T.L. Hughes

Entravision Communications has hired David Iniga as the sports anchor for a new in-house news department being started by the company for its Laredo, Texas duopoly of Fox affiliate KXOF-CA and Univision affiliate KLDO. KXOF is preparing to launch a 9 p.m. newscast this Spring, which Iniga will anchor sports for the KXOF newscast (Iniga himself will start at KXOF on April 2), as well as the 5 and 10 p.m. newscasts on KLDO. Iniga previously was a reporter for Newport Television's Bakersfield, California duopoly of NBC affiliate KGET and Telemundo affiliate KKEY-LP.

Sinclair Broadcast Group flagship WBFF in Baltimore will expand its early evening news offerings starting on April 9, by adding an additional half-hour newscast at 5 p.m. Jeff Barnd and Jennifer Gilbert, who anchor the 5:30, 10 and 11 p.m. newscasts on weeknights, will anchor the newscast. Judge Judy, which currently airs in the 5 p.m. timeslot will move back one hour to 4 p.m. with the change. Side note: Out of the 17 Fox affiliates that Sinclair owns and/or operates, WBFF is currently the only one with early evening newscasts (its existing 5:30 p.m. newscast, which will continue with the expansion, and be treated as a separate newscast despite having the same anchor team according to WBFF/WNUV general manager Bill Fanshawe, began in January 2005); all other Fox stations owned/managed by Sinclair carry only weekday morning and/or nightly late evening newscasts (especially the three other in-house news operations among the group's Fox affiliates: KOKH/Oklahoma City, WZTV/Nashville and KABB/San Antonio).

Newport Television's Salt Lake City ABC affiliate KTVX is making changes to its anchor lineup, as it tries to get out of its distant fourth place position in news, particularly among the area's late newscasts. The station has put Brent Hunsaker and Kylie Conway as its 10 p.m. anchor team; Conway, who had been anchoring the 9 p.m. newscast on KUCW, will no longer anchor the newscast as it will be cancelled following this Friday's (December 9) edition, due to low ratings (this leaves Fox affiliate KSTU with the only live primetime newscasts in the 9 p.m. slot in the market). December 9th will also be weeknight anchor Karen Carlson's last day with KTVX, Carlson is expecting her first child and will be returning to Los Angeles to become a stay-at-home mom. Anchor Robert Maxwell's contract was not renewed by the station. In addition, KTVX will expand its 4 p.m. newscast to one hour beginning January 9; the 5 p.m. newcast will be anchored by current "Good Morning Utah" anchor Don Hudson and former KXAS Dallas reporter Kim Fischer starting December 12; former KUSI San Diego anchor Dan Plante will take Hudson's place on "Good Morning Utah". Steve Stadelman, weekday morning and 5 p.m. anchor at Nexstar Broadcasting's Rockford, Illinois ABC affiliate WTVO, has filed paperwork to run for state Senate in Illinois' 34th district. WTVO news director Kent Harrell confirmed to "Rockford Register Star" political editor Chuck Sweeny that Stadelman will be leaving the station.

Stacey Bell is leaving Local TV, LLC-owned WJW in Cleveland, effective with tonight's (Wednesday's) 10 p.m. newscast; Bell has been with the Fox affiliate since 1998, as a reporter for the station's weekday morning newscast, before being promoted to 5 p.m. anchor in 2000, and 10 p.m. anchor five years later. Bell was raised in Arkansas (though was born in Memphis, Tennessee), eventually attending the University of Central Arkansas, where she earned a bachelor's degree in mass communications. It is unclear who will join Bill Martin as his co-anchor for the 10 p.m. newscast after Bell's departure, though The Plain Dealer reports that Tracy McCool is a potential candidate.

Austin, Texas NBC affiliate KXAN-TV has named Chris Willis the lead investigative reporter for the station's investigative unit. Willis currently serves as co-anchor of "KXAN News Today", the weekday 4:30-7 a.m. newscast, having anchored that newscast from 1999 to 2005, and again since 2007; between his morning anchor stints, he also served as the station's senior correspondent from 2005 to 2007. Before joining KXAN, Willis was an evening anchor at ABC affiliate WDEF in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and has served as news director for CBS affiliate KSWT in Yuma, Arizona and for Big Sky Broadcasting/KB Media in Helena, Montana.

Don Hickman, former anchor/reporter at Sinclair Broadcast Group's Springfield, Illinois ABC station WICS, died of natural causes Saturday at the age of 74. Hickman was known as the station’s main news anchor from 1972 to 2001, while it was still an NBC affiliate, and also served as news director for the last six years of his WICS tenure. After leaving the station, Hickman co-founded and served as the publisher for the bi-monthly "Springfield Scene Magazine", which focuses on social events and profiles of prominent people in Central Illinois. Hickman also ran for mayor of Springfield in 2003, but finished fourth in a five-candidate primary, failing to make the general election ballot. He attended Union University in Jackson, Tennessee for two days, only to drop out to take a full-time job at a local radio station and moved to television in 1957; on April 4, 1968, while a reporter at Memphis NBC affiliate WMC-TV was the first reporter to break the news of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. TVNewsCheck sends our condolences to Hickman's family, including his wife Betty, his sons Barry and Todd, and several grandchildren.

Scott Cody will be leaving WWL-TV, Belo Corporation's New Orleans CBS affiliate, as a sports anchor effective next week; Cody, who regularly works as a weekend evening sports anchor, will have his last on-air shift on Wednesday, November 23; after that, Cody will move behind-the-scenes, remaining with the station as part of its sales department. Cody told the Times-Picayune newspaprer, that his move from sports to sales, is in order to spend more time with his family, wife Jill Hezeau (who works as a weekday morning reporter at WWL) and their children. Hearst Television's Manchester, New Hampshire ABC affiliate WMUR-TV has announced it will debut a weeknight 10 p.m. newscast. The newscast, set to start in January 2012, will air on WMUR digital subchannel 9.2, which carries programming from MeTV, Weigel Broadcasting's classic television network ("MeTV New Hampshire" is also seen on Comcast channel 298 in Manchester or 308 in some areas). Tom Griffith and Tiffany Eddy will serve as anchors for the newscast with weather forecasts from chief meteorologist Mike Haddad and sports with Jamie Staton, WMUR's sports director. WMUR will increase its news output from 28.5 hours a week to 34 hours as a result (likely meaning the newscast will run six nights a week, one hour Monday-Fridays and a half-hour on Saturday or Sunday nights). Amy Mearkle is leaving Johnstown/Altoona/State College, Pennsylvania station WTAJ-TV, effective November 23. Mearkle, who has been with the Nexstar-owned CBS affiliate since 1999, has taken a job as director of marketing and advertising for DelGrosso's Amusement Park, located in the Altoona suburb of Tipton, Pennsylvania. Mearkle started at WTAJ as a reporter covering nearby Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 1999, before being promoted to anchor of the station's Saturday morning newscast, and then being promoted to weekday morning anchor in March 2001.

San Diego NBC station KNSD has announced that Catherine Garcia has been promoted to weeknight anchor, starting December 5. Garcia joined KNSD as a weekend anchor in 2003, and now serves as anchor for the station's noon and 4 p.m. newscasts, as well as a feature reporter with the “San Diego Explained” segments seen during the 6 p.m. newscast. She replaces Susan Taylor, who earlier in the fall had announced that she was leaving the station as its weeknight anchor, Taylor's last night at the station will be on December 2. Gannett's Denver duopoly KUSA/KTVD has announced that Kim Christiansen, who has been with NBC affiliate KUSA since 1982, as the new co-anchor for the weeknight editions of the KUSA-produced 9 p.m. newscast for sister MyNetworkTV affiliate KTVD, effective immediately; Christiansen will continue to co-anchor with Mark Koebrich on KUSA's 4 p.m. newscast on weekdays. Christiansen replaces Bazi Kanani, who left the station to accept a job as a digital reporter for ABC News based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Erin Kienzle, weekend morning meteorologist for Hearst Television's WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh, has announced she'll be leaving the ABC affiliate; her final day at the station is New Year's Eve (December 31), she is returning to Charleston, South Carolina (where she previously worked for the area's Raycom-owned CBS affiliate WCSC-TV in Charleston), where her husband Nick has family living in the area and a new job (the couple has a one-year-old daughter). Michael Hayes, president and general manager of WTAE, announced that a search will soon be underway for Kienzle's replacement, with meteorologists already working for other Hearst stations also eligible.

Meteorologist A.J. Colby has moved from one Cleveland area station to another, Colby (who left Gannett-owned NBC affiliate WKYC Sunday, after having worked without a contract since May, when he was originally set to leave the station) has returned to Local TV, LLC-owned Fox affiliate WJW; starting this Saturday, Colby will be the station's weekend morning meteorologist. Colby's first stint at WJW began as a fill-in meteorologist in 1994, before moving to Erie, Pennsylvania, where he was a meteorologist at NBC affiliate WICU; the native of suburban Ashtabula returned to Cleveland and WJW in April 2000, before being let go by the station in 2003; he then worked for a short time at Scripps-owned ABC affiliate WEWS, before becoming a freelance contributor at WKYC in January 2005, and was promoted to full-time weekend and noon meteorologist in 2007. Hearst Television's Orlando NBC affiliate WESH has hired Meredith McDonough, who joined the station today as a general assignment reporter for its weekday newscasts and anchor for the weekend evening newscasts. From 2007 to 2011, McDonough was an anchor and reporter for sister station and ABC affiliate WPBF in West Palm Beach, and before then, was a reporter/anchor at Fox affiliate WWCP/ABC affiliate WATM in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

CBS affiliate WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida has added two reporters to its news staff. Colby Robertson joins the station as freelance reporter for the station's Collier County bureau. The University of Miami graduate has previously worked as a State Capitol reporter at Quincy Newspapers' ABC affiliate WKOW-TV in Madison, Wisconsin. Amanda Hall, another University of Florida grad, has also joined as part of the Collier County bureau; she previously worked at Nexstar Broadcasting's ABC affiliate WDHN-TV in Dothan, Alabama.

Andrea Cambern, a twenty year veteran of Dispatch Broadcasting's CBS affiliate WBNS in Columbus, Ohio, has announced that she will be stepping down from the anchor desk. However it will be several months before that happens, her final broadcast will be the 6 p.m. newscast on May 23, 2012. Cambern joined WBNS in 1991, after working at television stations in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona; she has been paired alongside Jerry Revish as anchors of the station's weeknight newscasts for about 18 years. Tom Griesdorn, president and general manager of WBNS has announced that a search for Cambern's replacement will begin immediately. Newport Television CBS affiliate WKRC in Cincinnati is adding Cincinnati native Scott Dimmich to its weather team as a weekend evening meteorologist, he starts the week of November 7. Dimmich formerly was a meteorologist at Nexstar Broadcasting's ABC affiliate WEHT in Evansville, Indiana, for the station's weekday morning newscast. Dimmich interned in the weather department at WKRC while attending Penn State University. He previously worked as a meteorologist for Weather World, a statewide science magazine in Pennsylvania, and as a weekday meteorologist at CBS affiliate WYMT in Hazard, Kentucky.

Sinclair Broadcast Group has named director of sales Kent Crawford as general manager of the duopoly of CBS affiliate KUTV and MyNetworkTV affiliate KMYU in Salt Lake City; Sinclair is in the process of purchasing the stations from Four Points Media Group. Crawford succeeds Steve Carlston, who left in September to become president/general manager at NBC O&O KNBC in Los Angeles.

Erin Kennedy is leaving LIN TV's Providence virtual duopoly of CBS affiliate WPRI and Fox affiliate WNAC; Kennedy served as co-anchor for the 5:30 p.m. newscast on WPRI, and the WPRI-produced 10 p.m. newscast on WNAC, and was with the station since December of 2005. Another LIN TV station has been shifting many veteran staffers to different shifts, a move by station management according to the "Buffalo News" that appears to be targeting veteran on-air staffers, according to multiple sources at WIVB. Buffalo CBS affiliate WIVB-TV meteorologist Mike Cejka was moved from weekday mornings to weekend evenings is the latest personnel. Cejka switched shifts with Amelia Segal, who started at the station in March of 2010, as meterologist for the station's weekday morning newscast “Wake Up!”. According to the "Buffalo News" story, Cejka had been told his new assignment would be temporary, but station sources believe he may be transitioned into being a multimedia journalist, reporting, shooting and editing stories. The same sources say that senior reporter Rich Newberg (a multiple Emmy winner who has been with WIVB since September 1978, and was named senior correspondent in 1999) is also reportedly being “pushed” by station management to shoot and edit new video. Two veteran reporters and one anchor have also been left or been let go in the past year: reporters Lorey Schultz (who left earlier this month, and is now assistant director of communications and marketing for the City of Buffalo) and Tricia Cruz (who left in March), and anchor Mylous Hairston (whose contract was bought out in February). WHDT, a television station in West Palm Beach, Florida owned by Günter Marksteiner, and known for being the first digital-only television station in the United States, has announced that it will drop its affiliation with the Retro Television Network and affiliate with the Weather Nation network effective this weekend. This is another major blow to RTV (which had WHDT as the network's only affiliate to carry its programming in HD, solely consisting of more recent series provided by RTV sister network Tuff TV, both networks are owned by Luken Communications), which has lost numerous affiliates in the past year-and-a-half culminating in Media General's announcement last month to replace it on most of its stations with RTV competitors Me-TV (owned by Weigel Broadcasting and distributed by MGM) and Antenna TV (owned by Tribune Company), which also offer classic television series and signed on after RTV's 2008 debut. Within the same time frame, RTV has also lost NBC Universal Television Distribution and CBS Television Distribution as program suppliers (Sony Pictures Television, which is the primary program distributor for Antenna TV is currently RTV's only major program supplier, the other program suppliers for the network are smaller companies such as Classic Media, Peter Rodgers Organization, Stay Creepy Productions and even Granite Broadcasting). Weather Nation was started by Paul Douglas, a former meteorologist at KARE in Minneapolis (KARE is the flagship station for the Weather Nation service as it carries a localized version of the service on its second digital channel).

Tampa Fox O&O WTVT has promoted general assignment reporter Kristin Wright at WTVT to anchor of the weekend 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. She says she will still be reporting for three days a week. Wright had been filling in on the weekend evening newscasts for the past few weeks, following the departure of Nerissa Prest. Wright will also continue to report during the evening newscasts three days a week. Wright joined WTVT in March 2008; before that, she worked as a weekend anchor/reporter at Allbritton Communications' ABC affiliate WHTM-TV in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania from 2004 to 2008; and was a weekday morning anchor/general assignment reporter at Newport Television's ABC affiliate WIVT and NBC affiliate WBGH-CA in Binghamton, New York; she began her television career as a news writer for Post-Newsweek's NBC affiliate WDIV in Detroit.

CBS O&O KTVT in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex has named Keith Garvin as its new co-anchor for its weekday morning newscast. Garvin, who started with the station and sister independent station KTXA in 2009 as anchor for "First in Prime", the recently-cancelled early evening newscast on KTXA (which has since been replaced in its former 7-9 p.m. timeslot by a local hour-long sports program hosed by KTVT sports anchor Gina Miller during the 7 p.m. hour and reruns of ''America's Funniest Home Videos'' in the 8 p.m. hour) replaces Scott Sams, whose contract was not renewed with the station in April (Sams now works at KTVT/KTXA's sister radio station KRLD-AM, also owned by CBS Corporation).

Lee Ranson, weeknight weather anchor at Granite Broadcasting's NBC affiliate WEEK-TV in Peoria, Illinois, has announced his retirement from the station. Originally a sports anchor for sister ABC affiliate WHOI, Ranson moved to weather in 1971, starting as an emergency fill-in after then-WHOI weatherman Rollie Keith fell ill, before becoming a full-time weather anchor.

Gray Television's CBS affiliate in Tallahassee, Florida, WCTV, is being sued by the owner of Ollie Wallie’s (a now-defunct children’s fun center). The former owner claims that the station, its manager and two reporters defamed the station by spreading incorrect information about his business. The lawsuit states that a parent of a child at the fun center claimed that an Ollie Wallie's staff member inappropriately touched their child. The day after the police report was filed with the Tallahassee Police Department, WCTV reporter Candyce Sweat told people outside of the Ollie Wallie's location that a child was sexually assaulted there and asked them what they thought. According to the suit, later that week, another WCTV reporter Jerry Askin returned to the fun center and continued approaching people in the parking lot, looking for reactions to the “sexual assault.” WCTV reported multiple times on air, and on its Facebook and Twitter feeds than an assault had occurred at the fun center; the Tallahassee Police Department investigation states that no crime or sexual assault occurred at the fun center and no charges were filed. The owner of the Ollie Wallie’s location claims that the actions of the two reporters, station management and WCTV caused him to lose business, forcing him to shut its doors. Attorneys representing WCTV responded to the ''Tallahassee Democrat'' newspaper that they “do not believe there is any merit to the allegation” and that “the station intends to defend itself vigorously”. LIN TV's Norfolk, Virginia NBC affiliate WAVY is joining the ever-growing pack of stations starting their weekday morning newscasts at 4:30 a.m. The station will expand its weekday morning news to the 4:30 slot starting this coming Monday, October 24. There will be no additions to the morning anchor team with the move as Kerri Furey and Don Roberts will anchor the additional half-hour, alongside meteorologist Jeremy Wheeler, and Cheryl Tan and "Chopper 10" pilot John Massey, who provide traffic reports. Nexstar Broadcating/Mission Broadcating's Springfield, Missouri virtual duopoly of CBS affiliate KOLR and independent station KOZL has hired Jamie Warriner as chief meteorologist and promoted longtime meteorologist Ted Keller to senior meteorologist/severe weather specialist. Starting October 24, Warriner (who was most recently a weekday morning meteorologist at Newport Television/High Plains Broadcating's Jacksonville, Florida virtual duopoly of Fox affiliate WAWS and CBS affiliate WTEV) takes over forecasting duties for the 4 and 9 p.m. newscasts on KOZL, and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts on KOLR. Keller will continue to do weather for both stations, primarily as a weekend meterologist, and will also produce and report on weather and science-related stories.

Robin Huebner resigned Monday as anchor at "Valley News Live", Hoak Media's joint news operation between NBC affiliate KVLY and CBS affiliate KXJB in Fargo, North Dakota. The 50-year-old, who has worked in television news for 26 years, is considering filing an age and gender discrimination lawsuit against the station, after she was taken off the 10 p.m. newscast back in late August (while remainin on the 5:30 p.m. newscast on KXJB and the 6 p.m. newscast on KVLY with fellow "Valley News Live" anchor Mike Morken) and replaced by 26-year-old Stephanie Goetz (formerly of crosstown ABC affiliate WDAY). Jim Kaster, an employment lawyer from Minneapolis, said Huebner had filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about one week ago alleging gender and age discrimination, saying that Huebner had been demoted in such a public way that she felt she was forced out of the station and received a significant pay cut after being pulled from the 10 p.m. newscast. Freedom Broadcasting’s Grand Rapids, Michigan CBS affiliate WWMT has named Marcie Kobriger as its new co-anchor for the station's weekday morning newscast. The former weekend anchor of three years at Young Broadcasting's ABC affiliate WBAY in Green Bay, Wisconsin and former reporter at Gray Television's NBC affiliate WNDU in South Bend, Indiana, will join the station starting October 24, alongside co-anchor Josh Roe and meteorologist Jeff Porter. Woody VanDyke, former sports director from 1968 to 1974 at Barrington Broadcasting's ABC affiliate KVII-TV in Amarillo, Texas has died; VanDyke passed away Sunday in Lubbock. In addition to his tenure at KVII, he also served as the general manager of local radio station KJAK in Lubbock, and also served in overeas Christian missions and other outreach.

Mediacom restored nine LIN Media-owned stations in six of its markets Friday after it reached a retransmission consent agreement with the station group. The stations include Fox affiliate WLUK-TV in Green Bay, Indiana CBS affiliates WANE in Fort Wayne and WTHI-TV in Terre Haute, and three duopolies: Fox affiliate WALA and independent station WFNA in Mobile, Alabama, NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and ABC affiliate WOTV in Grand Rapids, Michigan and NBC affiliate WAVY and Fox affiliate WVBT in Norfolk, Virginia. Dish Network also ended a retrans stalemate last week after it reached an agreement with Communications Corporation of America to carry "Fox 44", the Fox/MyNetworkTV-affilated second digital subchannel of area CBS affiliate WEVV-TV; the dispute between the station group and the satellite provider prevented Dish Network subscribers from seeing Fox programming for 104 days, starting from when WEVV added the network to digital channel 44.2 on July 1. A Louisville, Kentucky news anchor is in hot water after a viewer believes he heard her say a racial slur live on-air. Last Monday, Sterling Riggs and Lindsay Allen, weekday morning anchors for Block Communications' Fox affiliate WDRB, were reporting on a story about Tiger Woods after a fan threw a hot dog during a PGA golf tournament he participated in last weekend. 19-year-old viewer Anthony Fresh claimed he heard Allen say the "N"-word, and he and his cousins met with WDRB news director Barry Fulmer, demanding an apology. Fulmer said to ABC affiliate WHAS-TV that Allen said "at least he can blame the hot dog on his poor performance," going on to say: During last Tuesday morning's newscast, Allen apologized on-air: Meanwhile, Anthony Fresh says he has talked to the Louisville branch of the NAACP, which said they will forward the news clip in question to their Los Angeles bureau that deals with media issues. Ama Daetz has joined ABC O&O KGO-TV in her native San Francisco as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor; Daetz most recently worked for three years as a weekday morning anchor for Tribune Broadcasting's Sacramento Fox affiliate KTXL. KTXL has promoted reporter Bethany Crouch to fill the anchor slot vacated by Daetz.

Tisha Thompson has moved from one D.C. area station to another; the investigative reporter has moved from Fox O&O WTTG, where she worked for four years, to NBC O&O WRC-TV. She is not the first member of her family to have worked at WRC: Tisha's mother Lea Thompson (not to be confused with the actress of the same name, albeit different first name pronunciation) was a news anchor, investiagative and consumer reporter for 20 years at the station, prior becoming the chief consumer correspondent for NBC's primetime newsmagazine "Dateline NBC". Rick Yarborough, who worked with Thompson at WTTG as a news producer, joined WRC last month as senior investigative platform manager. Marlee Ginter has left Fisher Communications' ABC affiliate KOMO-TV to become an anchor/reporter at LIN TV's Grand Rapids, Michigan NBC affiliate WOOD-TV and its MyNetworkTV-affiliated sister station WXSP-CD; Ginter will join Brian Sterling starting tonight as anchor of the WOOD-produced 10 p.m. newscast on WXSP. Ginter worked at KOMO-TV for four years as an weekend morning anchor/reporter.

Newport Television has announced that it is selling its Fairbanks, Alaska NBC affiliate KTVF. The station is being sold to a local group called Chena Broadcasting, a company headed by Michael Young, a former member of the Fairbanks municipal assembly, for an undisclosed price. Kalil & Co. represented Newport in the transaction. Quincy Newspapers' NBC affiliate KWWL in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is adding a new anchor to its weekday morning newscast "Today In Iowa". Natasha Chughtai, who has previously worked at stations in Anchorage, Alaska; Eugene, Oregon and Duluth, Minnesota, will join the station on Monday, October 24; she will co-anchor alongside Jeff Eliasoph and meteorologist Eileen Loan. Chughtai will replace Sunny Layne, who is leaving the station.

Longtime San Francisco political journalist Rollin Post has died, Post was a well-known figure in Bay Area television as a reporter/commentator/interviewer on three area stations (CBS O&O KPIX, PBS member station KQED and former-NBC-affiliate-now-MyNetworkTV-affiliate KRON-TV) from 1961 until his 1997 retirement. He died earlier this week at his home in Corte Madera, California at age 81 due to complications of Alzheimer's disease. We at TVNewsCheck extend our condolences to Rollin's family at this time. The following link is an obituary from the San Francisco Chronicle: Rollin Post, longtime Bay Area TV journalist, dies

JW Broadcasting’s ABC affiliate KMIZ in the Columbia-Jefferson City, Missouri market debuted a half-hour newscast at 6:30 p.m. on Monday night, the first such 6:30 p.m. newscast in the market. Meredith Hoenes, formerly of Fox affiliate WDAF-TV and independent station KMCI in Kansas City, who began her career as an anchored at local University of Missouri-owned NBC affiliate KOMU from 1999 to 2002, anchors the newscast and will also serve as anchor for the station's 10 p.m. newscast and the 9 p.m. newscast on Fox affiliate KQFX-LD alongside Ryan Tate. The newscast also served as the launchpad for the station's conversion to high definition newscasts (the 9 p.m. newscast on co-owned KQFX-LD is also affected by the change), which include a new graphics package from Eaton Design. In addition, KMIZ has also opened a news bureau in the state capitol of Jefferson City. Linda Hurtado, anchor at E.W. Scripps-owned WFTS in Tampa, has been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and is scheduled to have a double mastectomy operation (the surgical removal of breast tissue) today, she will be on medical leave from the ABC affiliate for five weeks. Hurtado, whose mother died from breast cancer in 1995 (the same year she joined the station as its news department began following WFTS' conversion from Fox to ABC affiliation), announced the news on-air yesterday:

Charlie Bagley, a former meteorologist at Meredith Corporation's Hartford station WFSB, passed away over the weekend at his home in Stafford Springs, Connecticut at the age of 82. A 23-year veteran at the CBS affiliate until his retirement in the mid-1990s, dating back to when the station's callsign was WTIC (a callsign now belonging to Tribune Broadcasting's Fox affiliate in the same market), and also had worked for former sister station WTIC radio. Joanne Feldman is moving from the weekend shift on Fox O&O WAGA in Atlanta to weekday mornings according to the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution", she will be replacing Jeff Hill as meteorologist for "Good Day Atlanta", the station's 4:30-10 a.m. newscast. Hill will contribute as a meteorologist to the noon, 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts on weekdays, and weekend evenings at 6 and 10 p.m. No word from the station on why the change occurred.