KWMU News Team Biographies

News Director Bill Raack:
Raack has been in radio for over 20 years. After graduating with a degree in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1983, he worked at commercial radio stations in Kansas and then Illinois. He moved to public radio in 1990, joining the staff of WILL-AM/FM in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, as a host/reporter and then as news director in 1993. He returned to his hometown of St. Louis in 1995 as the local host of KWMU's Morning Edition program and also served as a reporter/producer until 1998, when he was named news director. Bill and his wife Kim had their first child in January 2007. >> Back to top

News Producer Adam Allington:
Allington’s radio career began at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine. He went on to cut his teeth filing stories for Maine Public Radio. Before coming to KWMU in 2006 Adam worked as freelancer for a variety of shows and networks including NPR, Marketplace and Weekend America. More recently, he was an international journalism fellow with Deutsche Welle in Bonn, Germany. Adam grew up on a cherry farm in northern Michigan. He holds a BA in economics from Kalamazoo College. >> Back to top

Science Reporter Julie Bierach
Bierach is a native of St. Louis. She recently returned in 2007 after spending several years at KUAT/KUAZ in Tucson, Arizona where she was the host of the station’s weekly news magazine, Arizona Spotlight. While in Tucson, Julie reported on a variety of topics including environmental issues facing the desert southwest and illegal immigration. Her reports have been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and Day to Day.  Julie graduated from Southeast Missouri State University and started her career at KRCU in Cape Girardeau as a student announcer. She and her husband Karl have a son who was born in January 2007. >> Back to top

State House Reporter Marshall Griffin:
KWMU State House Reporter Marshall Griffin has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay at a few music stations in Mississippi. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Griffin was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off the old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and of course, the 2000 presidential recount. More recently he enjoyed living in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. While there he worked a number of jobs, including reporting and anchoring for the local news/talk station, WWNC-AM, which back in the early 20th century aired bluegrass music and helped establish country & western as a radio format. Now he’s getting settled into Jefferson City and bringing KWMU listeners news of what their elected officials are doing. >> Back to top

News Producer Maria Hickey:
Hickey came to KWMU from Dallas where she hosted All Things Considered and reported north Texas news at KERA. Maria also spent several years in Illinois: first in Chicago where she interned at WBEZ; then as the Morning Edition host at WSIU in Carbondale; and finally in Springfield, where she earned her graduate degree and covered the legislature for Illinois Public Radio.

A native Iowan, Maria earned her bachelors degree in journalism at the University of Iowa. She remains a devoted Hawkeye. In her free time, Maria likes hiking, swing dancing, and searching for the perfect diner. >> Back to top

News Producer Matt Sepic:
Sepic is a native of Cleveland. He came to KWMU in St. Louis in 2003 after working for several years at WNIN-FM in Evansville, Indiana. Matt graduated from Ohio University in Athens, where he started in broadcasting at public radio station WOUB. When he's not working, Matt is likely reading, cycling, or working on his 100-year-old house in south St. Louis, which he shares with his wife Elise and baby Elizabeth. >> Back to top

Weekday Hosts:

Bob McCabe has been the local host of Morning Edition since the mid-nineties, shortly after KWMU changed its format to news/talk. Before that, he hosted the daytime classical music program. A native St. Louisan, Bob spent 11 years in the Catholic ministry. When not sitting behind a microphone or standing before a classroom full of students or a church full of parishioners, Bob has enjoyed singing and recording with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus for two seasons, and working in St. Louis theatre. You might have seen him in roles with the St. Louis Repertory Theatre, Washington University’s performing arts theatre department, and many community theatres. He now works occasionally with the continuing education department at UMSL in their senior theatre productions. Most recently, Bob and his wife Pat became great-grandparents; so now Bob’s most important role is to be the best grandpa in the world. He will probably be getting up early in the morning for the rest of his life… >> Back to top

Steve Potter began his radio career at the NPR affiliate at Missouri State University, where he was the local news anchor for Morning Edition. After that he worked either as a news anchor or talk show host on several commercial stations before "coming home" to public radio at KWMU in 2001. Steve can be heard weekday afternoons on KWMU and hosts KWMU’s local arts program Cityscape on Fridays. He is also a program host on City TV-10 which is owned and operated by the City of St. Louis. >> Back to top

Gerry Rohde became radioactive in his hometown of Bremen, Germany, during the Reagan administration’s first year. After his move to St. Louis in 1983, Gerry resumed his radioactivity with KWMU in 1985 as a weekend jazz host. Since then, and following a news internship in 1987, he has hosted a variety of programs, including classical music. He began his current role as KWMU’s weeknight evening host in 1996. Gerry has spent so much time with the station that he is in the beginning stages of emitting public radio waves himself. >> Back to top

Don Marsh has extensive and broad media experience, with a career beginning in 1959. Starting as a managing editor for a small magazine in New Jersey, he went on to become a radio news writer in Germany; an Eastern European correspondent and bureau chief for the American Forces Network; news director at WJZ-TV in Baltimore; anchorman/political specialist reporter/producer at KTVI-TV in St. Louis; a talk show host for KMOX radio; an anchorman for KDNL-TV; and a producer of training videos for law enforcement. He began as host of KWMU’s St. Louis on the Air in September 2005. His many professional awards include 12 Regional Emmy Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. >> Back to top

Jim Althoff fills in for Bob McCabe and Steve Potter when the need arises. Jim is a life-long radio guy. He's done jazz in San Francisco, classical music here in St. Louis and many years of talk radio in between--in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Milwaukee and St. Louis. Married to Andee for almost 25 years, he is the proud father of two sons, Harry, a senior at Truman State University, and Daniel, a Parkway high school student. In between his gigs with KWMU and the classical station, Jim works as a substitute teacher in the Parkway district and does a little writing. He's long been a fan of public radio and is delighted to be associated with NPR, PRI and the other providers through KWMU. >> Back to top