Congrats to broadcaster and producer Marie Dodds, who exits KEX's morning drive producer and news anchor slot for AAA Oregon to be the director of public and government affairs.

Read more at:
http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2007/09/24/daily25.html?jst=b_l n_hl

I liked the Scotty & Marie morning shows back in the day. I think they were on 95.1 and Q-105

Q105 and 95.5

There are two other impending departures from the 1190 KEX newsroom as well...Veteran Portland newsguy Neal Penland is retiring at the end of October...and Jeff Kirsch is leaving Oct 2nd to become a 9-1-1 dispatcher in South Bend, Washington.

Marie....I LOVE YOU!! God bless and all the best, baby!!

Scott T. Lander

Congrats, Marie. KEX has been blessed with outstanding female morning anchor talent.

Jeff's a solid guy who's going home, or darn close too it.

And Penland's the guy who refused to die! Portland radio news loses one of the great institutional memories. Keep on sailing those Christmas ships.

RJ

Penland told me months ago that he was stepping out, and while I'll honor his desire not to make a deal out of it, I just want to echo RJ's remark about the the living history that Neil represents. He's had that inquisitive noggin of his plugged into Portland for more decades than most of us have been alive. He's had a killer career both as a reporter and an air dude. He was part of the KUPL morning show (along with Doug Dahlgren and Karen Tracy) that managed to topple the team that I play on, during one of our glory periods in the late '80's. But most importantly, he beat the big C, and wants to live a happy life without, as he puts it, the got-dam sumbitching 4 AM alarm. Except he uses strong language.

And props also to Marie and Jeff. Good people, off to a new future.

Ditto...

Bravo, and well done!

Wow, a lot of big names here! I've admired You all.

Marie Dodds. Scott Tom was always talkin' about You & Him doing another show together. Now that won't happen and I'll bet he's feeling down about that!

Jeff Kirsch: I've been a loyal listener of Yours for years! Will miss your news cut-ins. It's no secret I'm a big "Coast To Coast AM" fan and Jeff kept Portland informed overnights for a lot of years.

Neal Penland: When I think of Great Portland News Broadcasters, Neal is right up there with the best. I can add to KUPL that Neal was also KYXI News Director beginning on March 24, 1980 from a newspaper account. This might have been when Neal moved to Portland. It mentioned him formerly KTIX News Director and at WTOP-TV Washington.

Good Luck to all of You, we'll miss You on the radio.

Marie and I go back farther than I think I want to admit. Have visited with her recently in the past couple of months and it's always a delight. The word Pro is certainly an understatement. I think most everyone here has already taken all the great adjectives I wanted to use.

What can you about Neal? When I ran into him the same day I visited Marie I told him that I had heard many a story of his days working with Ted Rogers. He nearly fainted in that Neal sort of way.

Both these radio veterans deserve all the kudos we can give them.

Wow. All the best to her!
I remember listening to her news report one morning on what would turn out to be the very last (half) day of Star 105.9 in June 2002... she read a news article that the Burnside Bridge was being closed for some deck work and earthquake retrofitting, and that except for the Marquam, none of the other Portland bridges had earthquake retrofitting... coincidentally, I was on a MAX train going over the Steel Bridge! It's radio listening moments like that one doesn't easily forget, and make people want to listen to live and local radio.

Neal Penland was amongst the first people I worked with in radio although I doubt he knew who I was. I've completely forgotten about his stint at KYXI. I was thinking he was at KUPL the whole time! He was with them when they were KPOK but I'm not sure about KPOJ. I think he was about 30 when I worked around him in 1973.

Semoochie: Right once again! I've got a copy of the 1976 Broadcasting Yearbook, Oregon listings and Neal Penland is listed as KPOK News Director. Yearbook listings were filed in 1975.

marie: congrats! it's been a long time! huh? wish ya the best.

So here's the real deal. Marie Dodds departure from KEX is long overdue. She never produced The Morning Update, that was/is done by veteran Oregon radio vet J. D. Fort. Her contributions were minimal. As in her earlier gigs at 95.5 and KGW it was her programming genius husband, Mike Dirkx, that kept here employed. It was above her to actually venture out on a news story. She sounds very small market compared to the likes of Pat Boyle and Manda Factor even though she considers herself an equal.
The woman has delusions of her talent and abilities so most of the staff there at The Big One, are probably glad to see her go.
Linnman should have no problems handling mornings without "the great marie dodds".

WOW, It sounds as though you have an ax to grind.

Hey, KEXmember...
parking lot 5 o'clock. Though I may be getting kind of old for this sort of thing, I will personally kick your butt back to eastern Montana, which is where you belong! (No offense intended towards Montana.)
By the way...your "name" is TOTALLY appropriate!!

What a cowardly post from kexmember.

Minck...You got back up if you need it.

Marie: Congrats on a great new gig. They're lucky to have you.
Minck: I'll hold your scotch and your car keys while you're beating the @#^%$#% out of the jerk.

It never ceases to amaze that the radio pros on this board use their own names and stand by their contributions, while the cravenly trolls hide behind assumed names and call letters they have no right to associate with.

>>>"It never ceases to amaze that the radio pros on this board use their own names and stand by their contributions, while the cravenly trolls hide behind assumed names"

You just said it all. How true.

This thread is to celebrate two radio talents that will be missed on the airwaves. Portland radio is better because these two pro's put in the time and had the talent.

Best to Neal and Marie.

I love it: posters like 'kexmember' are typical.... he has 5 posts under his belt and keeps his name and e-mail absolutely under wraps. Can't say as I really blame him, as total anonymity suits a coward well.

Thank goodness chivalry is not dead!

This thread was created to celebrate the contribution to PDX radio made by these pros.

Some of us could learn something from our mothers: "If you can't say something nice...."

Jeez, what a lousy thing to say "kexmember." I offically join the group that disapproves of your comments. I don't know Marie, but have certainly heard great things about her for many years. Didn't your mother teach you that if you can't say something nice, just keep quiet?


Congrats to Neal Penland. A good guy, and a pleasure to work with. The business will miss him. Ask him about the time he, Ted Rogers and I went out on Christmas eve afternoon for a "couple of drinks" to spend the small checks AP had sent us for doing something. I thought sure all three or our marriages were doomed as a result of that afternoon. Whew!

Good Luck! Enjoy your retirement. Cheers!

WHOA there Joe.

Ted has told me lots of his radio stories over the years, many include you and Neal, but this is a new one. I think I need to make a phone call soon hopefully when Ted's wife is not around.

BTW-Ted had heart bypass surgery in Feb. and feels great. It was his wake up call.

We've worked with Marie for several years now and can tell you she will be missed at the Mighty 1190. She is a true talent who understands this station and this market. KEXMEBER you were right about one thing, Dirkx is a genius - why do you think he hired her.

Minck, count on us as your corner man in the big fight.

Mark Mason
Dave Anderson

Me too, Minck. It's gonna be a beat-down. Kexmember, if I were you I'd take a permanent vacation!

Marie's damn strong. She's got a pedigree I respect. She held her own in the early-80's KGW news staff, an all-star crew that included Mike Beard, Mike Rich, Dave Paull, Bill Gallagher, Lyle Arthur, Russ Lorenzini, and Lee Hochberg. All great people. To be a part of that team, you had to be willing and able to do anything: street, anchor, traffic, personality--they were all versatile, and that includes Marie. And that's what she brought to her subsequent careers at Rose Festival and radio stations leading up to KEX, and now back to PR at AAA. She has the skills and personality to do it all.

It's bush league to imply otherwise. Those of us who are around here, know better.

Benjamin Franklin was a lousy inventer and a poor statesman! What I don't understand is what anyone would think they had to gain by picking a fight with the best and the brightest! They can't possibly win and they've burned all the bridges behind them! Congratulations to Marie and Jeff!

I want to add BEST WISHES to Neal Penland. I was an overnighter at the old KYXI. It was my pleasure to work for Neal....even though my shift usually ended about the time Neal rolled into work. As a week-end overnighter, I had to decide whether to call Neal when news was breaking. This wasn't easy. I didn't want to disturb Neal, but when news is breaking you have to do what you have to do. Anyway, great working with you Neal. BEST WISHES.

1190 KEX is saying farewell to a great group of pros.

Marie Dodds is such a smooth anchor, co-host and great writer. Nothing shakes her. She has earned her place in Portland radio history, and deserves all of it. And what a connection with the listener! She spent much of her last day thanking listeners. She has a great attitude and her energy spills out of the radio. Anchoring with Marie is a highlight of my time in radio. (If you haven't seen it, Marie has posted a Good Bye message on her blog on the KEX Website.)

Neal Penland will be greatly missed in the KEX Newsroom. Neal has been at KEX more than 10 years and his connections and knowledge of the city make him tops as a reporter and assignment editor, along with his time as News Director already mentioned in this thread. I have Neal to thank for getting me into radio and teaching me how to do news on the radio. 26 years ago a kid bugged him so much to work in Newsradio at KYXI he finally gave him a job overnights.

Jeff Kirsch leaves 1190 KEX after working his way up to reporter. He tackles breaking news as only a pro does. He's been a great asset to the station and will be greatly missed.

Gina Parosa is such a gift to this industry. It's the second time I've worked with Gina (also at KYXI). She has such a detailed way of telling a story. She knows how to paint the picture. And what a positive attitude. Gina is wonderful to work with and we'll miss her talents.

Marie, Neal, Jeff and Gina...we'll miss you all in the newsroom.

Brad Ford

Couldn't have said it better, Brad.

Neal is the consumate professional and I loved working with him. It was a pleasure. Neal, I pray you enjoy your "down time". Catch 'em deep and catch 'em often! You deserve it.

Marie..ditto. I enjoyed working with Marie and I'm proud to call her a friend. Energy is the proper word, Brad. She has plenty of it and it truly does encourage those around her.

Both of you deserve the best of what is to come!

miller

MAN! (sniff sniff) Im getting goose pimples from all the love! GROUP HUG!

Well, my friends, what can I say??

Marie is a consummate professional who is a good and marvelous human to the core. She smiles and laughs and jokes and is dead serious and compassionate as well... about work... and about life. Marie told me at 7 years this is the longest stay in her broadcast career. She remained so long at KEX because she's solid and stable and caring and fab at what she does and she does it really well. KXL's loss has been KEX listeners' gain for a long time. Mine, too.

I am at a loss for words to describe the consummate professionalism and depth of local knowledge Neal possesses. When he's gone in November, our CC newsroom and the region's listeners will lose a lot of automatic keen insight and understanding of what transpires around us. We need people like Neal in the few credible news operations still standing. I first knew Neal when I joined KATU in 1983. Neal and Mike Beard were on the assignment desk. Neal moved on to a long and mostly fun stay at top rated KUPL with Doug Dahlgren. Before that at KYXI, and Neal tells lots of stories about his work with Dan Rather at WTOP.

Jeff is a fellow Coug who's heading home to Southwest Washington to raise a kid or two and be closer to his family and his roots. Wouldn't it be great if we could all have that option when an actual paying opportunity arises?

For three people to announce almost simultaneously that they're leaving stable jobs in a stable operation for different reasons sent a jolt of amazement through our building. But all of us who have been doing this for a long time realize how unique these long periods of productive professionalism can be.

I hope you have some feeling for the loss the industry in this market is going through. The ranks of the Old Guard are thinning up and down the dial... the ones who do the job right the first time and who thoroughly comprehend what impact political, social and cultural change has on our listeners.

Whatever you do, miss them. Miss them loads. And miss the next ones, whoever they may be. Let's hope there are lots of slots to fill in the years to come for the yungin's comin' up to tell their stories to thousands of people at a whack.

Nicely said, Brooks. Not many of you folks left. Bring back Sherm Meyer. So who is this kexmember guy, anyway?

If there were a Hall of Fame for Portland radio news people, Neal & Marie would certainly be there.

The bottom line is that Neal Penland is a legend in Portland radio. When you hear Neal's voice, it screams credibility. It was a great pleasure and honor to work with him at KEX. His courageous battles with health issues in the past should be an inspiration to everyone. Congratulations on a well deserved retirement!

Marie's work in this market speaks for itself. That news staff at KGW in the late 70's-early 80's was pretty awesome. Marie stands out as much as any of those other great pros that John listed. While I've never had the chance to work with Marie on a regular basis, I have to say that she was always a great resource during her days with the Rose Festival. Best of luck in the new gig!

I never had the pleasure of working with Marie in a radio newsroom...but Rich is right, her work in this market is well-known and respected and definitely speaks for itself. Marie was about the best PR person rose festival ever had. Triple-A is lucky to land her. I wish you the best of luck in the new gig. Triva...Marie is the second KEX news person to move from that newsroom to Triple A PR. Anne O'Ryan was the first.

Neal Penland is one of the best when it comes to the business of radio news. When you have a newsroom filled with former news directors and assignment editors, which we did at one point at KEX, you are bound to have some, lets say, "vocal" discussions about what to cover and how to cover it. Neal and I sometimes engaged in a "discussion" or two about content ("Neal if you send me on one more gawd damn stupid house fire...") but I have never doubted Neal's dedication to the job of news or his passion for getting a story on the air and above all getting it right. Neal's much deserved retirement leaves a huge hole in Portland's news ranks. Neal, may your health remain strong, even if the voice cracks a bit from time to time. Enjoy the down time...you deserve it. Just try not to annoy Linda too much or she'll send your a** back to work!

It's quiet apparent with so many well respected talents voicing their support and opinions that It's pretty obvious how most of us actually feel about Marie and her level of professionalism.

I would like to echo the same sentiment. Marie, has been a staple in this market for a very long time when so many have come and gone. I had the pleasure of knowing Marie at the very beginning of her radio career. Yes, back to the days of The Village People and bell-bottoms (I think I still have pictures, Marie)! Anyway, I have much respect for her work. Such a pro!

Best wishes,
Randy Scott

Randy...I think you were still wearing the bell-bottoms when I met you in 1987!

I'm wearing Randy's bell-bottoms right now.

Marie and I also shared some time on the Open Door radio program. It was nice to pull her off the news microphone and into the production studios at KGW and hear her interpret a listeners prose. Not an easy thing to pull off and sound credible. Her talent runs deep.

I don't envy Brad trying to fill those slots, especially since he has some stiff competition. KIRO's looking for a reporter, and KABC's been looking for a reporter/anchor. AllAccess lists a couple of other big-time big market news jobs, as well.
The big corps didn't want to spend money on news, so they bought an FCC that would blow up the rule book.
Medium market stations did away with news, and now the majors that actually depend on a solid news image can't find qualified people.
Like it says in another book: You reap what you sew.

Rich...its like that in all aspects of radio. With no rule book and the consolidation that has run rampant, there is no "farm team" anymore. Its frustrating for those of us trying our best to educate the next generation of radio folk. They come out of our program with a lot of the basics...but with few opportunities for employment outside of being a board op for a network talk show. A far cry from the days when KBPS could send students out to intern and eventually be employed by those stations. KING Broadcasting even put in writing for their managers that they had a mission to hire and groom young talent so they would have a steady stream of qualified people for their chain of stations in the northwest. Some of the names that have been around this town for a long time -- Bruce Murdock, Scott Tom, Steve Naganuma -- just to name a few, were either still in high school or barely out of high school when they were given entry level opportunities by owners and managers who knew that their future depended on developing young talent. Hopefully things will soon start to shift in that direction again.

Randy Scott!! It's so good to see your name on PDXRadio! I was a board-op at Z100 when I would hang out, late at night, while you worked at KEX.
You were always Mr. Smooooooth on the radio and sounded great!

Hope that all is good in life, Randy!

Neal...if you have the opportunity to read this...you are awesome. Thanks for the chance to fill in for you while you were on vacation eons...and I mean...eons ago when I still worked in radio.

Marie...you always had an awesome voice and a great personality. You will be missed.

Deborah Barnes

I also would like to wish Marie good luck. As for Neal, happy fishing off your house boat (if you still have it!)

Al Caruso

Al,
How are you doing??? Long time no hear. We were just talking about you the other day ... in a good way.

Hey Steve,

I'm doing just fine. I'm working in the high tech industry as a QA engineer. I get to try to break stuff....and they pay me for that!
Al

Grumble grumble now I'll have to find another contact to do stories for ARRL Field Day each year :-)

Good luck to all these talented individuals in their future endeavors.