The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO DICK HELTON
______
HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF
of california
in the house of representatives
Friday, October 14, 2022
Mr. SCHIFF. Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dick Helton, the voice of countless breaking news updates, traffic reports, and stories that have kept Los Angeles moving and shaking since 1998. After more than 53 years on air and decades serving our community, Dick is preparing to sign off one last time before embarking on a well-
deserved retirement.
Dick's incredible career in radio began on a family farm in Brocton, Illinois, where his father Kerrick taught him how to grow ``good crops of corn'' on land they have owned for over 150 years. After a gig at his college radio station at the University of Illinois, where he hosted a classical music program, he melded his new reporting prowess with his childhood pastime by hosting the morning farm show for the Illinois Farm Bureau. Along the way, Dick picked up another love, politics, and graduated with honors from the University of Illinois with majors in political science and economics--and of course, a bachelor's degree in journalism.
Dick's professional radio career took off quickly in 1969, when he joined CBS news radio station WBBM-AM in Chicago as its youngest news anchor. He would go on to spend nearly three decades there covering a wide range of political and human interest stories, both close to home and far overseas--from history-in-the-making like the gripping Chicago 7 trial and the notorious 1996 Democratic National Convention, to interviewing a survivor of the Titanic, covering the outbreak of war between India and Pakistan, and hosting the station's first-of-its-kind
``Ask the Mayor'' program. His work garnered him numerous awards for broadcast excellence, including just about every ``Best Newscast'' award from 1985 to 1997.
It was at WBBM that he met fellow broadcaster Carol Ramos, and after several years of afternoon-drive co-anchoring and friendship, they married in September 1997. After some months of living in a commuter marriage, Dick moved to Los Angeles, California in 1998, where he joined KNX news radio station in Los Angeles. Dick and Carol call the Los Angeles area home, but also spend time at the Helton family farm in Illinois.
For 24 years now, Dick's deep, reassuring voice has been the first millions of Southern Californians hear when they get in their cars in the morning, and rely on for steady, unflinching coverage of the news that will shape their days. Dick and his longtime co-anchor, Vicky Moore, are often my first call when big stories break in California and DC. It has been a pleasure to bear witness--as a KNX listener and interview subject--to Dick's great insights and wonderful sense of humor over his years on air.
I ask all members to join me in thanking Dick Helton for his decades of service to Los Angeles, to California, and to the Nation, and in wishing him good health and a great adventure in retirement.
____________________
SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 163(1), Congressional Record Vol. 168, No. 163(2)
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