This NOT Just In

This NOT Just In: Audible Moments from Northwest History uses vintage recordings to bring to life historic events from the region's past. Series producer Feliks Banel digs into audio archives to help tell forgotten stories as well as shed new light on well–known episodes from local history.

This NOT Just In is reported and produced by Feliks Banel and edited by Jim Gates. Funding was provided by the KUOW Program Venture Fund. Contributors include Paul and Laurie Ahern and Puget Sound Energy.

The Last Show
9:02 am
Fri December 28, 2012

This NOT Just In: The Last Episode Of J.P. Patches

Credit Courtesy of Chris Wedes
J.P. Patches and Gertrude from The J.P. Patches Show.

Chris Wedes passed away earlier this year after a long battle with cancer.  Wedes was the host of the long-running JP Patches Show on KIRO TV and one of the region's most beloved figures.  "This NOT Just In" looks back to the final weekday episode of the popular program, back in December 1978.

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History
5:02 am
Fri December 7, 2012

How We Mourned John Lennon Before The Internet

Credit Roy Kerwood / Wikipedia
John Lennon rehearsing "Give Peace A Chance," 1969.

John Lennon was murdered 30 years ago. We'll look back at how Seattleites mourned the death of the former Beatle in a time before the Internet, social media and cell phones.

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History
12:00 pm
Sat November 24, 2012

The Sinking Of The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge

Credit Photo courtesy Washington State Department of Transportation
The Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge across Lake Washington lists and sinks while undergoing renovation in November 1990. No one was hurt, but several construction vehicles sank along with the old concrete pontoons.

The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge that connected Seattle to Mercer Island sank to the bottom of Lake Washington 22 years ago this weekend.

Here in the Evergreen State, there’s something peculiar about bridges and windstorms.  Take the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge back in November 1940. Bad design doomed that span from the start and earned the bridge an appropriate nickname.  “Galloping Gertie” was blown down in a gale just four months after it opened.

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History
10:52 am
Wed November 21, 2012

Hijack, Ransom, Parachute Plane Jump: The Unsolved Mystery Of D.B. Cooper

Credit Courtesy/Wikipedia
A FBI sketch of D.B. Cooper, 1972.

On November 24, 1971, a man who is referred to as D.B. Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 on a flight between Portland, Oregon and Seattle. He extorted $200,000 in ransom, and parachuted from the plane. A look back at the hijacking which has become legendary in the Pacific Northwest and the rest of America.

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Sports
11:48 am
Fri November 9, 2012

"My Oh My:" Dave Niehaus Uplifts A Struggling Baseball Team And A City

Dave Niehaus was the “Voice of the Seattle Mariners.” His sudden and unexpected death on November 10, 2010 from a heart attack was more than just a sports story. The news hit people hard. Niehaus was part of the cultural fabric of the Pacific Northwest, a role he played since the time he called the first pitch at the first Mariners game back in 1977.

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History
3:26 pm
Tue October 30, 2012

"War Of The Worlds" Broadcast Touches Off Panic In Pacific Northwest

Credit Library of Congress Van Vechten Collection
"War of the Worlds" director and narrator, Orson Welles, 1937.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Wells' infamous "War of the Worlds" broadcast across the nation.  Fake news of a Martian landing fooled a lot of people on the East Coast, especially around New Jersey, where phony live reports described the alien landing site. But the most infamous panic of all didn't happen in the East. And it wasn't just a single person. It was an entire town, and it happened right here in Washington state.

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History
10:12 pm
Fri October 12, 2012

1962: Remembering The Deadly Columbus Day Storm

Credit Photo by Seattle Municipal Archives.
Columbus Day Storm damage, 1962.

A lot of strange things happened in October 1962.

In Hollywood, Bobby "Boris" Pickett topped the charts with “Monster Mash.” In New York, James Brown recorded his incredible "Live at the Apollo" album. And in Cuba, offensive missile sites were being built, marking the start of the Cuban missile crisis.

Meanwhile, closer to home, the Pacific Northwest was about to face one of the most destructive natural disasters in American history.

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