SEATTLE — Anyone who has watched KING 5's broadcasts has more than likely seen Glenn Farley reporting.
For more than three decades, Glenn has covered major headlines throughout Washington state and across the globe. Glenn retired on March 31.
KING 5 hired Glenn as its aviation reporter 35 years ago. It was an appropriate fit for someone who grew up looking up at a key approach for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.
Glenn has been the "go-to" for major stories in the aviation industry, from the launch of Boeing's most high-tech airliners from the 777 to the new 777X, the growth of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, to devastating crashes. His coverage included the unprecedented grounding of the 737 MAX, after two deadly crashes within the span of six months.
Glenn was even aboard a Boeing 777 as the company set a record with an around-the-world flight that made one short stop in Malaysia.
When he's not in the sky, Glenn has been reporting on natural disasters our region has or is expected to face.
He was here in 2001 when the Nisqually earthquake shook western Washington in a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, seriously damaging or destroying a number of buildings and infrastructure. That quake helped drive a renewed era of earthquake preparedness in the state. After all, Nisqually was felt as far away as southern British Columbia, central Oregon and northwestern Montana, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The shaking lasted less than one minute.
Since then, he's kept us informed on state-of-the-art alert systems that are intended to save lives - especially when "The Big One" hits.
Two years after the Nisqually quake, war was the driving factor in Glenn's next big assignment. He and photojournalist Dave Wike were embedded with the 555th Engineer Brigade out of Fort Lewis, now known as Joint Base Lewis-McChord. They spent a month reporting from Kuwait and Iraq, telling the stories of soldiers based out of Washington.
In 2004, Mount St. Helens reawakened, and Glenn was at the forefront of KING 5's coverage. A series of small steam and ash explosions erupted from the volcano, resulting in a new dome-building phase. Additional eruptions in January and March 2005 blasted ash as far away as Ellensburg, Yakima and Toppenish.
Glenn also reported in March 2014 when a landslide hit near Oso, covering a community and killing 43 people. It was the worst landslide in U.S. history. The landslide covered an area 1,500 feet long and 4,400 feet wide and left debris 30 to 70 feet deep. The overall size of the landslide was 270 million cubic feet. Nearly a mile of State Route 530 was covered in debris.
Since then, he's also informed us on the risk of landslides throughout the region and the technology being used to help save lives.
Glenn's environmental reporting hasn't been limited to seismological events. He has dug into our changing climate and the impacts it's having on life in Washington.
Glenn's reporting has taken him from burned forests to snow-covered mountains as the region deals with extreme temperatures in the summer and a shrinking snowpack in the winter.
Glenn's last years at KING 5 coincided not with a major disaster or breakthrough in the aviation industry but a pandemic that dominated headlines for two years and impacted all aspects of life. Glenn's early reports on the impacts of COVID-19 began in February of 2020, with the economy followed by major changes to travel and the impacts on the aviation industry and on our roads.
As it continued, Glenn went in-depth with experts as they raced to study the virus and efforts being made to protect us.
Needless to say, it has been a busy 35 years – more like 35.5, if you ask him.
Now Glenn is preparing for a new chapter: retirement. After decades of helping give perspective to some of the state and region's biggest stories, Glenn is retiring.
March 31 marks Glenn's last day as a KING 5 reporter. From earthquakes to forest fires, Washington state to Iraq, and many stops in between, what a ride it has been.