Bill Noll, an Alaska entrepreneur and former Mayor of Seward, passed away suddenly on Monday in Anchorage. Noll was 72.
Noll was instrumental in founding the Seward Sea Life Center, and in establishing a coal export facility there.
Noll also worked to promote a hydroelectric project to supply rail belt energy needs. He was considered a visionary, and served as a Deputy Commissioner of Economics under Governor Wally Hickel and as Commissioner of Commerce under Governor Frank Murkowski.
Family friend Richard Wilson says Noll was a tireless advocate, often without pay, for state projects such as the Watana hydro project on the Susitna River.
Noll served as an Alaska delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2008.
Download Audio (MP3)
APTI Reporter-Producer Ellen Lockyer started her radio career in the late 1980s, after a stint at bush Alaska weekly newspapers, the Copper Valley Views and the Cordova Times. When the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound, Valdez Public Radio station KCHU needed a reporter, and Ellen picked up the microphone.
Since then, she has literally traveled the length of the state, from Attu to Eagle and from Barrow to Juneau, covering Alaska stories on the ground for the AK show, Alaska News Nightly, the Alaska Morning News and for Anchorage public radio station, KSKA
elockyer (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8446 | About Ellen
