Adele Arakawa was a popular weekday evening news anchor at WRAL-TV in the 1980s.

Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, Arakawa grew up in Hawaii. She began her broadcasting career at the age of 16 as a radio disc jockey at a small station in East Tennessee. Two years later she became the first female disc jockey in Knoxville at WRJZ-AM.

Arakawa moved to television news at WRVK-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she filled numerous roles, including reporter, producer and news anchor.

In 1983, Adele moved to Raleigh, and for the next six years she teamed with Charlie Gaddy, Bob DeBardelaben and Tom Suiter as anchor of WRAL-TV’s 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. newscasts. She was also the host of the station’s “Wednesday’s Child” adoption series.

In early 1989, Arakawa left WRAL for an anchor position at WBBM-TV in Chicago, a position she held for five years before departing for a similar job in Denver. Arakawa joined KUSA-TV in Denver as a weekday evening anchor and she continues in that role today.

During her two decades in Denver television she has received seven regional Emmy nominations. She won the Outstanding News Anchor Emmy in 1997 for coverage of the Oklahoma City bombing trial.

In 2013 Adele Arakawa was inducted into the regional Emmy organization’s prestigious Silver Circle—an honor reserved for journalists who have spent more than 25 years in the broadcast industry and made lasting contributions to the region and craft.

She attended Tennessee Tech University and the University of Tennessee.