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Print This StoryKIRO 7 Eyewitness News Profiles Current Newsmakers
For Immediate Release: December 12, 2007
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Maria Lamarca Anderson, Community Relations Manager
206.728.2375 mlanderson@kirotv.comSEATTLE—When was the last time you heard the sound of silence?Rarely is our environment without noise. Even alone in a dark room you can hear the beeping of a computer or a heater kicking in; cars passing by and planes flying overhead. KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Profiles, airing Tuesday, December 18 at 10 p.m., will take viewers to a true quiet place, one of the few left on earth: One Square Inch in the Olympic National Park. Marked by a small red-colored stone on top of a rain-soaked mossy log, it literally represents one square inch where natural sound is uninterrupted.In a studio near Port Angeles Gordon Hempton, soundtracker, has cataloged more than 8,000 sounds in nature. They can be heard in commercials, computer games and museum installations. But the sound of silence, and preserving it, is his mission.This edition of Profiles goes to the other extreme, to a place where laughter fills the air and exuberant noise is encouraged. KIRO 7’s Margo Myers follows Drs. Bonky and Lafoo on their weekly round at Children’s Hospital. As members of the Big Apple Circus, the professional clowns administer a heaping dose of cheer to children whose need to laugh can get lost under a cloud of concern when they are hospitalized.“I made a baby who had just had a liver transplant laugh,” says Dr. Lafoo, aka Virginia Millard. “And he was belly laughing, and his parents were crying. They had never seen him laugh like that.” Bobby Engram, Seattle Seahawks receiver and the team’s 2007 Man of the Year, understands all too well what parents go through when their child is in the hospital. His daughter Bobbi, now nine, suffers from sickle cell disease. KIRO 7’s Steve Raible talks with Engram—who had his own health challenge when he developed Graves’ disease—about his life off the field and his passion to help all the “little Bobbi’s.” “Finding a cure for sickle cell, it’s helping the entire world become a better place,” says little Bobbi Engram. “I just love him so much for doing that.”Making the world a better place—and making a profit while doing it—is Martin Tobias’ latest venture. The founder and CEO of Loudeye Technologies wants Americans to kick their fossil fuel addiction and switch to environmentally-friendly biodiesel. In 2004 he joined a group of investors to lay the groundwork for the construction of the nation’s largest biodiesel refinery; in August, Imperium Renewables began refining and selling biodiesel worldwide.Tobias tells KIRO 7’s Chris Egert the only thing that matters to him is solving the critical problems facing America. First it was conquering computer technology; now it’s supplying alternative energy.According to Michael Klebeck, Top Pot Doughnuts was founded after he faced his own critical problem: one morning he and his wife couldn’t find a certain pastry for their coffee shop. They started to sell doughnuts instead and noticed they were the first items sold every day, with most customers walking away with a smile.Soon he and his brother, Mark, opened their own shop, with real bakers making hand forged doughnuts using high quality ingredients. KIRO 7’s Amy Clancy looks into the science behind Top Pot’s success and operations that led it to be rated as one of the top 10 doughnut shops in the country.KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Profiles features newsmakers of the Pacific Northwest and is written and directed by Ben Saboonchian, hosted by KIRO 7 anchors Margo Myers and Steve Raible, photographed by Peter Frerichs and edited by Peter Gamba and Rick Woolery. The winter edition airs Tuesday, December 18 at 10 p.m.NOTE: Promotional DVD is available upon request. Contact Maria Lamarca Anderson at mlanderson@kirotv.com for a copy.ABOUT BEN SABOONCHIAN
Ben Saboonchian is KIRO 7’s documentary writer-producer. His work has been recognized with a Peabody Award, a duPont Award, five Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and 17 Regional Emmys. In addition, he has received awards in numerous regional and national competitions.# # #
Maria Lamarca Anderson, Community Relations Manager
206.728.2375 mlanderson@kirotv.comSEATTLE—When was the last time you heard the sound of silence?Rarely is our environment without noise. Even alone in a dark room you can hear the beeping of a computer or a heater kicking in; cars passing by and planes flying overhead. KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Profiles, airing Tuesday, December 18 at 10 p.m., will take viewers to a true quiet place, one of the few left on earth: One Square Inch in the Olympic National Park. Marked by a small red-colored stone on top of a rain-soaked mossy log, it literally represents one square inch where natural sound is uninterrupted.In a studio near Port Angeles Gordon Hempton, soundtracker, has cataloged more than 8,000 sounds in nature. They can be heard in commercials, computer games and museum installations. But the sound of silence, and preserving it, is his mission.This edition of Profiles goes to the other extreme, to a place where laughter fills the air and exuberant noise is encouraged. KIRO 7’s Margo Myers follows Drs. Bonky and Lafoo on their weekly round at Children’s Hospital. As members of the Big Apple Circus, the professional clowns administer a heaping dose of cheer to children whose need to laugh can get lost under a cloud of concern when they are hospitalized.“I made a baby who had just had a liver transplant laugh,” says Dr. Lafoo, aka Virginia Millard. “And he was belly laughing, and his parents were crying. They had never seen him laugh like that.” Bobby Engram, Seattle Seahawks receiver and the team’s 2007 Man of the Year, understands all too well what parents go through when their child is in the hospital. His daughter Bobbi, now nine, suffers from sickle cell disease. KIRO 7’s Steve Raible talks with Engram—who had his own health challenge when he developed Graves’ disease—about his life off the field and his passion to help all the “little Bobbi’s.” “Finding a cure for sickle cell, it’s helping the entire world become a better place,” says little Bobbi Engram. “I just love him so much for doing that.”Making the world a better place—and making a profit while doing it—is Martin Tobias’ latest venture. The founder and CEO of Loudeye Technologies wants Americans to kick their fossil fuel addiction and switch to environmentally-friendly biodiesel. In 2004 he joined a group of investors to lay the groundwork for the construction of the nation’s largest biodiesel refinery; in August, Imperium Renewables began refining and selling biodiesel worldwide.Tobias tells KIRO 7’s Chris Egert the only thing that matters to him is solving the critical problems facing America. First it was conquering computer technology; now it’s supplying alternative energy.According to Michael Klebeck, Top Pot Doughnuts was founded after he faced his own critical problem: one morning he and his wife couldn’t find a certain pastry for their coffee shop. They started to sell doughnuts instead and noticed they were the first items sold every day, with most customers walking away with a smile.Soon he and his brother, Mark, opened their own shop, with real bakers making hand forged doughnuts using high quality ingredients. KIRO 7’s Amy Clancy looks into the science behind Top Pot’s success and operations that led it to be rated as one of the top 10 doughnut shops in the country.KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Profiles features newsmakers of the Pacific Northwest and is written and directed by Ben Saboonchian, hosted by KIRO 7 anchors Margo Myers and Steve Raible, photographed by Peter Frerichs and edited by Peter Gamba and Rick Woolery. The winter edition airs Tuesday, December 18 at 10 p.m.NOTE: Promotional DVD is available upon request. Contact Maria Lamarca Anderson at mlanderson@kirotv.com for a copy.ABOUT BEN SABOONCHIAN
Ben Saboonchian is KIRO 7’s documentary writer-producer. His work has been recognized with a Peabody Award, a duPont Award, five Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and 17 Regional Emmys. In addition, he has received awards in numerous regional and national competitions.
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