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Bob Carter
Bob started out in radio in Port Angeles in 1984. He was both News Director and Morning Voice at KONP. He moved to Bellingham in 1986, taking a job as Assistant News Director and afternoon announcer on KPUG. Not too long after, he moved to the mornings and played "Solid Gold Hits" for several years. He joined the KGMI team in 1999, and has been our overnight News voice since then. He can also be heard on our sister station KISM, Saturdays, from 10-to-noon as "BC in the AM".
When he's not trying to catch up on much-needed sleep Bob can usually be found thumbing through a collection of pulps from the 1930's and 40's ("The Shadow", "Doc Savage", "Amazing Stories") or listening to old radio shows like "Suspense" and "The Mysterious Traveler"!
Bob and his wife Karen share a happy home with two very healthy (heavy) beagles!
Dillon Honcoop
Born and raised in Whatcom County, Dillon Honcoop is as ‘local’ as they come – Dillon grew up on his family’s raspberry farm near Lynden listening to the KGMI Morning News everyday before going out to help his dad in the fields. A 2001 Lynden Christian High School graduate, Dillon attended Trinity Western University, graduating with his bachelor’s degree in communication in 2006. Working as a KGMI reporter was his first job out of college, and he’s been here ever since, writing, hosting talk shows and anchoring the news.
Dillon spends his free time helping his dad out on the farm, playing guitar, riding motorcycle and working on his truck. He’s a Whatcom County history junkie and loves exploring local foothills on two wheels. You can often catch him enjoying a cheeseburger at the sale barn or drinking a cup of coffee at a local tractor dealership.
Dillon’s love of radio began at a young age, driving tractor for hours on end and listening to local stations. Ever since his first tour of KGMI in the early 1990s, he knew he wanted to be on the air, and he still enjoys the energy of ‘going live’. His favorite part of his job is being able to help keep his fellow Whatcom County residents up to date on breaking local news, especially when people need to know what’s happening during fires, floods and storms. But even when no disaster looms, Dillon loves staying in touch with what’s important to his friends and neighbors around Whatcom County.
Joe
Broadcasting has always been my second love - right behind music. I earned a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Northern Colorado and spent a number of years working (starving, really) as a freelance trombone player in Chicago and Denver. I soon realized I would need another profession to fall back on, so I chose the very stable (ha!) radio industry. My first job was at a newstalk station in Denver. After a few years there I was hired to be news director at a station in Summit County, Colorado. Skiing and radio were my life. I returned to Denver after about a year in the mountains and became a long-haired rock jock. I worked at stations in Denver and Phoenix during the 1990's, then suddenly found myself unemployed and playing Mr. Mom following the birth of our son. I was teaching beginning instrumental music to 5th graders when I was lucky enough to land a job at the mighty KGMI early in 2003. My wife, Laurie, is a radio star in her own right and has been half of the morning show at Classic Rock KISM since then. Our son, Tommy, is 9 years old and loves Bellingham. Our new daughter Ella Ray was born last December. Laurie's been through a very rough year following brain surgery to repair an aneurysm and we've truly found out how loving and giving our adopted community is. Thank you for being our neighbors.
Tracy Ellis
Tracy is a father and husband, a huge sports fan, a lover of good food, beer and scotch and a marathon runner.
The last one surprises most of his longtime friends, because until he lost over 50 pounds, Tracy was pretty fat.
Tracy’s daughter is Princess Madeline and his wife is Queen Hannah.
Tracy spends a lot of his spare time running, but what he enjoys doing the most is hanging out at his house with his family.
Tracy, Hannah, and Maddie were all born in Shelton, WA, and have lived in Bellingham since Tracy became the News Director at KGMI in May of 2002.
Before coming to KGMI, Tracy was a News Director at a radio station in Olympia and before that he worked at him hometown station in Shelton.
Tracy got into to Radio because he wanted people to listen to him, but what he enjoys most now at KGMI is hearing from listeners who say they didn’t know about an important issue until they heard it on the news.
Audra Schroeder
Audra Schroeder grew up in George West, the Storytelling Capital of Texas, so it’s only fitting that she chose a career as a reporter. For more than 12 years she has had the opportunity to tell the stories of countless newsmakers, world leaders and extraordinary, ordinary people. Some of the more memorable interviews include the Dalai Lama, President George W. Bush, Israeli President Shimon Peres and the former POWs from Fort Bliss who were captured during the first few days of the Iraq War. And while they have always been the hardest stories to tell, Audra has been honored to interview the family members of fallen U.S. troops, producing final tributes to those men and women who have bravely fought for our country.
Audra’s career as a television and radio news anchor started in her home state of Texas where she worked in San Antonio, Laredo and El Paso. She made the move to the Pacific Northwest in 2005 when she landed a job at KIRO-TV in Seattle. Even though she worked in Seattle, Audra made her home in Bellingham with her boyfriend, a Seattle native and Western Washington University alumni. After more than three years of the I-5 commute, Audra is thrilled to be part of the KGMI news team and working in the community she loves.
In her spare time, you’ll find her skiing at Mount Baker, hiking with her Fox Terrier, Mister Big, or running. She recently finished her first marathon (and maybe her last!) this year in Chicago. Audra also loves to read and travel and because she gets homesick for Texas sunshine and great Tex-Mex cuisine, she jumps at any chance to return home and spend time with her family.
Patti Brooks
I am the youngest of nine children born and raised in Huntington Beach, California. Believe it or not, back when I grew up there it was an agricultural area. Growing up with six older brothers and two older sisters in a large Catholic family has been a gift and given me an intact sense of humor. I am very proud of my Irish heritage and Saint Patrick's Day is a "personal holiday" (St Patrick drove out the snakes from Ireland; yet they somehow made their way to Washington D.C.) I am very happily married for seventeen years to my best friend Bruce and we have two daughters that we are very proud of. I am politically an Independent which is sometimes shocking to people because I stand for accountability. I had listened to KGMI for years and decided to try out for the morning co-host position because I wanted a rational voice of reason heard in Whatcom County. I have been raised with a strong work ethic. I enjoy gardening, camping and 'junkin'". Most weekends are spent in my Carharts...and my other car is a John Deer!
Jeff Johnson
My original fascination with the weather started at age 9, after my family moved from Yakima to Portland, Oregon. I started watching TV weather reports because I missed the snowstorms, which occurred much less frequently in Portland! I have been forecasting weather professionally since graduating from Oregon State University with a degree in Atmospheric Sciences (a fancy name for meteorology!) in 1987.
Although forecasting the weather will never be a perfect science, I enjoy it because it's a different challenge every day! We never see the exact same weather pattern twice! And having a knowledge of the weather helps me plan my outdoor hobbies, which include golf, softball, hiking, and snowshoeing. I enjoy cooking and playing piano as well, but those are much less weather-dependant! My small family includes my "better half" Laurel, and our cat named Chloe. And my favorite weather? Either sunny and warm, or cold and snowy! Oddly enough, despite living west of the Cascades for 35 years, I'm still working on enjoying the rain!
Mike Curtiss
Mike grew up in Bellingham and is an alumnus of Whatcom Middle School, Bellingham High School, Whatcom Community College and Western Washington University. He started his career as a jazz pianist, but his future in jazz was cut short after a tragic polyphony accident left him unable to hear diminished 13 th chords. In college, Mike entered the exciting world of news writing, and started working at KGMI in 2007. He says the best part about working in radio is getting to stay connected with the community and getting up-to-the-minute information about our unpredictable Northwest weather. Mike currently lives in Bellingham with his girlfriend and two cats that he treats like children.
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