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
Drag Your Tail to Downtown Summer Nights for Fun
Too Slim is Too Cool and the Taildraggers are second fiddle to none and there you have the makings for another outstanding edition of Yakima's Downtown Summer Nights this Thursday on Front Street.
Yakima’s Memorial Day Parade Rolls This Saturday at 10 a.m.
Yakima's Memorial Day parade is this Saturday morning at 10 along Yakima Avenue.
New NFL Policy Could Mean Penalties for Players Who Kneel During Anthem
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has announced a new NFL policy dealing with players who kneel during the national anthem. But will it settle anything?
Expect Delays and Detour on Highway 12 to White Pass This Week
The detour will be in effect 24/7 through Friday and adds about 25 minutes to the drive as work crews repave a small section of roadway west of the tunnel.
All Hail the Sports Heroes of Central Washington
The Central Washington Sports Hall of Fame is up and running and is about to honor its first class of nine inductees, including the people's choice award winner.
This Weekend’s Gem Show Includes CWU’s Nick Zentner + Dinosaurs
Featuring Central Washington University geology professor Nick Zentner and more than 30 jewelry, fossil and mineral dealers, the 80th annual Gem Show promises to be the ultimate all-ages event.
Margaret Trudeau — Making Sense of a Bipolar Life
Her story was a roller coaster ride through '70s and '80s that include five children, motherhood, an attempt at being the perfect politicians wife to running away from home and responsibility to a stint as an all-night party girl at New York's infamous Studio 54.
There Is A City Where By Law You are Not Allowed To Die
In Longyearbyen, Norway, threats that buried dead bodies will spread disease during spring thaws led to passage of a "NO DYING ALLOWED" law.
Yakima’s Home and Garden Show Is This Weekend [PHOTOS]
If you like to take on home improvement projects or work in your yard -- or maybe you have ideas and big dreams about the next house or the "forever home" -- then this is your weekend!
Yakima Trout Racing Tips The Scales For Fun [PHOTOS, VIDEO]
No skill, no preparation -- no problem. It's totally random, luck of the draw excitement with the winners .
Yakima County Sheriff Brian Winter Has ALS, Won’t Seek Re-election
A recently diagnosed medical condition is forcing Sheriff Brian Winter to not seek re-election when his current term expires.
Exclusive Aerial Tour of Rattlesnake Ridge Shows Extent of Landslide Threat
Photojournalist Jack Balzer and I took a helicopter ride to the ridge on Thursday (Jan. 4) for an up-close look, and there is no doubt the earth there is on the move. The questions are where, when and how much?