Born Adele Hausser,[4] Arakawa was raised in Hawaii and later east Tennessee. At age 16, she began taking college courses at Tennessee Tech University and working as a radio disc jockey in her hometown of La Follette, Tennessee. She also attended the University of Tennessee but dropped out after her freshman year.[4]
In 1981, Arakawa made the transition to television news, working at WTVK in weather in Knoxville where she began using her mother's maiden name, Arakawa, at the suggestion of news director Hal Wanzer.[5] Two years later, she moved to Raleigh, North Carolina to coanchor weekday evening newscasts for WRAL-TV with Charlie Gaddy and weatherman Bob Debardelaben.
Arakawa's career next took the family to Chicago in 1989, where she again anchored weekday evening newscasts, this time for CBS O&OWBBM-TV.[6]
In 1993, she became a weekday evening newscast anchor for KUSA-TV in Denver.[7] On December 6, 2016, she announced her retirement after 40 years in broadcasting. Her last day was June 30, 2017.[8][9]
Arakawa was president of the Asian American Journalists Association in 1992 in Chicago and is a member of both the Japanese American Citizens League and the Japanese American Service Committee. Two of her grandparents were from Okinawa, Japan.[10]
^Roberts, Michael (November 23, 2000). "The Story of Adele H". Westword. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
^Feder, Robert (September 7, 1988). "'Hillbilly'? 'Airhead'? Or a Ch. 2 anchor?". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 43.
^Ostrow, Joanne (December 5, 1993). "New Channel 9 anchor hungry for news". Denver Post. p. 1-D.
