PRESERVING RADIO HISTORY ACROSS COLORADO

Archives: People

  • Mike Hernandez / Road Gato

    Mike Hernandez, known on the air as Road Gato, worked at Colorado Springs country radio. If you listened to Uncle Steve in the mornings on KATC in 2011, Road Gato was the voice riding shotgun.

    Sidekick on New Cat Country

    In July 2011, Road Gato was producer and on-air sidekick for Uncle Steve Etheridge when Uncle Steve returned to mornings on KATC’s New Cat Country that summer.

    Around town

    Our archive has a photograph of Mike at a Health and Wellness Expo at the Antlers Hotel in Colorado Springs, tied to KATC-FM and KVOR-AM. The photo isn’t dated.

    This Mike Hernandez is a different person from the Pueblo broadcaster Mike Hernandez, known as Buzz Corona.

    Sources

  • Rebecca Donahoo

    Rebecca Donahoo was an account executive for Citadel Broadcasting’s Colorado Springs cluster during the KATC-FM “Cat Country 95.1” era. If you heard a local business’s ad on Cat Country back then, she may have been the person who brought it to the station.

    Citadel Broadcasting

    Rebecca worked on the sales side of the Citadel operation rather than as an on-air personality. A photograph preserved by the Colorado Radio Archive shows her with members of the Cat Country staff backstage with the Bellamy Brothers.

    The photo shows Rebecca alongside Alisha Scott, Bryan Waters, Jarrod Long, Jim West and Kevin Nathan.

    Company: Citadel Broadcasting, Colorado Springs
    Station: KATC-FM / Cat Country 95.1
    Role: Account executive

    This is a short page built from a submitted photograph and contributor information. If you worked with Rebecca or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Stormie Yeazel

    Stormie Glenn-Myers Yeazel is a radio personality, news and traffic reporter, and voice talent in Colorado Springs. If you had country, news or the Springs commute on the radio around 2011, you may have heard her.

    Colorado Springs radio

    In a 2011 alumni profile from St. Mary’s High School, Stormie was listed as working both as a DJ and as a news/traffic reporter, across three stations: KVOR-AM 740, KKMG-FM 98.9 and KATC-FM 95.1.

    Also in the archive is an undated photograph from KATC-FM, cataloged under her name, which is a nice reminder of her days with Cat Country.

    Voice work

    Her work went past local airshifts, too. She lent her voice to national companies, which took her career into commercial voice production.

    Sources

  • Valisa Whitaker

    Valisa Whitaker is a Colorado radio and media professional whose path runs from college radio to Southern Colorado’s Cat Country to Audacy in Denver. If you went to a Cat Country event in Colorado Springs, you may have met her.

    College radio

    Valisa attended Adams State University from 2000 to 2005, and her professional profile lists KASF Radio among her activities, which makes KASF-FM, the student station in Alamosa, her first radio stop.

    Cat Country in Colorado Springs

    An undated listener-event photograph in the archive places Valisa with the KATC-FM Cat Country community in Colorado Springs, and other submissions mention “Valisa” at KATC events.

    Where is she now?

    As of 2026, Valisa is with Audacy in Denver, after more than two decades in media support. Her public profile doesn’t name a specific station there.

    Sources

  • Mike Garrett

    Mike Garrett is a pioneering voice in Colorado Springs broadcasting. If your family was tuned in to Springs radio and TV news in the 1960s, you may remember his name.

    Getting started

    Mike began in broadcasting in 1959 at KYSN, hosting the 10 p.m. to midnight shift alongside local personalities Terry Wilson and Steve Scott. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1960 and, while stationed on the East Coast, reported for Portsmouth, New Hampshire stations WBBX and WHEB.

    News at KRDO

    When he came back to Colorado Springs in 1964, station manager Wes Bradley appointed him news director at KRDO Radio. His work soon grew into television, where he produced feature reports and anchored weekend news.

    After broadcasting

    Mike left daily broadcasting in 1968 for a career in real estate, and has also worked as an appraiser for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He’s remembered as one of KRDO’s earliest news veterans.

    This is a short page built from contributor information. If you worked with Mike or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

    • Information provided to the Colorado Radio Archive

  • Valisa / Rene

    Valisa / Rene turns up at a KATC-FM event in Colorado Springs. If you were a KATC country listener who went to a station meet-and-greet, you may have crossed paths.

    Meeting Randy Houser

    An undated photo in our archive shows the KATC-FM meet-and-greet with country artist Randy Houser at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs. The photo record lists the name “Valisa / Rene” among the people there, just as it was submitted, with no role or dates at the station.

    This is a short page built from one archive photo. If you know who this is or worked with them, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • Marie LeMaitre

    Marie LeMaitre shows up in the Colorado Radio Archive’s photo collection from the KATC-FM days in Colorado Springs. If you went to a KATC listener event back then, you may have crossed paths with Marie.

    Out and about with KATC

    Marie appears in three KATC-related photos: a meet-and-greet with country artist Randy Houser at the Broadmoor World Arena, a listener event in a city park, and a Halloween gathering at Cowboys on North Academy.

    This is a short page built from photo records, which don’t give dates or say what Marie’s role was at the station. If you know Marie or have more to add, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • jim murphy

    Jim Murphy is a country-radio programmer who spent years shaping what country stations across the nation sounded like before landing in Colorado Springs. If you listened to Cat Country in Colorado Springs in the early 2010s, he was the guy running the show behind the scenes.

    National country programming

    Prior to coming to Colorado, Jim put in roughly 15 years at Jones Radio Networks and the operations that followed it, ending up as vice president of country programming for Jones/Dial Global. In that job he oversaw the country programming that affiliates around the country aired.

    Cat Country in Colorado Springs

    Jim became program director of Cumulus-owned KATC “Cat Country” in April 2011. Country stations in Southern Colorado were going head to head then, and he arrived with plenty of experience in national formats.

    Moving on

    Fourteen months into the KATC job, in June 2012, Jim moved on to work at the Colorado campus of the Ohio Center for Broadcasting, as director of career services. Bobby Irwin, the Cumulus cluster operations manager, stepped in to run KATC’s programming for the time being.

    Sources

  • Justin Ellis / Basement Boy

    Justin Ellis, also listed as Basement Boy, shows up at a KATC-FM listener event in Colorado Springs. If you ever hung out at a KATC event in the park, you may have met them.

    The listener event

    An undated photo in our archive shows a KATC-FM listener event in a Colorado Springs park. The photo record lists the name “Justin Ellis / Basement Boy” as submitted, with no job title or dates of service.

    This is a short page built from one archive photo. If you know more, we’d love to hear from you.

    Sources

  • John McGuinness

    John McGuinness was a longtime Denver radio manager, best known for KDEN 1340. If you grew up listening to Denver’s locally owned stations, his was a name behind one of the last ones standing.

    KDEN 1340

    John worked in Denver broadcasting for decades and ended up owning KDEN, which was notable late in its run as one of the market’s remaining locally owned stations. He also helped set up a cooperative operating arrangement between KDEN and KNUS, working with KNUS general manager Paul Stebbins. He sold KDEN in 1993, the year it went silent before returning as KKYD/Radio AAHS.

    Beyond radio

    John served on the Colorado State Fair Commission and later managed the fair. He died in January 2000.

    Sources