Steve Bell, longtime KCUR newscaster, dies at 77

Steve Bell, a longtime afternoon news reporter at radio station KCUR 89.3, died Monday afternoon at the station.

Bell was a radio broadcaster in Kansas City for 40 years. He was 77.

According to the station’s website, Bell collapsed in the newsroom while preparing his afternoon newscast. He’d been at the public radio station since 2000 after previous radio and TV work in the Kansas City area.

He was born and raised in Kansas City and attended Brookside Day School, Southwest High School and the University of Kansas, according to KCUR. He earned a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1983. He took a 15-year break from broadcasting to practice psychology before returning to radio.

Bell is survived by his wife of 56 years, LaNora Asbell; his son and daughter-in-law, Steven and Valerie; a sister, Bettie Asbell; five granddaughters and six great-grandchildren.

The Star