Media Buzz | News/views about local media

Karla Mariscal bids farewell to KINT

Channel 26-KINT anchor Karla Mariscal will say goodbye to El Paso Univisión viewers on June 15, she announced this week.

"After 13 years of being part of the Noticias 26 Univisión team, I'm announcing to all of you that June 15 will be my last day on television," Mariscal said in a written statement. "Serving my community has been a great privilege."

Mariscal also called her experience at KINT "beautiful." During her career at the station, she twice won news Emmy awards for best anchor, and two EMMA awards for excellence in journalism. She has also been recognized 10 times by the Texas Press Association.

Mariscal said in the statement that she plans to take a break from her career and dedicate more time to her family.

KVIA's Jorge Torres leaving for Albuquerque

Officials at KVIA announced via the station's Facebook page that weekday morning meteorologist Jorge Torres is leaving at the end of the month.

Torres' last day on Good Morning El Paso will be May 31. He has accepted a position as the weekend meteorologist at Albuquerque's KOB.

Torres also made the announcement during this morning's (May 17) broadcast.

Dan O'Rourke out at KTSM

Dan O'Rourke, a reporter and anchor at Channel 9-KTSM, is out at the station, according to O'Rourke's Facebook page.

On Tuesday (April 16), O'Rourke posted a message thanking his fans for their support.

"Dear friends, thank you all for your friendship and wonderful support. Not by my own decision, I am leaving KTSM. I love El Paso and I wish you all the very best in your lives. God bless you and your families, now and always," O'Rourke stated in his message.

His bio has since been removed from the station's website.

•In happier news, local news viewers may have recognized KVIA's newest weather forecaster Nichole Gomez.

That's because Gomez, an El Paso native, used to work at KDBC/KTSM as a weather forecaster and reporter. She left the station in 2010.

Gomez mainly gives her forecasts on the 9 p.m. newscast on KVIA's sister station, the CW, but occasionally appears on KVIA.

KVIA meteorologist Karla Huelga was originally picked to give weather forecasts on the CW broadcast, but chose to remain on KVIA's weekend broadcasts. She's also the program director for the CW.

El Pasoan named editor of McAllen paper

(Via the McAllen Monitor)

McALLEN — A new editor is set to begin at The Monitor in May, staff members learned Thursday morning. 

Carlos Sanchez, chief of the Baton Rouge, La., bureau at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, is set to begin his new position in May. 

An El Paso native, Sanchez, 52, replaces Monitor Editor Steve Fagan, who announced his retirement Thursday after more than a decade at the newspaper.

(To read more, click here.)

El Paso TV stations win big at TAPB; KINT news director leaving for ESPN

•Two El Paso television stations will bring home a slew of awards next month after being named winners of the 2013 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters television awards.

Channel 7-KVIA meterologist Krystal Klei won second place in the Division 3 Weathercast category for her forecast that aired Nov. 10. The station also won second place in the Division 3 Feature (Light) category for Matthew Smith and Juan Muñoz's story, "Remarkable Swimmer."

Smith also won second place in the Specialty or Beat Reporting category for his work covering El Paso County.

KVIA's Matt Dougherty won an honorable mention in both the Investigative Report category for his story on a horse graveyard, and in the Continuing Coverage category for his story on a Dallas trucker jailed in Mexico.

Staff at Channel 26-KINT also have something to brag about: they are among the three finalists for Best Newscast in Division 3. They're up against two stations in Bryan-College Station: KBTX and WTAW. The winner will be announced on April 13 during an awards banquet in Austin.

KINT anchor Karla Mariscal won first place in the News Anchor or Anchor Team category, beating out anchors from KBTX. KINT staff also won first place for Morning Newscast for it's "Despierta El Paso" show that aired March 29, 2012, and also earned an honorable mention in the Spot Coverage -Station category for their story on the fire that destroyed a historic Downtown building last year.

Channel 14-KFOX's Jamel Valencia and Jesus Martinez also won first place in the Website category.

•In other KINT-related news, news director Zoltan Csanyi-Salcedo will be leaving the station this month to become a coordinating producer for ESPN in Bristol, Conn., according to the Media Moves website (www.mediamoves.com).

Csanyi-Salcedo has been at KINT for six years. Before that, he was KTSM's news director from 2006 to 2007, and also spent three years at Dallas' Telemundo affiliate.

But Csanyi-Salcedo was no stranger to KINT prior to his recent stint. He was that station's news director from 1997 to 2003, and before that worked as KVIA's news operation manager.

KLAQ sports personality arrested on suspicion of theft by check

Sports radio personality Duke Keith was arrested Monday for allegedly bouncing a $68 check he used to pay for his vehicle registration, according to court and jail records.
An El Paso County sheriff’s deputy arrested Keith, 48, on Monday evening (Feb. 18) on a misdemeanor warrant for theft of property more than $20/less than $500 by check, sheriff's officials confirmed Friday (Feb. 22). Keith was booked into the El Paso County Jail at 8 p.m. Monday and released more than two hours later after posting a $500 bond.
According to court records, on Sept. 16, 2011, Keith, whose full name is Duke Ramsey Keith, paid for his vehicle registration at the El Paso County Tax Assessor-Collector’s Office with a check from Metro DRK Enterprises made out for $68.75.
The check allegedly bounced, and tax office officials tagged a $30 bounced check fee onto the original fee. Officials claim they were unable to collect the outstanding monies from Keith.
A warrant for Keith’s arrest was issued in early November, but Keith wasn’t arrested until Monday.
An initial court hearing for Keith has not yet been set.
Keith does the morning sports updates for 95.5 FM KLAQ’s morning show, and has also written blog posts for the El Paso Times.

(Mug shot courtesy of the El Paso County Sheriff's Office)

KVIA to launch 9 p.m. newscast on El Paso/Las Cruces CW

Officials at Channel 7-KVIA announced this afternoon that they will launch a 30-minute 9 p.m. weekday newscast on its sister station, the CW, beginning March 25.

The CW can be viewed on over-the-air digital television 7.2, Time Warner Cable analog channel 13 and digital channel 876, and Comcast Cable channel 14 in Las Cruces.

The newscast will be anchored by Stephanie Valle, who will also produce the show, with meteorologist Karla Huelga providing the weather forecasts.

Sources say KVIA weekend morning anchor Denise Olivas will replace Valle during KVIA's noon weekday newscasts.

"Since the El Paso/Las Cruces CW launched in 2007, we've wanted to provide the station's viewers with news and weather," said KVIA general manager Kevin Lovell in a news release. "Now that the station is well established, we're ready to use ABC7's resources to bring CW viewers a newscast that's an hour earlier than our ABC7 10 p.m. newscast."

Currently, the only other local TV station that offers a 9 p.m. weekday newscast is Channel 14-KFOX. KFOX's 9 p.m. newscast is an hour long.

Newsy tidbits: the baby edition

•A hearty congratulations goes out to Channel 7-KVIA morning anchor Hilary Floren and her husband, Tom. Floren gave birth to her fifth child, a girl named Presley Taylor Floren, just before 3 a.m. today, KVIA announced via their Facebook page. Floren and Presley are said to be doing well.

A belated congrats goes to former El Paso Times reporter and current city public information officer Tammy Fonce, who gave birth to her third child earlier this month, a beautiful girl named Akira Isabelle.

It seems like baby news is in the air, because two other area media people are also expecting. Ariadna Lopez, the evening anchor for Channel 26-Univision, is about seven months pregnant with her third child, and El Paso Times reporter Aileen B. Flores is expecting her first child this summer.

•In non-baby news, former El Paso Times reporter and television news reporter and anchor Roy Ortega (who used to contribute to this fine blog) is saying farewell to Project BRAVO and hello to Project Amistad. Ortega will begin working for Project Amistad at the end of the month, and recently called his time at Project BRAVO, where he served as the agency's spokesman, "a true gem."

•On a personal note, I would like to congratulate my friend and colleague Zahira Torres, who was recently recognized for her dogged reporting on the cheating scandal at the El Paso Independent School District. (Read our story about the award here).

I've known Zahira for about 12 years now (as long as I've worked here) and I can attest to her pedantic nature, her ability to get the story no matter what, and her caring nature. I'm proud to call Zahira a true journalist and friend. Congratulations, Z!

Meet KFOX's new traffic reporter: Miss Florida USA 2011

Lissette Garcia is probably best known as Miss Florida USA 2011, but she will soon be well known locally as KFOX's new traffic anchor.

Garcia replaces Kandolite Flores, who is now the volunteer and communications coordinator at the Humane Society of El Paso. Garcia previously worked as an associate producer and traffic anchor at WPLG, the ABC affiliate in Miami, said KFOX news director Elizabeth O'Hara.

According to Garcia's bio (which you can read here), Garcia is a native of Miami who earned her degree in journalism from Miami Dade College. She also has a background in cardiovascular studies and polysomnography.

She also has a passion for classic cars. At the tender age of 5, she helped her father restore a 1972 Chevy Bel-Air.

After winning the Miss Florida USA pageant in 2011, she went on to compete for the Miss USA title. She placed in the top 15.

Her first day on the air is Monday. You can follow her traffic updates on Twitter @LissetteKFOX14.

To watch Lissette Garcia in action during her pageant days, click here.

KVIA morning weatherman arrested for alleged public intox, disorderly conduct

Channel 7-KVIA morning meterologist Jorge Torres was arrested early Sunday for allegedly causing a disturbance while drunk.

Jail records show Torres, 26, was booked on suspicion of public intoxication and disorderly conduct. He was released from the El Paso County Jail on Sunday evening after posting a $1,000 bond.

Torres was absent from the morning and afternoon newscasts on Monday. The station first reported Torres' arrest during their 10 p.m. newscast on Sunday.

According to Torres' arrest report, an off-duty county constable working security outside of the Lotus nightclub in Downtown El Paso noticed Torres, who allegedly appeared to be intoxicated, outside the club. The constable helped Torres into a cab and sent him on his way.

However, Torres somehow ended up at the Rudolph Plaza parking lot in the 3200 block of North Mesa Street just after 2 a.m. Another off-duty deputy constable working security in the area heard shouting and commotion coming from the parking lot, and when he approached the deputy allegedly saw Torres banging on the hood of a sport utility vehicle while yelling profanities.

The deputy constable stopped Torres and allegedly noticed Torres had a "strong odor of alcohol" coming from his person and had glassy, bloodshot eyes. When he asked Torres how much he had to drink, Torres allegedly responded "eight rum and Cokes, and that's being conservative."

The deputy, believing Torres was a danger to himself or others "due to his state of intoxication," arrested Torres.

Brenda De Anda-Swann, news director at KVIA, declined to comment when reached by phone on Monday, stating it was a "private issue."