
Local News for 12/13/24



KPTZ’s Taylor Clark and Port Townsend City Manager John Mauro welcomed Jeff Bohman of the Peninsula Trails Coalition. We talked about the history and future of his organization and of the Olympic Discovery Trail.


(Airdate: December 11, 2024) Please join Nature Now this week as host Debaran Kelso speaks with author Betsy Howell about her recently published book of essays Wild Forest Home- Stories of Conservation in the Pacific Northwest. Betsy is a wildlife biologist with the U.S. Forest Service and has been on our program several times over the past years speaking about her work on the Olympic National Forest, but this interview focuses on her personal experiences as a writer working in the forests she’s come to love.


(Airdate: December 10, 2024) Maryanne interviews Craig Dotson, the owner of Bonita’s 4-legged friends pet store. Craig was a foster child in California but ultimately the siren call of Port Townsend lured him here. Actually, his wife had spent summers here as a child. He had some experience with pet stores so it was natural for him to end up at Bonita’s. After her death he purchased the shop and hasn’t looked back. There are now Bonita’s stores in both PT and Sequim. He’s regularly expanding his wares. He’s a big proponent of the mantra “no corn, wheat or soy” in your pet food. So all the pet food they sell is made without corn, wheat, or soy.

Each month KPTZ’s Chris Bricker joins co-hosts Port Director Eron Berg and Port Commissioner Pam Petranek to bring you news, updates and stories surrounding our Port and our vibrant maritime community. Our 300-ton yard is absolutely full this month! Eron gives us a season’s update for the Port, and then we’ll explore the fate of the abandoned tugboat Elmore (pictured above) with shipwright Clint Thomas, who spent a decade maintaining and repairing the Elmore during just one part of this storied vessel’s recent life. Now the Elmore sits on the hard amid historic schooners and working fishing vessels – all of them surrounding her as if they were perched as guardians of its 135 years of history. The Elmore faces an uncertain future.


(Airdate: December 9, 2024) Attention Please! celebrates the Holiday season from Chimacum to Port Townsend with Flavia Heineman for the Chimacum Arts and Crafts Fair; Tara McCauley, Executive Director of the Jefferson County Historical Society, for our Holiday Extravaganza; Mari Mullen, Executive Director of Port Townsend Main Street, on festive activities Uptown and Downtown; and Nicole Witham, General Manager of the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, on Chimacum countryside celebrations. Hosted by Phil Andrus.

On Sunday, December 15 from 1-2pm on KPTZ, listen to Laura’s Tapes, a musical tribute to Port Townsend icon Laura Martin. Laura was a lover of songs, dancing, and folklore. This one-hour radio mixtape was curated from her collected cassette tape collection. Tune in for choral music, songs of the British Isles, independent folk releases from the Pacific Northwest and beyond, instrumentals of various traditions, and a few stories. Compiled by Ruby Fitch, engineered by Neville Pearsall, and produced by Taylor Clark.