Florida News Center

(from WFLA.com) -You will soon see a new face on News Channel 8.

Bryan Bennett has been hired to fill the weekend morning meteorologist position vacated by Megan Hatton. Bryan most recently was the Executive Weather Producer and Chief Meteorologist at WCBS TV in New York. He also managed weather graphics content for fourteen CBS owned and operated stations. Bryan was also a weather producer for WSB-TV in Atlanta for 5 years.

Bryan has a degree in Science, Earth and Atmospheric Science from Georgia Tech.

Bryan’s first day on the air will be Saturday, May 25, at 9 a.m. and Noon. (from WFLA.com)

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(edited from TVSpy.com) - WINK-TV reporter Stephanie Gailhard is joining KMSP, the Fox O&O in Minneapolis, as a general assignment reporter for the morning newscasts.

“Stephanie knows how to work a story and get the very best information for the viewers. She will be a great addition providing constant updates on the biggest local stories of the morning,” KMSP vice president and news director Bill Dallman said in a statement….Cont….

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Here are some of the stories that we missed during vacation:

(from WPLG.com) - 05/08/13 – On Tuesday night, police responded to reports of an armed man who was threatening a television news crew in the roadway in front of a home located at 2626 Delmar Place.

According to the arrest report, Local 10′s Ross Palombo and photographer Shane Walker were preparing for a live shot on a public street, when the suspect, Louis Dominic Paolino III, came out of his house and began yelling at them.

The incident was all caught on camera. (below)….Cont….

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Here are some of the stories that we missed during vacation:

(edited from TVNewsCheck.com) – Tribune-owned ABC affiliate WGNO New Oleans (DMA 51) has named Bill Wood reporter on WGNO’s News with a Twist.

“Wild” Bill Wood, an 11-time Emmy-winning features reporter, joins WGNO as a reporter for its “eccentric” News with a Twist at 5 and 6 p.m. He joins the station from WFTX Fort Myers, Fla.

Wood graduated with a master’s degree from Northwestern University and holds a Phi Beta Kappa key from the University of South Carolina….Cont….

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Here are some of the stories that we missed during vacation:

(from TVSpy.com) - George Spencer is joining NBC-owned WCAU in Philadelphia as a general assignment reporter next month.

Spencer moves to Philadelphia from Orlando, where he has been an anchor and reporter at ABC affiliate WFTV since 2008. Prior to that, he held the same role at News 12 The Bronx in New York City.

“George is a dynamic journalist,” WCAU vice president of news Anzio Williams said in a statement….Cont….

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It’s time for yours truly here at Florida News Center to take a MUCH needed break away from work, more work, and even more work. If you have any stories or suggestions for the site, please feel free to e-mail us at the link below. The website will still have updates as (you might guess from the picture) we will not be traveling to jungles a-far and will have access to free Wi-Fi for most of the trip.

-Chris, FLNewsCenter.com webmaster         Contact us here!

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Check out this picture below, posted by WFTS’ Ashely Glass, as one of the station’s microwave/sate vans catches fire. According to Glass, the Dodge Sprinter ENG unit became engulfed in flames for no apparent reason. Photojournalist Tony Jacobson and reporter Ryan Raiche were able to get out in time and no one was hurt.

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(from NBC-2.com) – A Lehigh Acres man was arrested after pointing a gun at an NBC2 crew working on a burglary story in Lehigh Acres Wednesday.

Jeremiah Edward Mayo, 23, of 1066 Fayette Avenue, is charged with two counts of Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon without Intent to Kill.

Reporter Meaghan Smith and photojournalist Walter Pendergrass went to the Fayette Avenue home to do a story on the previous night’s burglary, in which someone stole the family’s pets.

Smith knocked on the door, but got no answer. She went back to the car with Pendergrass and called the workplace of one of the victims, 24-year-old Irma Jaquez-Reynoso.

She was told Jaquez-Reynoso had already left work and they would relay the message, so Smith and Pendergrass waited in their vehicle for Jaquez-Reynoso to return home….Cont….

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(from OrlandoSentinel.com) – April ratings underscore just how tight the race for Central Florida viewers has become and how the competition is challenging longtime leader WFTV-Ch 9.

The numbers in this story, unless otherwise noted, reflect viewers in the 25-to-54 age group, which is most important to news advertisers.

In the April ratings period that ended Wednesday, WESH-Channel 2 and WOFL-Channel 35 overtook WFTV in the 5 p.m. half-hour. (But WFTV was ahead of WOFL at 5:30.)

WESH was tops at 5 and 5:30 and came close to WFTV at 6. WESH was also reaching the most 25-to-54 viewers with its 4 p.m. newscast….Cont….

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(from TBO.com) – Joe Mannion, an award-winning newsman who started as a reporter with WFLA News Channel 8 in the mid-1960s and became news director of the station in 1979, died Sunday night after a long illness. He was 78.

“Five years ago, he was diagnosed with renal cancer,” said his 40-year-old son, John, who lives in Safety Harbor. “He carried on from there, but he was ailing.”

Mannion still managed to golf a few days a week at the Dunedin Country Club. He was an avid fan of the Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and followed Notre Dame closely, his son said….Cont….

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