Cascade of History

On this END-OF-SUMMER BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, we present archival audio from the August 2023 live broadcast of The Wallingford Local, a summer series broadcast live each month from May 2023 to September 2023 from the Wallingford Farmers Market at Meridian Park in Seattle, Washington. The Wallingford Local was produced by the CASCADE OF HISTORY team, and this episode was originally bro...

Feliks Banel’s guests on this SUMMER ENCORE EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY are a panel of expert local historians, researchers and authors who have been collaborating on a search for evidence of Peter Kirk's long-ago steel mill on Rose Hill, east of downtown Kirkland near the Costco. Matt McCauley, Kent Sullivan, Saundra Middleton (who is a descendant of Peter Kirk) and Michael Donnelly have been s...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Steve Lentini, Principal Hydro Operations Engineer for Avista Utilities. Avista is the private company based in Spokane, Washington which operates the Post Falls Dam on the Spokane River. This is a follow-up to earlier coverage of the half-mile stretch of the Spokane River in Spokane Valley, Washington - east of the city of Spok...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Jared Webley, spokesperson for the private utility company Avista, operators of the Post Falls Dam on the Spokane River. This is a follow-up to yesterday's BONUS EPISODE about stretch of the river that dried out completely earlier this week. This is not a side channel that has gone dry - it's about one-half mile of the main chan...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Justin McElroy, municipal affairs reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - the CBC - in Vancouver, British Columbia. McElroy recently led a public process over the airwaves to identify a symbol that best represents the province of British Columbia. Through a bracket and more than 500,000 votes during several weeks in...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Katelyn Scott, Water Protector with the non-profit Spokane Riverkeeper, about a stretch of the Spokane River in Eastern Washington which went completely dry a few days ago. This is not a side channel that has gone dry - it's about one-half mile of the main channel of the Spokane River, which runs 111 miles between Lake Coeur d'A...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Paul Bannick, author and photographer of "Woodpecker: A Year in the Life of North American Woodpeckers." The book will be published September 1, 2025 by the Braided River imprint of Mountaineers Books in Seattle, Washington. Mr. Bannick is the author of several previous award-winning nature books. This new title is lushly illust...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Northwest railroad historian and author Martin Hansen about the fire on Monday, August 25, 2025 that appears to have completely destroyed a large and historic wooden structure belonging to the Columbia & Cowlitz Railway in Longview, Washington. There were no injuries reported. The nearly century-old structure housed a machine sh...

Feliks Banel’s guests on this SUMMER ENCORE EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY include roving correspondent Ken Zick LIVE from the historic Rancho Super Car Wash (aka "Elephant Car Wash") in Rancho Mirage, California; railfan Dan Bolyard of Coulee City, Washington on tracking down a trackside photo of his younger self from more than 40 years ago; Cindy Staats, VP of Marketing for Shakey’s USA on the hi...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel digs into the "field tape archives" for his 2017 conversation with the late Jerry Allison, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame drummer for Buddy Holly and The Crickets, about the band's only visit to Seattle in October 1957. Mr. Allison passed away in 2022 at age 82. As Feliks says in the intro, "I confess, this is a bit of fan-boy interview, and th...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Dr. Scott McCorquodale, retired biologist and author of "Chasing Wildlife Secrets: A Biologist's Journey." The book was published in May 2025 by WSU Press in Pullman, Washington. "Chasing Wildlife Secrets" is a lively narrative about Dr. McCorquodale’s four decades tracking elk, bear and moose around the Pacific Northwest – and...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Eric Ulis, D.B. Cooper expert, searcher and researcher about his upcoming "BOOTS ON THE GROUND" expedition to the banks of the Columbia River in September 2025. Mr. Ulis will be looking for evidence from the infamous November 1971 skyjacking. For more information about D.B. Cooper, you may be interested in this earlier episode o...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Russell Holter of Cultural Reconnaissance and Tacoma historian Michael Sullivan for an update following the conclusion over the weekend of the 2025 Nettie Asberry Archaeology Field School in Tacoma, Washington. The pair reveal what artifacts were unearthed, what mysteries were solved (and which ones weren't) and what new questio...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Chase Doak, the Billings, Montana man who took some of the earliest hi-res photos of the infamous Chinese spy balloon when it appeared over "Big Sky Country" and rattled nerves in many more of the 50 United States of America in February 2023. His photos - shot with a massive zoom lens in his driveway - were spread around the wor...

Feliks Banel’s guests on this SUMMER ENCORE EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY are Eric Ulis, D.B. Cooper expert, searcher and researcher with a virtual class we like to call 'D.B. COOPER 101,' and then roving correspondent Ken Zick, who joins us live from the monument at rainy and windswept Alki Beach in West Seattle to mark the anniversary of the arrival of The Denny Party, considered the city's foun...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Shawna Gandy, recently retired library director for the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) in Portland, Oregon. In this informal "exit interview" recorded on Friday, August 15, 2025, Gandy talks about changes in the history and heritage field over the past three decades, challenges facing archive-holding institutions, and differenc...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY marking the 80th anniversary of V-J Day – the effective end of World War II on August 14, 1945 - we present a panel discussion from the archives marking the 60th anniversary 20 years ago in Seattle in 2005. Participants included several Seattle area residents who were in the military, the Red Cross, working in defense plants or otherwise supporting the A...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel's guest is Al Mackenzie, who shares an update on an important development in the University of Washington's effort to restore and renovate the old ASUW Shell House along the Montlake Cut in Seattle - aka the home of "The Boys in the Boat," the famous 1936 Olympic Gold Medal winners. A contentious point in recent discussion about the project...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Mitsy Hunter of Spokane Preservation Advocates (SPA) about the round of applications just opened for SPA's Heritage Grants. Deadline for grant applications is October 1, 2025, and funds are available in support of a range of historic preservation and preservation-related projects - for home owners, and for groups and public agen...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel presents an “audio postcard” from an archaeology field school being held in Tacoma, Washington at the Nettie Asberry house, a Victorian home in the city’s Hilltop Neighborhood in August 2025. The 1887 house is owned by the Tacoma Association of Colored Women’s Clubs (CWC) and they are working to preserve it as well as study and interpret it...

Feliks Banel’s guest on this SUMMER ENCORE EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY is Bob Blackburn, Jr., son of legendary "Voice of the Sonics" Bob Blackburn. The elder Blackburn was born on October 14, 1924, and this special program was presented in honor of the centenary of one of the most beloved broadcasters in Pacific Northwest history. Bob, Jr. shared memories of his father, and played highlights fro...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Chris McNaughton about a cool industrial artifact he recovered from a small lake in Eastern Washington on August 7, 2025. We've shared an image of McNaughton's discovery at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page. Chris has appeared on two previous CASCADE OF HISTORY episodes: Recovering a Rudder from a Sternwheeler https://soundcl...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Jennifer Saunders, director of the Washington State Historical Society, as prepares to depart for a new job in New York after 14 years in Tacoma. Her last day in the office is this Friday, August 8, 2025. In this informal "exit interview" recorded on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, Saunders looks back on her time leading one of the o...

On this bonus episode of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Kenny Deans of legendary Seattle power pop band The Heats about their upcoming autumn mini-tour, and about the search for the photographer whose work graced the band's first hit single, "I Don't Like Your Face" - back in 1980. The mystery photographer's name is Colleen Chartier, and Kenny Deans wants to track her down regarding...

On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel speaks with Katherine Caffrey, City Manager of Des Moines, Washington, for an update on the Masonic Home of Washington and background on the recent history, including the owner's seeking of a demolition permit. The Masonic Home - which has also more recently been known as "Landmark on the Sound" - is a sprawling hotel-like complex built in...