Sandi Billings, Author at Northwest Public Broadcasting

Emergency Alert System: Clay Freinwald is at the Hub of Safety

By Sandi Billings July 28, 2021

image shows Clay Freinwald on stage receiving award.

“This is a test of the Emergency Alert System. This is only a test.” As fires and severe weather ramp up across the region, however, we may hear more from the Emergency Alert System (EAS)—and they will not all be test messages, but real warnings of danger. NWPB is key to the EAS, as the… Read More

QCD: Formerly Known as the Charitable IRA Rollover

By Sandi Billings July 23, 2021

“Qualified Charitable Distribution” is now standard terminology for donations made directly though your retirement account. Previously called “Charitable IRA Rollovers” by some, Qualified Charitable Distributions, or QCDs, remain powerful tools for making tax-wise contributions to your favorite non-profits, including to NWPB. If you meet the age Read More

We Are Happy for Sue, But WE Can’t Stop Crying!

By Sandi Billings June 2, 2021

This month NWPB bids a very fond farewell to Sue Sheppard, Outreach and Development Coordinator, as she retires after 26 years with NWPB. Words are hardly enough to show how much she will be missed, and to convey the mountain of success in her time here. It’s safe to say that she accomplished the work… Read More

NWPB Sustaining Members Help Sustain Walla Walla

By Sandi Billings June 4, 2020

Mark Brucks and Susan Monahan have dedicated half an acre of their Walla Walla yard as a “neighborhood garden.” Recently all four participating families were out working their plots at the same time—a great way to keep distance and stay healthy and connected. This spring, one household, a family of eight put on a concert… Read More

Sue Knows How to Say “Thank You” (and so does WSU)

By Sandi Billings March 5, 2020

For nearly 25 years, Sue has represented WSU’s public media to thousands of donor-members as a key part of the two-person Member Relations staff. Her role is key to everything Northwest Public Broadcasting does, and she performs functions that are essential, routine, and jam-packed with activity: daily check and credit card processing, member record updates.… Read More

A Popular Way to Donate May Save You Money

By Sandi Billings February 4, 2020

Are you required to take a minimum distribution from your IRA? Would you benefit from a lower income on your tax filing? If you answer “YES” to both of these, consider making your donation to Northwest Public Broadcasting through a charitable IRA qualified charitable distribution. Giving this way means donating all or part of your… Read More

NWPB’S Matteson Digital Music Library Named To Honor Members’ Generosity

By Sandi Billings July 10, 2019

Don and Marianna Matteson in the recording studio with Sueann Ramella

Don and Marianna Matteson visited the NWPB studios to dedicate the Don and Marianna Matteson Digital Music Library on July 2. You may have heard it announced on air, or perhaps you caught the Mattesons themselves being interviewed by Anjuli Dodhia that day. It was a momentous occasion for NWPB. The library naming honors and… Read More

Photos Gallery: Suzanne Bona Plays The Palouse

By Sandi Billings April 4, 2019

Suzanne Bona in the Sunday Baroque studio

Suzanne Bona, producer and host of Sunday Baroque on NWPB and syndicated across the U.S., visted the Palouse March 18 – 21. Her activities included a fund raising lunch for NWPB classical music, a concert with guitarist James Reid, and time on air with NWPB.Read More

Cancelled: Lewiston Brown-Bag Lunch With Suzanne Bona

By Sandi Billings March 19, 2019

Regretfully, the Brown-Bag Lunch with Suzanne Bona, host of Sunday Baroque, as scheduled for March 21 at the LCSC Center for Arts and History has been cancelled due to a number of logistical factors. If you planned to attend the gathering and can travel up the grade instead, please contact [email protected] for an alternate opportunity… Read More

National radio host teams up with Moscow guitarist to make sublime music

By Sandi Billings March 13, 2019

Buy Concert Ticket Suzanne Bona swaps her Sunday Baroque mic for a FLUTE next month, when she comes to Moscow perform with guitarist James Reid. The program has baroque music, of course, but also classical and Brazilian, plus a work by a Northwest composer – and you can look forward to some lively chat from… Read More

Sunday Baroque On The Palouse: Two Events In March

By Sandi Billings February 14, 2019

Buy Concert Ticket Suzanne Bona, host and executive producer of public radio’s Sunday Baroque, will be the headliner at events in Moscow March 18 – 20: a fundraising lunch and a concert, (both in Moscow). The events are open to the public and presented by Northwest Public Broadcasting in partnership with the Washington-Idaho Symphony and… Read More

Don And Marianna Matteson Provide For Musical Future At NWPB

By Sandi Billings January 9, 2019

With their donation of $100,000, Pullman-based listeners Donald Matteson and Marianna Merritt Matteson have created a permanent public radio music fund. The endowment will provide ongoing support for classical music with a focus on the music library. “This is a gift to everyone across the Northwest,” said General Manager Marvin Marcelo. “Don and Marianna have… Read More

Murdock Trust Grants $98,000 to Create Northwest-Based Programs

By Sandi Billings November 9, 2018

Thanks to a grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, new public TV and radio programs will soon be made in the Northwest. The Murdock Trust awarded a grant of $98,000 to NWPB for equipment—cameras, microphones, closed captioning software and all the basics—needed to make radio and television programs in the studio or in the… Read More

It’s About The Human Experience

By Sandi Billings August 1, 2018

When leaders of Humanities Washington visited Northwest Public Broadcasting this summer, members of the Board of Trustees and staff took a turn behind the microphone to talk about their experiences with public radio. Trustee Colleen Rozillis, a senior manager at Moss Adams in Seattle, discovered public radio as a teenager and now supports it because… Read More

Gillian Coldsnow Noted as a “Woman of Distinction”

By Sandi Billings May 1, 2018

Gillian Coldsnow has been a leader at Northwest Public Broadcasting since joining the staff as a classical music host in 1993. Her leadership includes being a coach, mentor and supervisor for hundreds of students who have worked at the station in the last 25 years. Washington State University recognized Gillian’s efforts and influence as a… Read More

Public TV to get a boost—with a little help from friends

By Sandi Billings April 5, 2018

NWPB is preparing to buy a new antenna and transmitter for KTNW-TV, its Tri-Cities-Walla Walla public television station. Most of the funds – and the requirement to upgrade – come from the Federal Communications Commission as part of its effort to redistribute the broadcast spectrum. NWPB needs help from friends to fund the rest. In… Read More

Our Stories: Holly Pinkart

By Sandi Billings December 5, 2017

I listen to you daily on my way into work. In fall quarter, one of the courses I teach at CWU is virology. During the Ebola epidemic, your coverage of the human side of that crisis was exceptional. Each day I could bring not only the science, but the human experiences of residents of the… Read More

Our Stories: Bob Finlan

By Sandi Billings July 5, 2017

I’m a listener to 100.9 FM in Enterprise, OR, and I just want to say how much I enjoy listening to the Retro Cocktail Hour out of Kansas City! My living room has to sub for the Underground Martini Bunker, but I enjoy my martini shaken….not stirred….with jazz, space age pop, and the strangest music… Read More