pillowcase" out of Scotland where a nervous bank robbery somehow forgot to cut eye holes in the pillow case he put on over his head as a mask.
Safest Place to Work — Washington Ranks No. 9
Washington is the nation's ninth-safest state in which to work, according to the most recent data on the increase of fatal and non-fatal accidents across America as analyzed at Business.org.
Extra Information Can Complicate Making a Good Decision
Study leaders say when people didn't have background knowledge but were given information, they made better decisions.
When Did You First Hear Your All-Time Favorite Music Artist?
The average participant in a ticket seller survey recalled hearing their all-time favorite band for the first time at age 13.
Homeless Solutions – Some Communities Have Made Great Progress
But with The Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce's assessment that things are not getting any better in downtown, it's time to look at all options to help the homeless and the business community they impact.