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
Yakima Leaders Respond to Supreme Court Drug Ruling
The confrontation with law enforcement often becomes the first step in drug users taking personal responsibility and turning their lives around... Without that some drug users won't be forced to confront themselves and may very well die as a result.
Supreme Court Drug Ruling A Seismic Level Event For Prosecutors
Attaching the harsh penalties of felony drug conviction to entirely innocent and passive conduct exceeds the legislature’s powers,
Date Changed For Town Hall Meeting
Rep. Corry is teaming up with 14th Dist. Rep. Gina Mosbrucker for a Town Hall Meeting this Thursday at 6 pm
Recent Gang Shootings And Juvenile Justice In Yakima
Juveniles receive a softer, more rehabilitative approach by the state's justice system than do older adult gang members, so juveniles are more likely to get the gang's shooting assignments.
Yakima Federal Saving & Loan Scholarship Window Is Open
In addition to academic excellence, applicants should be able to demonstrate "high moral character, industriousness, and ambition during their high school career.
The K-9 Foundation Is Working Like A Dog And That’s Good!
For all their good work, K-9's are expensive and the tight County budget doesn't have the money to support the teams.
Hey Governor Inslee – What’s Next For Covid Phases 3 & 4?
Yakima is open to phase 2 of the State's Coronavirus Healthy Washington Plan and while that was applauded and is appreciated it is also not enough.
Heritage University Tailors Training For Yakima Chief Hops
The Chief Academy is a proud example of hop growers working with a great local university to empower our employees and in turn empower great leaders within our community.
Mental Health Is Another Victim Of The Coronavirus
The Coronavirus has now killed a half million Americans and nearly two and a half million people worldwide. Those aren't the only numbers that matter. Thousands more of us are living in fear, are depressed, are abusing drugs, are considering suicide and are struggling to see hop…
This Day In History – Significant Day For Radio
The radio enabled President Coolidge to speak directly to the American people, bypassing Congress and the newspapers, and he made the most it.