O. Kay Henderson, News Director — Covering politicians was apparently Kay’s destiny from day one. She was born on election day. Her parents were relieved their bundle of joy was “okay” considering the newborn’s mom was 45 years old, so they named her “O. Kay.” She grew up on the family farm near Lenox, Iowa, and paraded cattle in the show ring during her teenage years. (Kay still has the belt buckle and the 4-H badge to prove it.) During her years at Iowa State University, Kay served as a statehouse correspondent for WOI-AM, the NPR affiliate in Ames. Between her freshman and sophomore years, she did a three-month, summertime “tour of duty” as the managing editor of the weekly newspaper in her hometown. In 1987, Kay became one of the three founding members of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. You may recognize Kay’s mug from her Sunday television appearances. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press.” Kay was the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
Todd Kimm, Sports Director — He was the quarterback of the Urbandale High School football team, the point guard for the basketball team and a pitcher on the baseball team. He’s been Radio Iowa’s sports star since 1987. Todd is one of the three founding members of the Radio Iowa network. After graduating from the University of Iowa, Todd worked for a Minneapolis- based cable television station while attending Brown Institute. He did play-by-play of hockey, football and basketball in Bloomington before returning to Iowa’s capital city to work in the KIOA newsroom. Using lines from classic movies like Animal House and Caddyshack, Todd was often called upon to add his voice to the wacky morning crew on the FM which underwent three format and call letter changes during his two years there.
Dar Danielson, Anchor/Reporter — Dar Danielson joined Radio Iowa in March 1997. “Dar” by the way, is short for Darwin. Dar is originally from the Cedar Falls area, and is a graduate of Janesville High School and the University of Northern Iowa. He began his career in journalism by working as a writer and editor for the UNI student newspaper and was the news/sports director of the student radio station. From there he worked at KCFI in Cedar Falls and then moved to nearby Oelwein where he was a news reporter and sports director at KOEL. In 1989 he moved to Cedar Rapids where he was heard across the country as one of the news and sports voices for the Telecom USA talking phone book. He moved to Ames in 1991 where he was the assistant news/sports director at KASI. While in Ames Dar was the play-by-play voice of the Iowa State baseball team and the Ames High Little Cyclones. One of the highlights of his career came when the station won an Edward R. Murrow Award and a commendation from the Mayor of Ames for its coverage of the 1993 floods. Dar anchored the coverage in the middle of the rain and flooding and was on the air continuously throughout. In his spare time, Dar is active in the Iowa Broadcast News Association and is the organization’s executive director. He also enjoys spending time with his son and daughter.
Matt Kelley, Anchor/Reporter — Matt joined the Radio Iowa news team in December of 1996 and has served as the morning anchor since January of ’97. Matt is a Davenport, Iowa, native and a 1987 University of Iowa graduate. In addition to working on newspapers, radio stations and TV crews in a number of Iowa cities, he’s been a broadcast journalist in several other states, including Illinois, Missouri, Alabama and North Carolina. Swear you’ve heard Matt elsewhere? He’s the go-to fill-in anchor on Learfield’s three other news properties, Minnesota News Network, Missourinet, and Wisconsin Radio Network. Outside the newsroom, Matt’s a woodworker, a tournament racquetball player, an avid cyclist, and he strives to get out of Iowa at least once a year to go SCUBA diving. The “urge to submerge” has taken him to many exotic locations as far away as Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and he’s even explored a sunken WWII Nazi submarine 120 feet below the surface of the Atlantic. Matt Kelley named “Iowa Journalist of the Year” by the U.S. Small Business Administration (April, 2002).