Noel Gasca
General Assignment Reporter
About
Noel is a general assignment reporter for KUOW, covering everything from city hall to pickleball. Prior to joining the newsroom, Noel worked as a producer for KUOW’s midday show Soundside. Noel has also worked as an online editor and producer with KUOW’s web team, and she’s also a proud graduate of KUOW’s RadioActive program.
Noel is an alumna of Emerson College and has interned at NPR member stations WBUR in Boston and WAMU in Washington D.C. Originally from Lake Stevens, Washington, Noel is elated to be back in the Pacific Northwest and covering the people and places that make up the state she calls home.
When she’s not working, Noel enjoys perusing Seattle’s used bookstores, practicing her kata, and discussing the lasting legacy of Selena Quintanilla’s music with anyone who will listen.
Location: Seattle
Languages: English
Pronouns: she/her
Professional Affiliations: National Association of Hispanic Journalists, AIR
Stories
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Seattle is rainy with unrelenting hills. How did it become a biking city?
Bike culture is as deeply ingrained in Seattle’s identity as coffee and Birkenstocks. But with our rainy weather and hilly terrain, Seattle — at least on paper — should’ve never become the biking haven that it is today. That’s the unlikely history that Tom Fucoloro, founder of the Seattle Bike Blog and author of “Biking Uphill in the Rain: The Story of Seattle from Behind the Handlebars," set out to explore.
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The student loan pause is ending — for real this time. Here’s how to prepare
Come October, nearly 700,000 Washingtonians will be adding yet another monthly expense back to their budgets: federal student loan repayments. We talked to a student loan advocate about how to get ready and what the Biden administration's new, income-driven repayment plan means for borrowers.
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To this 'Viking' daughter, missions to Mars represent sacrifice and determination
"This week marks 48 years since the launch of the Viking 1, which became the first spacecraft to land safely on Mars' surface and send images back to Earth. Rachel Tillman, the founder and executive director of the Viking Mars Missions Education and Preservation Project, shares her personal connection to the missions, and why she's documenting the stories of those behind the missions.
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'The most dense and consolidated damage I've seen': A WA firefighter's dispatches from Maui
As western Maui begins to heal after deadly wildfires, first responders are searching destroyed homes, assisting displaced people, and distributing supplies. Personnel from Washington state are on the ground for that effort.
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Should you celebrate summer's end with a Covid booster or wait until fall?
There's an unwelcome guest lurking at that late summer barbecue, or trying to tag along on the family vacation. According to the CDC, Covid cases are on the rise in several regions throughout the U.S. — including the Pacific Northwest.
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Washington's state vet says bunny-killing virus is 'here to stay'
The town of Langley on Whidbey Island has a unique tourist attraction - wild bunnies. These don’t look like your regular, run of the mill wild rabbits. Instead, they’re the cute, soft, ‘just want to squeeze them’ bunnies you’d see in a pet store. But now, those bunnies are in trouble.
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Washington once saw hydropower as an easy alternative to coal. That's changing
In 2022, hydropower was responsible for two-thirds of the energy we use to light our homes and businesses here in Washington. But climate change is making hydropower less reliable these days.
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Hear it again: How roller skating and DIY concerts bring generations of Washingtonians together
Soundside is taking a look back at some of our favorite stories about the different ways we build community in the Pacific Northwest.
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Where's the song of the summer hiding?
Soundside rounded up a couple local music experts to weigh in on where the song of the summer is hiding, and offer some suggestions on what to add to your summer playlist.
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'We can't let them steamroll our democracy': How covering NW white supremacist groups shaped 2 reporters
Long before far-right and white supremacist groups like the Patriot Front and the Washington State Three Percenters became household names, the Pacific Northwest was home to other extremist groups. As a reporter in Portland in the late 1990s, KUOW Morning Edition host Angela King covered far-right extremist organizations like the Aryan Nation.