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Sad news to pass along from the North Texas market >> Former WFAA-TV personality Jerry Haynes passed away this morning at 84. For 35 years and over 6,000 episodes, Haynes was the host of WFAA-TV's long-running locally-produced weekend morning children's program, "Peppermint Place". Also during his tenure at WFAA, he was also one of the people present at Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas at the very moment that JFK was assasinated. But he will always be remembered as the cheery man in the peppermint-colored suit, tophat, and cane. I myself grew up watching Peppermint Place as a child, and for my part, he will be very sorely missed. Rest In Peace, Mr. Peppermint.

 

More from WFAA-TV's Jonathan Betz...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hubbard Broadcasting's Albuquerque NBC affiliate KOB is mourning the loss of one of its reporters. Sharon Erickson died Saturday night at an Albuquerque hospital at age 30 from complications suffered from an undisclosed surgery. Erickson had only been working for nine months at KOB as a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor. Erickson, who graduated from the University of Texas, previously worked as a reporter/producer at ABC affiliate KTBS in Shreveport, Louisiana, and as a reporter at CBS affiliate KNOE in Monroe in that same state before coming to KOB. We at TVNewsCheck send our condolences to Sharon's family at this time.

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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

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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.

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Don Harman, a beloved meteorologist and personality on the FOX 4 morning show passed away Tuesday evening. To all of us, Don was like family, and the news comes as a great shock to all the folks he worked with here at FOX 4.

President and General Manager Cheryl McDonald said “We are very saddened by this tragic loss. Don wasn’t just our Meteorologist, he was a part of our family and we loved him. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed.”

Don brightened our mornings for more than 10 years and he made his mark on Kansas City television. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, and we ask that in this time of sorrow that you respect them and their need for privacy in their moment of grief.

Don’s family has set up a fund in lieu of flowers. If you’d like to donate:

The Don Harman Memorial Fund Benefiting local Kansas City Charities.

c/o Tightwad Bank

1160 SE Highway 7

Tightwad, Mo. 64735

All of us at TVNT send our prayers and condolences to the Harman family and extended family at WDAF FOX 4.

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  • 1 month later...

TVNT wants to send our prayers and condolences to the team of WTNH News 8 and to the Goldstein Family. WTNH Chief Meteorologist Dr. Mel Goldstein passed away yesterday after a losing his battle with cancer, Dr. Mel was 66 years old. Dr. Mel had been fighting Multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in his bone marrow, for many years.

 

Dr. Mel retired from News 8 in August of 2011 after years of dedicated service, and delivered his 'farewell forecast' in November. His love and enthusiasm for the weather and passing along his knowledge was apparent to anyone who met him.

 

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/connecticut/dr-mel-passes-away-at-66

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Tulsa television has lost an icon tonight. KTUL-TV announced that legendary meteorologist Don Woods died this evening at the age of 84 due to complications from pancreatic cancer.

 

Woods was the ABC affiliate's first meteorologist when the station signed on in 1954 and stayed at Channel 8 until he retired in 1989. Woods was best known for his beloved character "Gusty", who Woods drew every night during his forecasts. His work is currently displayed at Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington.

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  • 3 months later...

Scott Michael Trager, weekday morning anchor at WWTV/WWUP and WFQX-TV/WFUP in Cadillac, Michigan, died suddenly Wednesday morning (September 26) at age 46. Trager had been anchor of Michigan This Morning at the CBS affiliates owned and Fox affiliate managed by Heritage Broadcasting Group (WFQX-TV/WFUP, which Heritage began managing alongside the CBS stations in October 2007 under a shared services agreement, began airing an extension of the program in 2008). Trager started with WWTV/WWUP in 1990 as the station's sports director, before transitioning to news anchor in 1998. During Trager's tenure as sports director, he helped create the station's 11 p.m. sports wrap-up segment Sports Overtime, which continues to air in the present day.

 

Reacting to the news of Trager's death, WWTV/WWUP general manager Bill Kring said in a statement:

“This is a sad day for everyone who has worked with Scott Michael Trager and for our viewers who have woken up with him each morning.”

 

Trager leaves behind a wife and three children (all of whom are triplets). All of us at TVNewsTalk send our condolences to the Trager family at this difficult time.

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Matt Turner. anchor and reporter at CBS affiliate KTHV in Little Rock, died Saturday evening (October 6) at the age of 32. Turner had only been working as a weekday morning anchor for the Gannett-owned station since joining the station in September from at NBC affiliate KNWA/Rogers (Fort Smith-Fayetteville). Turner died in an accident around 7:30 p.m. as he and his family were traveling to visit family in his hometown of Arkadelphia, Arkansas (something Turner often did for the first two years after the death of his father, who served as a pastor at 3rd Street Baptist Church in Arkadelphia) in separate vehicles. His Chevy Tahoe ran off of Interstate 30, near the Highway 70 exit in Saline County, Arkansas (outside of Benton), fallling 400 feet below and hit the concrete base of a highway sign. A graduate of Ouachita Baptist University, Turner started his broadcasting career at KNWA in 2003 as a sports anchor/reporter, before transitioning to news as a primary anchor in 2006.

 

Turner's family released a statement on the tragedy Sunday morning (October 7):

Matt always loved and protected his family and his greatest asset was his love for his daughter Preslee. He always put his family and friends ahead of himself and was constantly thinking ahead and planning on their behalf. Matt was a man of integrity and had a strong faith in God. While we are deeply saddened and feel a sense of great loss, we know that God will pull us through this very difficult time. We appreciate the support so many have already given and ask that you would remember us in your thoughts and prayers.

 

TVNewsTalk sends our heartfelt condolences to those Turner is survived by: his wife Julee and 10-month-old daughter Preslee Bell, as well as his mother, Lisa, and brother Andy.

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Sad news to report to you. WCIA-3 Meteorologist Robert Reese passed away Tuesday night at a hospital in Chicago. He'd been battling pneumonia recently and dealing with cancer for many years. Robert began his career at WCIA 3 in 1998 and served as the station's chief meteorologist for nearly four years.

 

All of us at TVNewsTalk send our prayers condolences to the staff of WCIA 3 News and to Reese family at this difficult time.

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For the second time in 2012, a member of KOMO-TV/Seattle's news staff has died. Three months after the death of longtime weeknight anchor Kathi Goertzen, Joel Connable (who had just joined the ABC affiliate the week before and married his longtime girlfriend two weeks prior to his death) died on Monday (November 5) due to complications from Type 1 diabetes at the age of 39. As reported by anchor Dan Lewis during Wednesday evening (November 7)'s 6 p.m. newscast, Connable likely died as the result of a seizure. Connable joined KOMO three years after his 2009 firing from NBC-owned WTVJ/Miami for allegedly violating that station’s policy on accepting free gifts. Prior to joining KOMO and WTVJ, Connable had previously worked at WLTX/Columbia, South Carolina and KCBS-KCAL/Los Angeles, California. Connable had a lawsuit pending against the station at the time of his death. All of us at TVNewsTalk extend our condolences to Joel's family at this time.

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  • 2 months later...

It's a very sad, yet difficult day for many in the Houston area, and for the people at ABC 13 Eyewitness News.

 

In sad KTRK 13 related news, the day sportscaster Bob Allen is to sign off the station for good, we learn that former morning weatherman, Doug Brown, died last night according to an Ed Brandon Facebook post. He was 79 the station reported. Brown worked in the broadcasting business for 50 years. Stops included KWTX Waco, KRGV Weslaco, KHOU 11 and then of course a long career at KTRK.

 

He was a heck of a nice guy. What you saw on TV is was what you got in real life. He had a very calming presence. When I worked with him at KTRK, we would talk about Baylor University football.

 

Brown retired from channel 13 in February 2008. Casey Curry replaced Brown at the station.

 

We at TVNewsTalk offer our prayers and condolences to Doug Brown's family and the staff of KTRK ABC 13.

 

RIP Doug and Godspeed.

 

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=8957655

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Sad news to report from Phoenix. Bill Close, a longtime anchor at KSAZ (then KOOL & KTSP) in Phoenix, died Sunday at 91. Close, who KSAZ calls “the Walter Cronkite of Phoenix,” was best known for an on-air incident in 1982 when a gunman entered the KOOL studios and held Close and his camera man, Louie Villa, hostage for five hours. Close negotiated with the gunman and read a “rambling” statement from him. The gunman eventually surrendered.

 

We here at TVNT offer our prayers and condolences to Bill's family, and Bill's colleagues at FOX 10. And as Bill always say when closing the evening newscast, "And brings us right up to date on the news, so for the KOOL (TV10) news team, Good Night."

 

http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/story/20740763/2013/01/28/remembering-bill-close

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Some more sad news to report - this time from the Fox station in Memphis. Longtime WHBQ-TV anchor Ed Craig passed away early Monday morning at the age of 80 after complications with COPD. Craig started his broadcasting career in radio in the 1950s before joining the station in the 60s as a reporter as well as its first weatherman. Eventually, he became one of WHBQ's news anchors during the 70s and 80s until his retirement in 1990.

 

WHBQ story (with video): http://www.myfoxmemphis.com/story/20753512/veteran-channel-13-news-anchor-ed-craig-dies#at_pco=cfd-1.0

 

We at TVNT give our condolences to the WHBQ-TV family, both past and present, as well as to Craig's family in their time of mourning.

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It is my duty to break sad news to news viewers to Tuscon, AZ and Sherman-Denison, TX. Randy Garsee, former anchor at KOLD News 13 (CBS) and KTEN News 10 (NBC) died. His family says he died peacefully in his home in Alexandria, Virginia.

 

Randy, along with co-anchor Kris Pickel, anchored our evening news here at KOLD News 13 for nearly ten years, from 1997 to 2006, and then moved to Ada, Oklahoma to be anchor and managing editor at KTEN from 2006 to 2008.

 

After he left KTEN Garsee did some reporting for the military in the middle east, wrote a couple of books, and worked as a communications and public affairs advisor.

 

Randy Garsee was 50.

 

We at TVNT offer our prayers and condolences to the Garsee family in this very difficult time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just in: New Orleans has lost a legend tonight.

 

Former WDSU anchor/reporter Alec Gifford died tonight, according to his daughter. He was 85.

Gifford began his career at WDSU in 1955 and remained there until his retirement in 2006, except for a short stint as an NBC correspondent in 1966 and from 1967-80 at rival WVUE, then an ABC affiliate as anchor and news director.

 

He was truly one of the best who ever did it.

 

http://www.wwltv.com/news/Legendary-NO-journalist-Alec-Gifford-dies-199643921.html

 

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  • 3 months later...

Former WTLV morning/noon anchor Sally Fox died on July 3 at the age of 58. She was at the station from 1988 to 1995, and while anchoring also founded a concern that runs group homes for the disabled, Angelwood, Inc.

 

A couple ancillary items:

 

-The graphic accompanying the article is from 1991, and it uses a 12 bug that is associated with their 1992-93 image. Looks like the "1992" theme debuted in 1991, and we know as of this week that the "1991" theme debuted in 1989 (or the fall of 1988, when WTLV returned to NBC after eight years with ABC).

-The TVSpy article about Fox's death implies that Fox worked at WJXX, when WJXX wasn't on the air until 1997 or connected to WTLV until 2000.

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Unfortunately more tragic news for the folks at WATN (formerly WPTY) Memphis. Former sports anchor Corey Maclin was killed last night in a traffic accident. Maclin served as primary sports anchor for ABC 24/CW 30 for about 2 and a half years from 2010-2013. Maclin was far better known in Memphis as a wrestling promoter and announcer (in a city where that sport has been historically huge), and his tenure at ABC 24 was more of an experiment at WPTY's worst period of Newport ownership and just didn't work out that well, and he was let go just weeks before their recent relaunch.

 

Regardless of that, Maclin was still very respected in the community and comments on social media this morning reflect a big, big loss. This makes now 4 WPTY staff members that have unexpectedly died in the last 5 years.

 

Thoughts and prayers to the Maclin family and those at WPTY and elsewhere that knew him well.

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Sad news out of Milwaukee today, WTVJ's 15 year veteran Managing Editor Jim Cullen has died. Cullen passed away Wednesday after a two year battle with brain cancer. We at TVNT want to offer

our prayers and condolences to Jim Cullen's family and to his extended family at Today's TMJ4. Rest in Peace, Jim.

 

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/wtmj-managing-editor-jim-cullen-dies_b106887

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Another sad announcement just in to TVNT, this one out of Houston. Former KTRK, KMOL, KEYE, KTRK and KIAH anchor Alan Hemberger has died today. Cause of death is unknown for right now. Hemberger was 65 years old. All of us at TVNT sent our prayers and condolences to the Hemberger family. Rest In Peace, Alan.

 

http://mikemcguff.blogspot.com/2013/10/alan-hemberger-has-died.html

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It is very difficult to me that we're ending the final weekend of 2013 on a somber note. It is with deep sadness and a heavy heart that I report to you that San Diego broadcaster Loren Nancarrow, the longtime weatherman from KFMB and KGTV and news anchor at KSWB FOX 5 died yesterday. Nancarrow passed away just after 6:30pm surrounded by his family and friends. He was diagnosed with brain cancer in February, Nancarrow was 60 years old.

 

All of us at TVNT offer our thoughts, prayers and condolences to Loren Nacarrow's beloved wife Susie, his three adorable children and to Nancarrow's extended TV family at KFMB CBS 8, KGTV ABC 10, and KSWB FOX 5.

 

Rest In Peace Loren, and Godspeed my friend. You are in a better place.

 

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/dec/28/loren-nancarrow-dies/

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