[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 7]
[Senate]
[Page 10100]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING DONNA KELLEY

 Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. President, today I wish to remember Donna 
Kelley, a longtime reporter and anchor at KARN News Radio in Little 
Rock, who passed away last weekend.
  Donna made the move from Orlando to Little Rock to join the KARN news 
team 14 years ago. Her voice quickly became a mainstay on the airwaves 
in central Arkansas, where listeners turned to her as a trusted source 
of news. In turn, Donna quickly embraced her newly adopted hometown and 
spoke of Little Rock with the love of a lifelong resident.
  Any time there was breaking news, Donna would immediately track down 
everyone who could add to the story. I was always happy to talk with 
Donna as her sunny disposition, positive outlook, and understanding of 
Arkansas and the issues made for an enjoyable conversation.
  In fact, with her cheerful demeanor and her great radio voice, I 
often joked with her about how she should have her own Delilah-style 
radio show.
  But Donna's true passion was the news. You could tell that in her 
meticulous reporting on breaking news and how she tenaciously stayed on 
top of the stories that mattered to her listeners in an ever-changing 
news cycle.
  You could easily judge how well-respected as a journalist Donna was, 
as well as how much she was liked on a personal level, by the 
outpouring of kind words that were shared upon the news of her passing. 
Public officials, fellow journalists, and KARN listeners all shared 
their stories of how much Donna meant to them on a professional and 
personal level in news reports and social media messages.
  This sentiment was shared by her colleagues at KARN.
  ``Donna was at her happiest when she was working on a news story and 
never let anything keep her from getting her job done,'' said Cumulus 
market manager Keith Liesmann. ``She was a friend to everyone she 
worked with.''
  My thoughts and prayers go out to Donna's friends, family, and 
colleagues. Her voice will truly be missed.

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