Podcasts

#192 Colin Foden, KPTZ founder & former Board Chair

(Airdate: January 11, 2022) COLIN FODEN: MAKING RADIO DREAMS REALITY. Our Town host Maryanne McNellis interviews Colin Foden, KPTZ co-founder and long-time President & Chairman. Colin joined IBM as a young man. Those tech skills turned out to be easily transferable when he left Northern England and headed for New Zealand. Next it was on to California where he worked for financial giant Pacific Life. He hadn’t been on a college track back in England. But Pacific Life financed his MBA at Pepperdine University. The plot digressed when he and his partner had a baby girl. Soon they were in the proverbial VW van headed up to the Pacific Northwest. He had friends in Port Townsend and soon was part of the community here, serving as the key financial guy at Centrum for several years. But before long he was the single parent of two toddlers. That role clashed with full-time employment so he left Centrum to become a consultant. A chance meeting with a friend at Swains (an institution which folded a few years back) resulted in him joining a small band of idealists devoted to starting a community radio station. The rest is history, as they say. They started the ball rolling in 2007 and by 2011 our own community radio station – KPTZ, 91.9 FM – was up and running. Colin was at the helm as President & Chairman of the Board during KPTZ’s first decade. It hasn’t always been easy.

Friends of Fort Worden

(Airdate: January 10, 2022) Larry Stein talks with Gary Larson and Will Barrett, two board members of Friends of Fort Worden, a volunteer organization that helps maintain and improve the Fort for all of us. Gary is Communications coordinator, and Will is the head of Trail Team projects, which take on specific maintenance and upgrades for the Fort’s network of trails. Also featured are the two AmeriCorps Service members who work with the Park Rangers, and the Friends of Fort Worden. They plan to be leading some interpretative Nature Walks in the Spring and Summer, in addition to their maintenance work on trails.

Community Tides ~ 1/07

Since 1999, Jumping Mouse Children’s Center has helped kids heal through expressive mental health therapy. In the Center’s warm, homelike environment, children confront past and present hurts and discover lasting resolutions. In this edition of Community Tides, KPTZ’s Chris Bricker and co-host Siobhan Canty, President and CEO of Jefferson Community Foundation, talk with Kimberly Gorman, in her new role as Executive Director of Jumping Mouse, and Jean Scarboro, Clinical Director. We’ll learn about their important work, and how our local children are faring in these trying times.

Nature Now #548
Winter Walk with Lichens

(Reprise airdate: January 6, 2016) For the New Year, reflect back to the first week of 2016 and join Mary Robson and Dr. Katherine Glew, University of Washington, for a “Winter Walk with Lichens”. Now that the snows of late 2021 have gone in many places on the Quimper Peninsula, explore the winter woods with an eye to the small living world on the barks of trees and covering the ground and rocks. (First aired January 6, 2016).

50 Years of Washington Sea Grant

(Airdate: January 5, 2022) Since 1971, Washington Sea Grant, a little-known marine research gem based at the University of Washington, has been supporting our state’s marine environment and maritime economies, having spearheaded or supported cutting-edge marine research, outreach and education for over 50 years. Host MaryAnn Wagner talks with Washington Sea Grant’s director Russell Callender about the next 50 years of projects for Washington’s shorelines and waters.

Booklovers’ Cafe – Thor Hanson, Hurricane Lizards

(Airdate: January 4, 2022) If you are looking for solid engaging science and a hopeful book on Climate change try Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid. Cris talks with Thor Hanson about the way that animals and plants don’t just suffer climate change but respond to it by adjusting, evolving and, yes, sometimes “winking out”. It’s happening now and has been measured for over a hundred years. A wonderful and engaging storyteller: We are proud to interview Thor once again.

County Public Health Report ~ 1/03

The following is a summary of the presentation during the Public Health briefings at this week’s Board of County Commissioners meeting made by Jefferson and Clallam County Public Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry. Also Willie Bence, Director, Director of Emergency Management, gave a report. The summary below was provided by and used with the permission of Jefferson County Government.

During the public health update this morning at the BOCC meeting, County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry said COVID-19 has been rising dramatically though the nation and in the region. In Jefferson County, there is a significant rise in cases. Our current case rate is 416 per 100,000. As of today, we have 1,589 diagnosed cases. Dr Berry said it is reasonable to assume that if you are diagnosed with COVID-19 in Jefferson, it is most likely Omicron. That is the majority variant in our region now. “What we know about the Omicron variant is that it is incredibly infectious,” Dr. Berry said. “It’s very, very transmissible and is a little bit less severe than the Delta variant but not as mild as many people are making it out to be.” She explained that Omicron is 20% less severe than the Delta variant, and the Delta variant was 50% more severe than the original COVID-19 virus. If you are unvaccinated, the Omicron variant is actually more severe than the original COVID-19 virus. “It is not the cold, it is not the flu,” she said. Dr. Berry said for those who are vaccinated, Omicron has a low rate of severe disease. But if you are unvaccinated, it can still be incredibly severe and can lead to hospitalization and death given how how transmissible it is. She said we are very likely to see our hospital system being overwhelmed again. Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glen, along with Tracie Harris, MD and Tina Toner MD, told Commissioners that the hospital is experiencing staff vulnerabilities. And moving patients from one hospital to the other has been critically impaired. The emergency department has increased patient load from 200 to 250 last month. And the Express Clinic normally sees 150 patients; currently it’s 225.

Submit your Public Health questions to Dr. Allison Berry and Willie Bence by emailing [email protected]. Note: The weekly deadline for these to be submitted is on Fridays at noon, to be answered at the following Monday’s BOCC meeting.

Brewocracy Now with John Mauro ~ 12/30

Today on Brewocracy Now, guest host Taylor Clark and City Manager John Mauro discussed the following topics: The City’s response to recent snowy road conditions; the completion of the Mill Agreement and what it means to upgrades to the water system; and upcoming projects and opportunities for community participation in 2022.

Email your questions in advance to [email protected].

Nature Now #547
Carla Stehr

(Reprise airdate: December 29, 2021) Can Art and Science inspire each other? Nan Evans and retired fisheries biologist and fiber artist Carla Stehr explore this topic on Nature Now in this reprise from December 2019.

Nordland Store New Year’s Splash

(Airdate: December 27, 2021) This week on Attention Please! host Steve Evans sits by the gas stove in their boathouse and talks with Nordland General Store owners Tom and Sue Rose about building back from the fire that destroyed the iconic business a little more than a year ago and, most importantly, about plans (or the lack thereof) for the traditional Polar Plunge that happens each New Year’s day off of their Mystery Bay dock opposite the store.