I get a kick out of KMOV somehow claiming high-class motives such as journalistic integrity in firing Larry Conners (May 23). Former KOMO television and radio news anchor Eric Slocum has died at 54. Pimentel said Conners' dismissal was necessary because his comments put the station in a difficult position when reporting on IRS stories. He was 54. My concern, though, is this chilling effect, that this could have the intimidation tactics used by activists, that coordinated effort by my critics over the weekend to call the station to bombard the station with emails. He's pictured anchoring a KING broadcast in 1978; you can watch the video here. ", Conners had little to say about his future plans, but on Wednesday created a new Twitter account,@LarryConnersUSA. Bier on the Pier takes place on October 7th and 8th and features local ciders, food trucks and live music - not to mention the beautiful views of the Guemes Channel and backdrop of downtown Anacortes. When Steves forecast is within 4 degrees of the actual high, KMOV awards $50 to our 4 Degree charity of the month. After multiple surgeries for aggressive recurring meningiomas, Goertzen died on August 13, 2012. Photo by Jon Gitchoff Wappler died in 2010. Kyle Rogers is the News Director for 'Local News Live'. Another Washington community is having to deal with the possibility of rogue sex offenders. In separate interviews, Zepeda, Furia and Reece said management informed them the station was going in a direction that did not include them. Connable, 39, took the air in October as weekend anchor and reporter for KOMO. There was a problem saving your notification. His firing comes after a series of events that began when Conners implied in the May 13 Facebook post that he may have been targeted by the IRS afterinterviewing President Barack Obama in 2012. {{start_at_rate}} {{format_dollars}} {{start_price}} {{format_cents}} {{term}}, {{promotional_format_dollars}}{{promotional_price}}{{promotional_format_cents}} {{term}}, 4 killed, 4 critically injured in crash at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue, Parents push back on allegations against St. Louis transgender center. Every Sunday morning, Crosscut's weekly email sums up the best stories of the week. You have permission to edit this article. Holly Gauntt, the news director at the time, was praised by several employees for resisting their airing from the start, running them in the middle of the night, away from the eyes of viewers. Things do evolve. He has been encouraged to write "personal observations of news events" and decided to write a Facebook post about his IRS problems, he said. Lee leads Gray Televisions National Investigative Team. Employees reached an agreement for a new contract in mid-March, but station management has not signed off on it. I was just used to evolving with them.". I have absolutely loved it.". Subscribe with this special offer to keep reading, (renews at {{format_dollars}}{{start_price}}{{format_cents}}/month + tax). "Those lines might have been unintentionally crossed by my post," he said. It was a cheap way to eat up air-time. Conners concluded the statement by saying he respects the importance of journalists keeping personal issues separate from professional ones. On the first anniversary of Russia's invasion, dozens gathered at St. Johns Episcopal Church to honor the lives lost. Were waiting to see if shes going to get her hand slapped,said this person. But Mayne made a stop at KSTW -- that'd be channel 11 in Seattle -- before heading to Bristol. Michelle Malkin came to The Seattle Times as a columnist after a stay at a conservative think tank. SNC/FSN sold its cable news rights to CNN after a year, and Furness moved on to CNN briefly, and then began working for Boeing Aerospace as the Public Relations Director for the Air and Space Division. Please, don't friend or follow this columnist; he knows social media can bite. Now that the ink has dried on his separation contract with KOMO, the Sinclair station's former poverty porn reporter, Jonathan Choe, has issued a non-apology full of unclear explanations for his . Connable, who hailed from Long Island, New York, was also a former private pilot and paramedic. The complaint we knew was coming has arrived, and in it, Larry Conners makes clear he's not happy about how he was treated in recent years at KMOV. In July 1996, Bruce King retired from KOMO-TV after a career spanning more than 30 years, and in his retirement, he named Eric Johnson as the new sports director for all weeknight editions of KOMO News 4. Linda Cohn was a KIRO-TV reporter and sports anchor before heading to ESPN, where shes worked on SportsCenter since 1992. He rose to fame after anchoring CNN's coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, his first first on-air broadcast ever for the network. As crime increases, our safety measures must too, GSBA is closing the disparity gap with Ready for Business Fund. Meteorologist/reporter, Abby Acone jumps into the fray at FOX 13. Currently, Missouri has a $750 fee for farmers growing industrial hemp. The following weeknight at 6, he announces the results. Mona Lee Locke, third from right, is pictured in 2012, with husband Gary Locke, right, who stepped down as U.S. His first day on air there was Sept. 11, 2001. But the real fire was lit after anchors were made to read the same script Livingston had read himself in March2017. (Photo: Screenshot from Seattle Channel). "That's a bit of an insult," he said, "but that's the way it is, and you move on, I guess. Sounder train in service for Saturdays Sounders FC match, New poll asks Washington residents what the state smell should be, Masks will soon no longer be required in Washington hospitals, Four arrested in Washington on drug trafficking charges, Illegal dumping in Seattle will now be monitored by surveillance cameras, Boeing employee from Auburn announced as Powerball winner. ABC News correspondent David Kerley worked for KIRO and KING before making the leap. SeattlePI senior editor Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Paris spent the last seven years at KOMO. Reece, who was a weekend anchor for KSTW/11's newscast until it went dark in 1998, has been the face of KOMO's late-breaking news for most of his eight years with the station. Meteorologist Rebecca Stevenson was a regular on Seattle airwaves for six years before leaving for Al Jazeera America in New York. He and Zepeda said they do not know if their union-related actions had anything to do with their dismissals. Peter Kramer/NBC, NBC NewsWire, Getty Images. A 13-year-old girl was accidentally shot by a younger sibling on Saturday. According to documents filed in King County Superior Court on Monday, former. The ambitious Brickline Greenway project is set to connect St. Louis City from the north to the south and the east to the west, and design elements are taking shape. Volunteer to help people understand their Medicare options! Kristy Lee replaced Susan Hutchison as KIRO's evening news anchor in 2001. Conners, who recently signed a new two-year contract, kept the 6 p.m. anchor job. Greg specializes in consumer investigations and stories exposing scams and rip-offs. Updated May 8, 2007 Fisher Communications-owned KOMO/4 pink-slipped three of its veteran reporters Monday morning. Pimentel said he informed KMOV staff of Conners' firing shortly before releasing the statement. Several former employees said they left because they no longer believed in what the station was producing. As feared, after the 2013 purchase, corporate soon started handing down the segments to KOMO. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) is investigating the third deadly crash this past week. Cable host says he won't have conservative commentator on his show again. He also played baseball at WSU as a pitcher (he says with very limited success). The St. Louis Police Department has reached a raise agreement with the St. Louis Police Officers Association and the Ethical Police Society Union. Daniela is a bilingual investigative producer for InvestigateTV. One employee said KOMO staff started to call its competitor station, Q13, KOMO Northbecause so many of their colleagues started working there after leaving. It is a difficult turn in a city that has enjoyed robust broadcast news scene since well, since television news was a thing. In March 2017, word spread among staff that the latest must-run would be about fake newsfrom Sinclairs vice president of news, Scott Livingston. ", In the Facebook post Conners penned on May 13, he says: "I dont accept 'conspiracy theories,' but I do know that almost immediately after the interview, the IRS started hammering me. (Cohn is pictured on May 28, 2014, at the Paley Prize Gala in New York City). "I thought they were happy with my work, and I had no reason to believe otherwise. He now works for Al Jazeera. Longtime staff members perceived they were being pushed out to make room for cheaper, less experienced replacements. Self - Anchor (1982-1985) unknown episodes . Caption: October 1, 2011--KMOV news anchor Larry Conners and his wife, Janet, on the red carpet at the Peabody Opera House re-opening. Amid a national outcry over Sinclair Broadcasting and its mandate to insert conservative talking points on local TV news, several journalists at KOMO News . Lewis anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news with Kathi Goertzen (2007-2008), and with Mary Nam (2008-2014). Four people have been arrested in Washington state on drug trafficking charges, according to U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Jill is an investigative producer with decades of experience reporting on health, safety and corruption. Former KOMO News reporter Jonathan Choe admits that he made a series of mistakes that led up to his termination from the Sinclair-owned media company, but he hopes second chances and the. "That was the hardest part, waking up this morning and realizing, 'I'm not in news anymore.' Cody retired from KIRO Radio in 1996 and died in 2002. We were left with the dismay of, these people have no clue about Seattle, they have no clue about the size of the market, they have no clue about what we do here,said the former senior staff member. "I'm blown away by it," said Furia, who has been with KOMO for more than a decade. ". Joe Fryer reported for KING before moving on to NBC News. Deion Broxton Alison Starling was an anchor and reporter at KIRO-TV, where she covered Seattle's Nisqually earthquake in 2001. Gwen Pope is in 5th grade but shes speaking out about the dangers at her school bus stop in OFallon Ill. At least two staff members have already noticed fallout in their reporting, with sources bringing up the Sinclair connection. Rumors of a KOMO buyer happened to coincide with the annual meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters, in 2013. Conners, 66, spent 37 years in St. Louis televisionthe last 27 as an anchor at KMOVand won numerous local Emmy Awards. Reporter Steve Osunsami of ABC News was a reporter with KOMO-TV in the mid 1990s. Others grew fed up with the station after Sinclair wanted to run a piece in response to a Seattle Times editorial trashing Sinclairs purchase. Media reports at the time list around 20 people let go, but according to one employee, it was closer to 40 when you include corporate staff with Fisher. Choe made it clear that he is interested in staying in media. . Damon Arnold is an award-winning journalist who was born and raised in Missouri. Hattie Kauffman speaks at Elliott Bay Books on Dec. 8, 2013 about her book, "Falling Into Place," a memoir of overcoming an impoverished childhood. Pimentel also said Conners' actions would have caused problems if he had been called on to report on the Obama administration. There were also the layoffsin October2013, which corporate made Gauntt carry out, often with tears in her eyes, say some staff. "I'm only asking that question. A bill is moving forward in the Missouri Senate that looks to change laws on gun sales. Lake Washington Windows and Doors is a local window dealer offering the exclusive Leak Armor installation. When they cut jobs and automate production, it frees up temporary cash so they can then over-leverage their content farms,said one former reporter. KOMO employees will take on Trump-friendly bosses, John Olivers Sinclair rant: There is more to the story, Coming soon to KOMO: More editorials from ex-Trump official, Sinclair wont guarantee jobs for KOMO staff, Christmas bonus for KOMO employees? She joined the News 4 team in July 2022. Sinclair, more than any other media conglomerate, was seen as a departure from the local connection KOMO was so proud of. "I don't know if this is it for me," she said. KING anchor Dennis Bounds, pictured early in his career. The entire KOMO staff filed into a spare studio to see their new bosses sitting in a row, confirming some fears: They were all white men, save for the HR director, who was a white woman. The lead line was disconnected without his realizing it. One proposal involves replacing the waterscape dinosaur sculptures and all with a meadow of native plants. Sweeps, the months during which Nielsen Media Research measures ratings data in local markets, are the most important periods in the programming year. That they were a good olboys network and they had very little diversity.. He said he had worked out a monthly payment plan that began in the summer of 2011. He was 78-years-old. David Amelotti . Media attention focused on Conners' Facebook post. Hours of rain Friday resulted in many streets in the Metro East flooded. Instead they talked at length about the station in Waco, Texas, a city one sixth the size of Seattle. Stations use the information collected during November, February, May and July to set ad rates. Coinciding with the layoffs, Sinclair began cost-cutting. None of it. But during the conference in Las Vegas, chatter spread that there was a bidding war going on for the station. Former NBC Nightly News weekend anchor John Seigenthaler Jr. was once a reporter and anchor at KOMO-TV. He joined the station in 1982, and sported the 'stache for decades. "Larry is a respected journalist. Two days after a crash in midtown that killed four people and left four people injured were still learning more. He's pictured ca. But they also wonder how long people can last. In his more than three decades at KOMO, Brook touched so many lives that his legacy. He used the accountto announce radio appearances Thursday on KYKY-FM (Y98), KMOX andTea Partier Dana Loesch's show at 12:30 on KFTK NewsTalk 97.1. She has since returned to Q13. Former KMOV anchor will host 9-12 night shift on KTRS. We trekked to Teneriffe Falls in North Bend! (Image courtesy Travel News and Deals.com), (Image courtesy Travel News and Deals.com). Stuff started to circulate, stories about Sinclair and how they had handled things,said another longtime senior staff member. Fisher Communications-owned KOMO/4 pink-slipped three of its veteran reporters Monday morning. WashU Medical Schools first Black department head hopes to make St. Louis a leader in the nation. Youre talking to a diverse staff,said one former employee. But what issues existed were largely viewed as the same realities facing all media and there was some comfort in Fishers local roots. But before she joined the show in 1992, she was a sports anchor at KIRO 7, where she looked a lot different. Former KOMO News reporter Brook Stanford died Thursday after a brief illness. He said he stopped the payments in January, on the advice of a tax attorney, because a payment plan wasn't in place. For 37 years, Larry Conners has reported with professionalism and integrity. Conners maintains he did not consider that the IRS could be exacting some vendetta because of the Obama interview until after national stories about the IRS broke. We as a civilization decided a long time ago that there is no freedom to walk around with an infectious disease like tuberculosis. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Today, students from Central Visual and Performing Arts made the trip to Jefferson City to make their plea to lawmakers, urging them to consider gun reform legislation. Jon Decker is the White House Correspondent and Senior National Editor for Gray Television and has been a member of the White House Press Corps since 1995. Staff wanted their new corporate owners to acknowledge that. Around 8 a.m., ISP Division of Criminal Investigation Zone 6 was requested by the Washington Park Police Department to investigate a reported shooting in the 1200 block of N. 49th Street. Former KOMO 4 News anchor/reporter and KOMO Newsradio anchor Eric Slocum has passed away. KMOV fires anchor Larry Conners after social-media controversy.