FARGO (KFGO) – The longest-serving radio news journalist in North Dakota history is calling it a career.
KFGO News reporter Don Haney is retiring after 52 years.
“Don Haney, what can I say, what can anyone say about his illustrious career in North Dakota broadcasting, he helped keep KFGO the legendary station that it remains today,” said KFGO News Director Paul Jurgens.
Haney’s first job was in Grafton, North Dakota.
“Don and I first crossed paths in the early 1980s when he was working at KXPO in Grafton and I was working radio news at KVOX in Moorhead, we swapped stories every morning over the phone, he had a Rolodex full of contacts and I learned many skills that I use today from Don,” Jurgens said.
Haney moved to Fargo in late 1996, just in time for the flood of the century in the spring of 1997. Haney was also there in the middle of the night when Fargo-Moorhead was on the brink of disaster as floodwaters nearly topped the downtown dike.
Bruce Furness was the mayor at the time. He and then-Public Works operations manager Dennis Walaker and other city officials went on KFGO early that morning to announce that residents in part of south Fargo should prepare to evacuate.
Haney’s work and that of the KFGO News team earned a prestigious Peabody Award, the top honor in radio and television.
“One thing that everyone who worked with Don, in radio and knows him on a professional level, is that you could also trust him,” added Jurgens.
Former Cass County Sheriff Paul Laney agreed with Jurgens.
“I worked with Don, we were on the same sites together, we were on a lot of the same incidents together,” Laney said. “The one thing you knew with Don is you were going to get integrity, you were going to get honesty, and you were going to get the truth. That is the biggest compliment I can give to anyone in his business. You trusted him explicitly.”
Retired Fargo Police Chief Dave Todd worked with Haney as a sergeant and lieutenant. He said what he really appreciated and admired about Haney was his willingness to get out at any time of the day or night and go to the scene.
“That was something that you just didn’t see from other news agencies or reporters, but you did from Don,” Todd said.
Todd also said he knew he could trust Haney.
“There were times I would say something and then think, ‘oh, boy. I shouldn’t have said that.’ I could contact Don and say, ‘hey, Don, I probably shouldn’t have released that information. Would you be willing to hold onto that until we figure things out a little more?’ And Don would always say, ‘sure. No problem, Dave,’” Todd said.
One of the thousands of stories Haney covered was the disappearance of Dru Sjodin in Grand Forks in November 2003. Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. was later convicted in the kidnapping and murder of Sjodin and sentenced to death. The death sentence was later overturned.
Haney also traveled to New Mexico in 1999 to cover the search for Kyle Bell of Fargo who was convicted of murdering his 11-year-old neighbor. Bell escaped from a prisoner transport van. Bell was caught after the case was featured on the tv show, “America’s Most Wanted.”
“You can’t put into words what Don Haney has done for radio,” KFGO operations manager Joel Heitkamp said. “He has seen it all and done it all. He will be missed in our newsroom. I wish him the very best. He deserves to go see those grandkids play ball and spend time with his wonderful wife, Deb.”
Haney is a Thief River Falls, Minnesota native. He said he plans to spend his retirement enjoying time with his family, including his wife Deb and his children and grandchildren in central Minnesota, and listening to his hundreds of records.
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