Fred Zehnder, longtime KTVU news director, dies at 87 after being hit by a car in Alameda. They went to Trabocco in an Alameda shopping center. Watson's email on Monday came an hour after KTVU published a story online saying that it's been a year since the June 1, 2020, George Floyd protests outside Oakland Technical High School, which . A police transparency law, SB 1421, which took effect in January 2019, mandates the release of information to the public if officers cause great bodily injury. The last time I wrote about Watson, things seemed positive.I hope this is the current status and I'm working on talking to George because I know he reads 415 Media and I know and share . Watson and his wife, Diane, whom he met randomly at a Bay Area restaurant are avid followers, still, of the business. Andre Senior is a relative newcomer to KTVU, having arrived in 2018 after anchoring and reporting in Hampton, Virginia and Tampa Bay, Florida. He was still drinking then and wanted to get sober. Fred was vibrant and in excellent health and still working more than full time. When someone you really admire, like Fred, says something like that, you tell yourself, Well, I guess Im doing OK, Watson said. I think she did well for herself afterwards though. Sam Whiting has been a staff writer at The San Francisco Chronicle since 1988. I've noticed that KTVU, which has a (bad) habit of repeating stories over and over to fill time and hide the fact that they have about half the staff they did ten years ago, did very little repeat playing of the Fred Zehnder sendoff. Q: What does George Floyd have, that Frank doesn't have?? The state panel is preparing a final report that will suggest how to compensate Black residents to address the harms caused by the states history of slavery. I used to watch him on KTVU (when it had a great news department)and really appreciated his special features reports. I'm sure current management heard that as a slap in the face. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and got her start in news at the Daily Californian newspaper at UC Berkeley where she majored in English literature. Some people are more sensitive to the effects of alcohol than others. wine startup leaves customers with thousands of Steph Curry adds to his Warriors legend by lighting up Kings for 50. Courtesy KTVU. TV Streaming | Thanks for posting this video, Rich, and for the update. Then, he disappeared. He started the Scotts Valley News at the kitchen table and ran off 50 copies of his one-page weekly, which he reported, wrote, edited, printed and delivered on his bike, an 8-mile round trip. A group of about 1,000 people broke off from that main rally and headed down to police headquarters. Former longtime KTVU anchor and reporter Leslie Griffith has died. It's nice here in Arizona even when it gets baked," Watson tells me. After 15 minutes on the 10 PM News last (Sunday) night, Frank Somerville abruptly LEFT the news desk and didn't re-appear. She joined KTVU in 1986 as a weekend reporter and anchor, and with her alto voice and steadfast reporting, she worked her way up to become an influential force in Bay Area journalism, the East Bay Times reported. I look at my success as being nurtured and guided by Fred Zehnder, said Richmond, who cried when he got the news of Zehnders death at his home in Grass Valley. I've reached out to Somerville. I asked Watson if he has any interest in getting back into the biz, even on a limited basis doing special projects, a few bits here and there. Unfortunately, he is not the only Bay Area news anchor with a substance abuse/alcohol problem Doug Murphy, KPIX 5 died in a house fire at his home in Lafayette in 2005, Dec. 4th. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! While there, he was introduced to broadcasting through a part-time job at a Eureka radio station. "He (Somerville) looked drunk. TO THIS DAY, I STILL GET ASKED, "how's George Watson doing?"No news is good news. However, I urge anyone who is depressed to get some help, life will get better. His answer is an unequivocal "no." to FOX2. Finlayson is one of those remarkable people who always falls up. More feared than adulated, though I always liked him and looked forward to his newsroom chats. "But more like feeling for the first time that I really could make it. ", UPDATE 10: 28 AM PT: I just received a text from Somerville: "I took the wrong meds last night. Heres a quick look at some of the people we can expect to see more of in the coming days and weeks: Julie Haener, a Danville resident, goes way back with KTVU viewers. Always in our thoughts George! When there's a bit of hope, all of a sudden, darkness emerges. In 2008, he received a highly publicized promotion when he was named the co-anchor of the station's 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing Bay Area icon Dennis Richmond. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. He was known 'bout town drunk in public. Starting in 1978, he had a 22-year run at the TV station, where he put together the anchor team of Dennis Richmond and Barbara Simpson, whom Zehnder later replaced with Elaine Corral, Leslie Griffith and Julie Haener, all during Richmonds 20 years as an anchor. I thought it was a big deal when I started working with her and Dennis. Former Jackass star Bam Margera turns himself in; denies assaulting younger brother A family member told KTVU that Griffith died "from the effects of Lyme Disease since she was bitten by a tick while living in Oregon in 2015.". Miss him on the air. Did he use a different name on air? Hopefully Mr. Watson is doing well. The years rolled on and the alcohol continued to flow. Is she still working there? Griffith, probably not. Welcome back.. KTVU, virtual channel 2 (digital channel 44), is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. They were big shoes to fill! It shows a sympathetic person, Watson, in his most darkest days. Haener seems like a landing strip kinda girl. "Boring is good," chuckled Watson, 75 and mellow over a wide-ranging telephone conversation with me and talking about the biz and his retired life away from the camera and teleprompter. 0. By the time he hit Clearlake Union High School, he was working as a copy boy for the Lake County Bee. He refused to let it end in Game 7, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. But I ended up being one of the lucky ones. Dear Abby: Am I overreacting to my European daughter-in-law's behavior? I remember when Doug passed away. Frank was definitely impaired last night. Drunk on TV?A viewer could have been killed with this carelessness.Have you all gone mad? In March, Somerville missed over two weeks from KTVU and told me that he was battling an alcohol-abuse issue and that he spent some time at a North Bay recovery center. Zehnder also hired or nurtured weather reporter Bill Martin and sports anchor Mark Ibanez, whom hed seen on TV while on vacation in Tahoe. Sad. One of the finest anchor persons around. Watson's transgressions are in full display and at times it's a frustrating, sad and equally compelling segment. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), H-1B: Feds want criminal charges over application fraud for Silicon Valleys favorite visa, KTVUs Frank Somerville to take a break after bizarre newscast behavior. SAN FRANCISCO It's bizarre when someone calls me out with a sickening comment. Producing that show was a dream job. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. I know you all are too. Watson also didn't realize how much the segment would have on his life later, even the more than twenty years later. Over the years, Savidge has contributed to KTVUs coverage of several major stories, including the Napa earthquake and the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa area. Fred still had his great laugh and was as engaged as ever in journalism and in life, said Sandobil, now a communications consultant in Alameda. In 2008, he received a highly publicized promotion when he was named the co-anchor of the station's 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing Bay Area . I was stunned. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez, Evan Sernoffsky is an investigative reporter for KTVU. She has been at the station since 1997 and was on the desk the night Bay Area news icon (and Somervilles predecessor) Dennis Richmond tearfully signed off in 2008. Alex Savidge normally anchors the 4 p.m. newscast on KTVU and the 7 p.m. news on KTVU Plus. Significant piece of retro San Francisco bay area broadcasting history. The ones that put me to sleep." OAKLAND, Calif. - Oakland police officers have been disciplined following the deployment of tear gas and other less-than-lethal projectiles at last summer's George Floyd protests, KTVU has learned. He talks to me here at 415 Media, his first public interview in over two decades. Watson's first report will be on the Marin Shipyards and can be seen Sunday. Zehnder also helped mold the on-air persona of popular feature reporters Bob MacKenzie and George Watson. He said that these findings and discipline are private under the police officer bill of rights. He held a news conference at the time saying that people were throwing rocks at police and "preparing Molotov cocktails.". At that time I did not seek professional help due to finances. Don. I don't know if that's true or just folklore.I wish the best for this man. I miss George Watson on the nightly news. A segment that continues to be one of Dateline's most-watched programs--the segment aired in 1996, right when Watson left KTVU. As editor and publisher of both the San Leandro Times and the Castro Valley Forum . Former longtime KTVU anchor and reporter Leslie Griffith has died. The EMMY statues will be handed out at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco on Saturday, May 18th. at KTVU (Mann was one of the station's first hires), O'Brien and Zehnder brought in newcomer Leslie Griffith to join veteran KTVU reporter George Watson on the weekend anchor desk. Sadly, it looked like he was drunk. Heather Holmes, a Texas native, has been at KTVU since 2006, when she started as a weekend anchor. Hope Frank gets the help he deserves. Was a regular KTVU News viewer back in the days when George worked at the station, and I always really liked his work. I get the impression that Les has remained supportive, through thick and thin, and (if true) that would be quite a reflection of her character. She currently anchors the 4 and 7 p.m. news at KTVU, but has filled in for Somerville several times already this week. He's The Peter Principle in action. Would be great to see some of his more recent reporting. Tickets for the event are $85, with a $10 . KTVU announced this week that anchor Frank Somerville will take an indefinite leave of absence to focus on his health after the veteran newsman was seen slurring and stumbling over his words during a May 30 newscast on Channel 2. A drug company abandoned a treatment for bubble boy disease. After a 5-year fight, this little California girl is about to get it I used to pretend he was my father. The plan was set, and just as O'Brien expected, KTVU became even more phenomenally successful. Here are their demands, Downtown S.F. Watson's email on Monday came an hour after KTVU published a story online saying that it's been a year since the June 1, 2020, George Floyd protests outside Oakland Technical High School, which was organized by teens. No I was not deliriously happy, but I was not depressed. "I'm loving retired life, really have left that stage of my life." At that time I thought professional help and it did help. When Somerville posted to his Facebook page on Wednesday, he drew responses from a multitude of well-wishers. Once after my divorce, which I asked for by the way. You know the story. Part-time? This photo is from 1990, early in Leslie Griffith's KTVU tenure, when she was a weekend anchor. There was also a front-page news item about his death. All the best, George! She will forever remain part of a lengthy list of talent that made KTVU a destination station for news. In that sendoff staffers talk about how great things were back then, with Randy Shandobil saying "If you like us at all now, it's because of Fred." Nice entry, Rich. Kevin O'Brien was the station manager, Zehnder's boss. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Walter Cronkite famously had a bug and had to ask for a blanket to wrap around himself after delivering a newscast while so afflicted. You can email her at agraff@sfgate.com. Ask Amy: I put a security camera in my room, and what I saw was creepy, Ask Amy: My fiancee's family says I'm not invited, and she's going without me, The dad whose wife and child were among 5 killed by a neighbor in Texas describes how the massacre unfolded, 'Total dominance': Steph Curry breaks NBA Game 7 record, leads Warriors over Kings, Dear Abby: The reason her fiance hid his phone was something she never guessed, Mortgage fees to rise for buyers with high credit scores, fall for those with lower scores, Kurtenbach: Steph Curry built the Warriors dynasty. I wish him all the best, in his efforts to overcome Drinking. He was great. She later took over the 10 p.m. news spot co-anchoring with Dennis Richmond. We were normal-looking people who you wouldnt expect to see on TV news., Starting as an assignment editor, Zehnder was promoted to news director because of his news judgment and popularity with the staff. Great to report he's living in Scottsdale and enjoying retired life, sober and tranquil many years and sounding very much the same as he did when he was an anchor at KTVU. "Her focus on animal welfare is the most prominent example, as she worked for years to highlight the mistreatment of elephants in circuses and elsewhere.". He also picked up items by listening in on the 18 neighbors who shared a party line. "Sad news," KTVU reporter Sal Castaneda wrote on Twitter. Email: swhiting@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @samwhitingsf. Watson will write and report five- minute Sunday-night feature segments on "The 10 O'Clock News" as part of the station's "My Twentieth Century" retrospective series. by | Jun 10, 2022 | 1050 main street paterson, nj | 159th aviation regiment patch | Jun 10, 2022 | 1050 main street paterson, nj | 159th aviation regiment patch Theyd been planning a reunion for July 9 in Sacramento. Some never do admit they need help. It's tragically intense and real. He refused to let it end in Game 7, Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information. Long investigative pieces that only air occasionally? We all need help at some point.I personally am too embarrassed to ask for help currently.Severe depression going on 4 years now. A possible reunion of old KTVU on-air people, like Watson, Dennis Richmond, Rita Williams, Lloyd Lacuesta and others might be in the works too. "During my first stint at @KTVU in the 90s, my first chance to sit on the anchor desk was to fill-in for Leslie, who then solo-anchored weekends. He wasnt like the idea that people have of a publisher sitting behind a big desk smoking cigars. Produced by Mooj Zadie , Luke Vander Ploeg and Clare Toeniskoetter. Not sure what you mean by "Fox 2 branding" but "Fox 2" as a concept didn't exist during the Zehnder era, so why would it be an element? Updated by the minute, our Dallas Cowboys NFL Tracker: News and views and moves inside The Star and around the league . A job that former KTVU boss/GM, Kevin O'Brien got him. He had spirit and energy and passion; he wasn't just an emotionless bean-counter. Reply Delete Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? He is getting old and maybe time for early retirement. He talks to me here at 415 Media, his first public interview in over two . As a news reader, he's average and somewhat stiff, but his health is more important. Edited by Anita Badejo and Marc Georges. Viewers news may remember her as she spent more than two decades anchoring the 10 p.m. news alongside veteran anchor Dennis Richmond. When Zehnder wasnt working he was walking, and it was while out making his nightly round of his central Alameda neighborhood on the night of June 27 that Zehnder was hit by a raised pickup truck in an intersection. I'm sure that was a subtle F.U. For the last year, civil rights attorneys and some city leaders have called out the police behavior, saying that officers violated city policy and a court order, prohibiting them from using tear gas and fire off specialty munitions as there was no proof of imminent danger, among other things. Watched the KTVU newscasts when George worked there, and I miss his work and on-air presence. Henry Winkler advises find a passion and stick with it, no matter the stage of life I remember watching him in the 90s on KTVU, the years with Elaine Coral and Leslie Griffith when they still work for KTVU. He knows it still has an impact. She stood up for me on occasion too. Get well soon, Frank. I was tempted to make a George Watson joke, but(Jessica Savitch too). One final lapse crossed the line and that one signaled George's exit from Channel 2. A news anchor was visibly intoxicated on the air. It is up to you to calm them down. We knew what our job was and we did it, primarily because of Fred.. TV Streaming | Published by at 07/06/2022. Always liked George Watson, hope he's doing well Wow, Suzanne Saunders Shaw was his girlfriend! Amen, Rich. declines to files charges against armed Walgreens guard, Shocking details revealed during 'Doomsday mom' Lori Vallow's murder trial: Live updates, Barbie debuts Anna May Wong doll for AAPI Heritage Month. In 2008, he received a highly publicized promotion when he was named the co-anchor of the stations 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing Bay Area icon Dennis Richmond. (She finished the May 30 newscast alone after Somerville disappeared from the desk, without explanation, 15 minutes into the program). Emmy Award-winning TV journalist Leslie Griffith, who most notably anchored the Ten O'clock News on KTVU Channel 2, died at the age of 66 on Aug. 10 in Lake Chapala, Mexico, where she had home, KTVU reported. Holmes has a strong social media presence, with 34,000 followers on Facebook and 14,000 followers on Twitter, where she claims to forever be in pursuit of a good story and fabulous shoes.. It was Somervilles first appearance on the KTVU anchor desk since making an alarming exit from a May 30 newscast during which he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. "I'm OK.", UPDATE 10: 44 AM: I asked Somerville if he was going to be back tonight (Monday) on air at KTVU: He texted back: "Yeah, I'm totally fine. TV Streaming | Frank's on-air situation on 5/30, and his "explanation," was Savitch-esque and very sad. Political chaos has erupted in this Peninsula city over one issue: Housing, Flower Moon, a lunar eclipse and a meteor shower unfold this week, Oakland teachers set to strike starting Thursday. Watson has politely turned down several nedia interview requests. Maybe he can come back to KTVU some day even if doing special reports part time. Thanks for the update, Rich. Dozens of protesters have alleged in at least two federal lawsuits that they suffered bruising and even temporary blindness as a result of getting hit with toxic chemical agents and the equivalent of rubber bullets during at least two protests last summer, on May 29 and June 1, 2020. Zehnder founded the San Leandro Times in 1991 while still working as news director at KTVU. "It was not a lightbulb, burning-bush experience," he says. Hope all is well, George. It was not a splashy story, said Knowles, the managing editor. His life is changed now, relatively stable and on an ordinary course. Drinking can help relief stress, but it can ruin someone lives and his career if you have no control over the abuse. Great to report he's living in Scottsdale and enjoying retired life, sober and tranquil many years and sounding very much the same as he did when he was an anchor at KTVU. He was an excellent writer and speaker. Aug. 11, 2022 Updated: Aug. 11, 2022 10:49 p.m. Emmy Award-winning TV journalist Leslie Griffith joined KTVU in 1986. He and Leslie Griffith worked well together, and it is great to see her lovely self in those pictures. George was an excellent anchor. Don, to take its toll at the news studio at Jack London Square.
How To File A Complaint Against Fidelity Investments, Articles G