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October 2006: 28 weeks premature, Sophia Woyte is born

By on October 15, 2012 in History, Photos

October 19, 2006

Robyn and Sophia

Mother and child: Robyn and Sophia Woyte.

In Anchorage, doctors wait as long as they can, but they can’t wait long, and they deliver 2-pound 4-ounce Sophia Woyte, 28 weeks premature. Tom Busch takes pictures of mother and baby and e-mails them to Lynette Schmidt in Nome, who prints and gives them to Sophia’s small worried siblings, to assure them everything’s okay. At the age of one day, Sophia and mother Robyn are visited by John Woyte, whom the National Guard has flown home from Iraq. Little Sophia holds her own and is home by Christmas.

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October 1971: The loss of Brother Huck

By on October 6, 2012 in History

October 8, 1971

Traveling by small boat from the village of Pilot Station to St. Mary’s, 33-year-old Br. John Huck, SJ, and three others drown when their boat capsizes near the confluence of the Yukon and Andreafsky Rivers. Huck, who directed construction on the studio building, had become a great friend to the KNOM crew, who are overcome with grief. Huck’s body is never found.

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October 1992: Seas surge in fall storm

By on October 1, 2012 in History, Photos
Whirlpool and seawall

On occasion, Western Alaska is beset with exceptionally strong fall storms. In November 2011, an oversized storm brought standing water on the city side of Nome’s seawall that, as it drained, created a small whirlpool. Photo by Matthew Smith.

October 5, 1992

The worst storm in eighteen years strikes Nome: a low-pressure center swells a storm surge to eight feet above normal, with waves cresting ten feet above that. Covered with flotsam and jetsam, Nome’s main thoroughfare is under water, and where it runs along the beach, half of it is gone. Several roofs blow away. Thanks to KNOM’s emergency generators, the station keeps residents calm and informed. The mission’s facilities are undamaged.

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September 1997: A solution for drifting snow

By on September 21, 2012 in History, Photos
Les Brown in Studio C

Longtime volunteer engineer Les Brown in KNOM’s Studio C.

September 25, 1997

Chief engineer Les Brown (pictured) has almost single-handedly built the extended fence around the AM tower, preparing for the mission’s higher-power, 25,000-Watt signal. Snow drifting has always been a problem there, and Les tries an innovative solution.

For (fence) pickets, he uses 1/2-inch plastic pipes, which he figures will be aerodynamic and won’t stop as much snow as wooden slats. It turns out to be an excellent decision. The needed material costs $931, and by doing it himself, Les figures he is saving the mission about $4,500 in labor.

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September 1970: Dynamiting into the permafrost

By on September 15, 2012 in History

September 21, 1970

Volunteers Tom Busch and John Pfeifer and dynamite expert Sam Tucker put in another day, melting holes into the permafrost with red-hot chisels and heavy hammers. Sam’s dynamite blasts excavate an average of about a foot a day on the main hole for the tower, as well as the three smaller holes for guy wire anchors.

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September 2001: Our broadcasts on a terrible day

By on September 10, 2012 in History, Photos
New York on Sep. 11, 2001

The Manhattan skyline shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

September 11, 2001

Starting at 6am, KNOM airs 68 hours of live, continuous news coverage on the terrible events of today, interrupted only three times: for weather, for important announcements, and for the Rosary.

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September 1981: Marilyn Koezuna joins KNOM

By on August 31, 2012 in History

September 6, 1981

Marilyn Koezuna joins the KNOM air staff.

Marilyn is a King Island Inupiaq Eskimo who helped the station while in high school. She returns as a Jesuit volunteer, the second Alaska Native to do so for a full year.

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September 2008: Amy departs

By on August 25, 2012 in History, Photos
Amy Flaherty Gorn

Amy (Flaherty) Gorn, who served at KNOM Radio for over six years: first as a volunteer, and then as a permanent staff member in the position of public affairs director.

September 1, 2008

After more than six years of service to the mission, Amy Flaherty departs for more urban parts of Alaska. She has produced hundreds of programs and news interviews. Her replacement is Laureli Kinneen, who grew up in the town of Unalakleet, 146 miles southeast of Nome. Her husband Fen was raised in Nome and, like Laureli, grew up a KNOM listener.

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August 2009: Transmitter trouble

By on August 18, 2012 in History

August 23, 2009

The transmitter fails this morning, just as the automated remote control commands the increase to daytime power. From Anchorage, Tom Busch talks general manager Ric Schmidt into coaxing it to operate at very low power, about 2,000 watts. After flying to Nome, Tom discovers that a jumper cable 100 feet above ground has severed. Due to high reflected power, the station might be actually transmitting at only a handful of watts.

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August 1993: Tom Bunger arrives at KNOM

By on August 10, 2012 in History

August 15, 1993

From Tacoma, Washington, Tom Bunger is among KNOM’s six volunteers, all new.

He’s assigned as news reporter, working under the supervision of news director Katy Clark. In 1994, Tom is hired as a salaried news director, a position he holds for three years before leaving the station for a career in the computer industry.

It is Tom who creates KNOM’s website in 1997, and he continues to help out the station from time to time.

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