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
Time To Put Money Where Our Mouths Are – On Our Face-Filled With Food!
In August, 53 Americans died from mass shootings. Do you know how many died from obesity? Forty-thousand.
Reason Says Life Is Better Today Than In The Past
This bleak assessment of the state of the world is wrong,” and not just a little wrong but “wrong wrong, flat-earth wrong.”
Constitution Day 2019, That’s Today!
America is better served and more likely preserved when we ALL know and understand our constitution and we all agree to support and defend.
Green Tea Helps To Better Organize Your Brain
Harvard Medical School says green tea has been linked to a lower risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes
Bring Food, Get Free Fair Admission on 9-25-19
Operation Harvest, now in its 36th year is the biggest single source of donations to local area food banks, which helps provide for the nutrition need of thousands of the valley's children, seniors and families.
The History Of The Star Spangled Banner
On this day in history, September 13, 1814, the British began the bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812..
Beto, You Are Barking Up The Wrong Tree To Prevent Gun Violence
Between 2007 and 2017, nearly 1,700 people were murdered per year with a knife or sharp object -- almost four times the number of people murdered by an assailant with any sort of rifle.
Yakima Museum Offers Ultra Luxury Safari As Fundraiser
The prize - five nights in the African bush surrounded by big game at Stanley Camp and Chobe Chilwero in the Okavango Delta—home to the largest number of elephants in Africa,
Will California Colleges Allow Agents & Endorsements For Athletes?
The Pac-12 conference, which includes USC, UCLA, Stanford and Cal, has also asked that California delay action until the NCAA committee announces its proposals in a report due out next month.
Power Naps Prevent Heart Attacks And Strokes?
A Swiss study concluded that those who took a nap once or twice a week had a 48% lower risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke or heart failure than those who did not take naps.