On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with John C. Hughes on the eve of his retirement in a long and far-ranging conversation.

Hughes has been a journalist and historian in the Evergreen State for six decades, including 42 years at his hometown newspaper - the Aberdeen World - and the past 17 years with Legacy Washington, collecting and publishing oral histories and biographies as part of the Washington Secretary of State’s Office.

Hughes talks about his career, his time in the Air Force, his mentor - the late great Murray Morgan - plus, the sung and unsung heroes Hughes has interviewed and profiled over the years, as well as the current state of American journalism and American democracy.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Randy Dixon of the non-profit group in Pocatello, Idaho called Relight The Night - for Part 2 of a miniseries we like to call "The Mystery of the Giant Neon Baseball & Bat at Sicks Stadium." Mr. Dixon is our guide to a little-known world of neon collectors and experts in the United States, and offers his help to determine what might have become of the distinctive sign from the old baseball park in Seattle, which was last seen circa 1979.

Be sure and visit the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page for photos of the amazing neon signs preserved and maintained by Relight The Night in the Gem State.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Standard Time via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streams via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY Feliks Banel presents portions of a rare aircheck from KIRO Newsradio 71’s May 18, 1990 broadcast from atop Mount St. Helens. The tenth anniversary of the 1980 eruption inspired the station to mount an ambitious and expensive production, the likes of which aren’t seen much on the radio landscape these days.

As described on the May 18, 2025 broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY by Bill Yeend and Andy Ludlum, the pair broadcast from the edge of the volcano’s crater from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., with a mixture of live and pre-recorded reports. Yeend and Ludlum were joined in the broadcast tent by KIRO Newsradio 71’s managing editor Karen Anderson and broadcast engineer Norm Graham. Among other voices heard on this recording are Paul Brendle, John Chelminiak, Dave Dolacky, Rebecca Hale, Gregg Hersholt, Dave Stone, Kathleen Warren and former Governor Dixy Lee Ray.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

Feliks Banel's guests on this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY are Hannah Combs and Joe Gibbs of the Bonner County Historical Society and Museum, and explorer/diver Chris McNaughton. The trio shares the story of the recent discovery of a sunken mystery boat in a river/lake in the Idaho Panhandle, and about diving on the wreck, and researching its history. In this interview, Ms. Combs reveals the latest theories about the possible identity of the long-hidden vessel.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from a presentation made by the late Daniel J. Evans, former governor and U.S. senator for the Evergreen State. The presentation took place in the McCurdy Gallery at the old Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) in Seattle's Montlake neighborhood on June 14, 2001.

Governor Evans was invited to share his views and ideas about what stories should be included in what ultimately became MOHAI's new home at Lake Union Park in Seattle. This presentation was one of several where MOHAI invited noted people to share their ideas and take questions from the audience of civic leaders as part of the process to design the new museum. Governor Evans passed away in 2024 at the age of 98.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

Feliks Banel's guests on this live broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY include Bill Yeend and Andy Ludlum, who were both working for KIRO Newsradio in May 1980 when Mount St. Helens erupted; Bill was host of the morning news and Andy was managing editor, and they share their memories and recollections in this live conversation marking the 45th anniversary of the May 18, 1980 eruption. Then, Nick Biermann checks in with an update on the Ryan House in Sumner, and we hear audio from Feliks' visit to Westminster Abbey in London for the 80th anniversary of VE Day and his chat with 99-year-old veteran Robert Piper.

This LIVE broadcast of CASCADE OF HISTORY was originally presented at 8pm Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, May 18, 2025 via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streaming live via space101fm.org from historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Howie Cohen, whose 40-year career at Seattle's beloved Bartell Drugs recently came to an end. Mr. Cohen shares four decades of Bartell memories, including the time he stirred up local pride (and little bit of controversy) with neighborhood-themed mugs; when he led the charge to create the mind-blowingly popular Fremont Troll Chia Pet; the origins of the culture of candy bag-stacking at Halloween; and much, much more.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with David Eskenazi - the man who knows more about Seattle sports history and Seattle sports artifacts than anyone in the Universe - for Part 1 of a miniseries we like to call "The Mystery of the Giant Neon Baseball & Bat at Sicks Stadium."

Be sure and visit the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page for rare photos of the giant neon baseball & bat shared by Mr. Eskenazi as part of the investigation.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Standard Time via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streams via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.

On this BONUS ENCORE EDITION of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from a 25th anniversary commemoration of the May 18, 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, which this year will mark 45 years since that momentous Sunday morning.

Panelists include former public radio reporter Austin Jenkins, who (as a child) was rescued from an overnight camp near the mountain after the eruption; the late Grant Haller, photojournalist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer who captured award winning images of the mountain; and Jeff Renner, former KING 5 meteorologist who, as a young science reporter, covered the run-up to the eruption and its aftermath for the Seattle TV station.

The panel was part of a series produced and moderated by CASCADE OF HISTORY producer/host Feliks Banel when he was deputy director of Seattle's Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), and was recorded before a live audience on May 18, 2005 in the McCurdy Gallery at the old MOHAI in Montlake.

This episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY was originally broadcast at 8pm Pacific Time on Sunday, August 11, 2024 via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streaming live via space101fm.org from studios at historic Magnuson Park – formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present audio from the Flight 293 monument dedication ceremony at Tahoma National Cemetery from June 3, 2023. Flight 293 was a military chartered Northwest Airlines DC-7C that disappeared in the Gulf of Alaska on a flight from McChord Air Force Base near Tacoma, Washington to Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. There were 101 souls aboard.

There remains future chapters to the Flight 293 story yet to be told, including the path of the Flight 293 Remembrance Act - bipartisan federal legislation introduced by Democratic Senator Patty Murray of Washington and Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska in February 2025 - and new interviews and new research shedding more light on the missing DC-7C and those left behind. Going forward, those chapters will be shared here on CASCADE OF HISTORY.

CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Standard Time via SPACE 101.1 FM and gallantly streams via space101fm.org. The radio station is located at historic Magnuson Park - formerly Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle.

Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms.