Sonnie Shepherd began her broadcasting career in Terre Haute, Indiana, where she wrote and produced commercials and served as news anchor at WVTS-FM.  She spent a year co-hosting PM Magazine, a nightly news magazine television show, before deciding to become a teacher.  Sonnie spent 23 wonderful years teaching sixth grade Language Arts and Social Studies in Hilliard, Ohio.  While pursuing her teaching career, she volunteered at a Columbus radio station for the blind.  Born in Arizona, she spent most of her life in the Midwest.  Sonnie fell in love with Maine on her first visit soon after college and still pinches herself that she gets to live here! A former marathon runner, she loves Maine’s rugged beauty, her cats, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in the winter and kayaking in the summer. Upon moving to Maine, she worked at a radio station in Bar Harbor, where she and her news team won the 2016 MAB Best Newscast award. Sonnie has been at Star 97.7 since 2017. As News Director from 2020-2025, Sonnie brought the station more than a dozen additional MAB Awards. She’s become a passionate voice for local non-profit organizations in Downeast Maine, and will continue to promote their work in our great local communities. She believes the purpose of news is to inform and that people have a right to ethical, uncensored news – on the local, national, and international levels.