Happy Friday to those who celebrate!
In this weeks edition of the roundup, we see the usual churn of journalists moving between markets and stations. We also have a couple of journalists who have ended up on the wrong side of the law, one with a DUI and one with a weapons charge.
Here we go:
Retired KELO anchor Steve Hemmingsen was the face of the Sioux Falls, S.D. station, serving as a reporter and anchorman from 1969 until his retirement in 2000. As part of the celebration of KELOLAND TV’s 70th anniversary, the station sat down with the former anchor. “I always thought my mission was just to not screw it up. And I think I succeeded in not screwing it up,” Hemmingsen said. Click here to read about it.
Michael Dillin, a former investigative reporter at WJXT in Jacksonville, Fla., has died after a battle with cancer. Dillin was 70 years old. Click here to read more.
KSWO in Lawton, Okla., is celebrating Women’s History Month and its 70th anniversary. It did a story about Lisa John (pictured), the first female reporter/anchor at KSWO. Her sister, Ellen John, says she started in the 1970′s. Click here for more.
Prosecutors charged WLFI multi-media journalist Cameron DeBlasio on Monday with a Class C misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. The charge became public Tuesday afternoon on the court’s electronic filing system. Click here for more.
WVTM in Columbus, Ga., announced Tuesday it has promoted Ryan Hennessy to sports director. Hennessy will anchor the nightly sportscast every weeknight at 10 p.m. and will continue to follow the many teams and fanbases of Central Alabama. Click here for more.
WTVA meteorologist Matt Lauban prayed on camera during a tornado in Tupelo, Miss. The Independent said “Mr Laubhan gave Friday night’s forecast on local station WTVA, Amory residents knew that something was very different.”
Sonya Heitshusen, a Democrat who challenged Republican Rep. David Young in the 2022 election for West Des Moines-centered House District 28, was charged in June 2022 with reckless use of a firearm after police said she accidently fired a shot through a sliding glass door in her home. Heitshusen, spent a combined total of nearly 28 years as a reporter at WOI and as a reporter and news anchor at WHO in Des Moines, is now communications director for Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand’s office. Click here for the story.
The NAB filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, siding with Tegna and Standard General and objecting to the FCC’s plan to send the deal review to what it called “regulatory purgatory.” Click here for the story.