Paul W. Brendle II, 55, created the helicopter-based traffic reports on KIRO-AM from 1978 until 1997. During his nearly two decades as a key member of Seattle's most popular radio team, he helped turn the Rainier Brewery and the Renton S-curves into catch phrases that instantly defined how deep the highways were backed up. He also reported whenever and from wherever the station wanted a mobile unit--the Mt. St. Helens eruption, the I-90 bridge sinking, and assorted fires and floods. Along the way, the Oak Harbor native and Vietnam veteran survived one emergency landing and three crashes, leaving him with chronic back pain. After the station was folded into the Entercom chain, his services were deemed no longer necessary. (He'd always been an independent contractor to the station, through his own flying-services company.) Even before Brendle left the radio biz, he'd diversified into other endeavors (including a drywall contracting firm, a luxury-home construction company, a home-aquarium manufacturing plant, and an airborne forest-seeding service). The former "guru of gridlock," who'd entertainingly helped thousands survive their car-bound hours, apparently chose to end his own life in his car. According to police, he parked in the Woodinville Library's lot late on the night of August 5-6, attached a hose between the exhaust pipe and the car's otherwise-sealed interior, and idled his engine. He would have been 56 the following day. Former Seattle Times reporter Paul Andrews said of him, "Brendle was a real radio personality, the kind missing today from just about any news capacity except talk-show hosting.... He really defined a new media form which we take for granted today."

The former Fisher flour mill on Harbor Island is being shut down in phases by its current owner, Pendleton Flour Mills. The landmark 1911 plant was the cornerstone of the Fisher family's local business empire, which grew to include office buildings and broadcasting stations (including KOMO radio and TV). It was the home of Fisher's Blend Flour (once advertised with the caricature of a black chef proclaiming, "Blend's Mah Friend"), Puyallup Fair scone mix, and assorted other products. The company got out of the retail business in the '80s, focusing on commercial clientele. More recently, the Fishers started unloading their non-communications assets. Pendleton bought the plant a year ago, but has now decided it doesn't need it. Manufacturing has already stopped there; packaging and distribution operations will be moved to another site once the Fisher property's sold. Pendleton's hired a real-estate company to solicit offers for the land, but the plant's giant grain silos, the manmade island's oldest and most recognizable structures, will almost certainly be razed.

obits@thestranger.com