Tag Archives: O-Town Alumni

Former WESH anchor arrested on DUI charge

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Former WESH anchor John O’Connor was arrested early Sunday in Jacksonville on suspicion of driving under the influence.

O’Connor, now the main anchor for Jacksonville’s CBS 47, was pulled over after police said his car stopped beyond the pavement marker at a red light. Police said O’Connor’s eyes were watery, his breath smelled of alcohol and he kept leaning against his car to maintain his balance.

Police said O’Connor failed the field sobriety test, and they found a beer bottle in the car.

He has been suspended by his station. Read more from FirstCoastNews.com.

 

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Martinez signs off at WESH

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Starting to catch up on the latest news …

Anchor/reporter Raoul Martinez, who has been at WESH for about six years, is leaving the station. His last day will be Sunday, according to Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker. Martinez performed a number of roles at WESH during his tenure, including being an early-evening anchor, morning anchor for WESH’s news show on WKCF-CW18 and most recently weekend anchor. …

Zach Klein signed off this week as sports director at WFTV-Channel 9. He had been with the station since 2003 and is jumping to Cox flagship WSB in Atlanta. His replacement is Phil Burton from Boston’s CN8. ….

Speaking of WFTV, the station changed programming on its digital 9.2 subchannel. It used to be full-screen, live weather radar, which was very handy during our summer thunderstorms. Now, the station has shrunk the presentation from 16:9 to 4:3 and is adding weather forecasts and traffic reports to a rotation that also includes the live Doppler. If I wanted all that, I’d sit through WESH’s boring WeatherPlus. I’d rather have just the Doppler, thank you. …

Former WKMG reporter Trace Gallagher continues to move up at Fox News Channel. This week he became co-anchor of FNC’s Live Desk. Of course, the most famous Channel 6 alum at Fox News Channel is still Shepard Smith. Click here for video.

KOAT in Albuquerque, N.M., has kicked off an interesting summer experiment. It’s expanded its late newscast to an hour. That’s not so unusual for a Fox affiliate or independent station, but it is unusual for an ABC affiliate. KOAT is delaying Nightline by a half hour to have an hourlong late show. OK, so what’s the Orlando connection? Former Fox 35 anchor Shelly Ribando is one of the anchors on the hourlong experiment. If it works in New Mexico, I wonder how many other stations may jump at the chance to wring some more money out of news? Of course, KOAT’s newscast runs from 10-11 p.m. — which even with the time zone consideration is a lot different than having a local newscast from 11 p.m. to midnight. Click here to see a video with Ribando explaining the decision for the expanded show. (Final footnote: KOAT is owned by WESH parent Hearst-Argyle.)
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Latest comings and goings in Orlando TV

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Some good news to report. Former Fox 35 anchor Shelly Ribando has landed a new gig. She’ll become the main anchor at KOAT-ABC 7 in Albuquerque, N.M. According to Eckhert Talent Management, she’ll co-anchor the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts at the Hearst-Argyle station. Ribando anchored her final newscast at Fox 35 in September 2006. …

WKMG-Local 6 morning weather guy Larry Mowry is heading to Big D. He’s become the 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. meteorologist at CBS O&O in Dallas, KTVT-11. He’ll find another alum of the Channel 6 weather staff when he arrives. Longtime O-Town weather man Mike Burger is still at KTVT. …

Not sure if it’s just to help fill-in or if she’s Mowry’s replacement, but former Miami meteorologist Elizabeth Hart has been forecasting the weather on WKMG this week. She left CBS O&O WFOR-4 in September 2006 and has filled in for Mitch English on the Orlando-based Daily Buzz since then. …

Former Central Florida News 13 reporter Don Guevara has jumped to WSVN-Fox 7 in Miami. …

And Syan Rhodes from WMC-NBC 5 in Memphis will join newcomer Scott Walker as co-anchor of WESH 2 News at Sunrise starting Monday, Dec. 10. Found an interesting post about Rhodes on a Memphis TV site while seeking additional information for this item.

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Former WESH anchor coming back?

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A South Florida tipster says that former WESH anchor Shannon Hori may be headed back to the Sunshine State. According to the tip, Hori is on the list of possible replacements for anchor Maggie Rodriguez at CBS O&O WFOR in Miami. Rodriguez is leaving to anchor the Saturday Early Show on the network. Hori left WESH in 2004 for her current home, CBS O&O KTVT in Dallas. …

The voting begins today for the finalists for WKMG traffic reporter job. But, if you’ve been listening closely to the rules on Local 6, your voting means practically nothing. Station management will make the decision on who to hire … but they will "consider" the voting when making the decision. So, if you still want to vote, go for it. ….

Internet Broadcasting Systems, which runs the Web sites for WKMG, WFTV and WESH in Orlando and more than 70 other stations nationwide, is moving its headquarters to St. Paul, Minn. Here’s the full story.

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Former anchor Rondinaro back on air

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Steve Rondinaro, who spent 10 years on the anchor desk in O-Town, is back reporting the news. He’s the new lead anchor and managing editor for WWAY-ABC 3 in Wilmington, N.C.

Rondinaro was the main anchor at WESH from 1986 to 1995, when he stunned co-workers with a decision to leave Central Florida and move to the quiet mountains of North Carolina. He and his wife bought a bed and breakfast, but also he kept his hand in broadcasting by acquiring a tiny radio station. That led to the creation of Rondinaro Broadcasting, which would later add an FM station and another AM station.

Rondinaro returned to Orlando in 1999 — this time at WFTV — to anchor for a year before again returning to the mountains. He eventually sold off his radio stations and bought a local TV station, WLNN (known as Mountain Television).

That was three years ago. Now, with his son graduating high school, Rondinaro and his wife decided they wanted to be back by the beach — and so he accepted the position at WWAY. You can read Rondinaro’s station bio here and click here to watch video of him anchoring on WWAY.

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CO poisoning sends 6 photog to hospital

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Scott Schroeder, a photographer for WKMG, suffered severe carbon monoxide poisoning inside a Local 6 live truck earlier this week while on assignment in Cocoa Beach. NewsBlues.com reports that Schroeder was found sitting upright in the front seat, passed out and foaming from the mouth. The truck’s CO alarm was sounding. The reporter with the crew called 911, and when fire department investigators arrived they found carbon monoxide levels in the vehicle were "off the chart." Schroeder — who fire officials said was lucky he didn’t die or suffer brain damage — was later released from the hospital and was resting at home.

For longtime market watchers, the incident was eerily similar to what happened in 1992 to then-Channel 6 reporter Shepard Smith. Now a Fox News Channel anchor, Smith was rushed to the hospital after he was found passed out from carbon monoxide fumes inside a Channel 6 news van. Smith had been editing for about two minutes inside the aging van when he collapsed. Photographer Chris Kennedy got Smith out of the van and called for help.

Station management at the time cited the poor condition of the news vehicle, saying there were expecting a replacement soon and didn’t want to bother fixing any problems with it.

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