The 5 a.m. hour of Tuesday’s Local 6 First News could have been renamed "The Marla Weech Show."
The station’s traffic reporter position is vacant, co-anchor Lauren Rowe was out because she was ill, so it was supposed to be just Weech and meteorologist Larry Mowry on the show. But Florida Today reports that just about 15 minutes before going on the air, Mowry received a call that his pregnant wife was about to give birth. Station management gave him to OK to rush to the hospital, so Weech handled the news, traffic and weather on the show until fill-in weatherman Jerry Steffen was able to arrive about 30 minutes after being called for emergency duty.
But who had the tougher day, Weech or Mowry’s wife? Rowe said this morning that Mowry’s wife gave birth around 7:30 p.m.! But Mom, dad and their new daughter are doing fine, Rowe reported.