Remembering Tony Snow

The News 2K brought you the sad news of Tony Snow's passing earlier this morning around 6:30 a.m. FishBowl DC, a beltway blog, has created an excellent page highlighting the wonderful moments of Tony Snow's career.

Additionally, Fox News has special primetime programming this evening that is remembering the life of Snow, the former host of Fox News Sunday.

KOAM: Saying Goodbye, Welcoming New Life

KOAM has been busy the last few weeks... and not I am specifically talking about the anchors and reporters on the scene of major stories. Take a look at all that has happened at KOAM:

• Reporter Jennifer Denman left for KOLR/KSFX (as referenced in a recent blog entry)
• Reporter Jeff Stensland has also left the station for another tv job out east
• Reporter Christina Tipton, who had been on maternity leave, gave birth to her first child... congrats!
• Reporter Mike Pache joined the KOAM NewsTeam

Anyone else tired yet? Two reporter positions are still left to be filled for the top rated station in the Joplin, MO television market.

Breaking News: Tony Snow Passes Away

Former FOX News anchor, White House Press Secretary, and CNN Analyst Tony Snow has passed away at the age of 53. He had been battling cancer for months. This news is just breaking on CNN at this time.

Fox News apparently has had a story in place. Here is their retrospective, looking back on his career.

Obama Supports Death Penalty for Osama

This Sunday afternoon Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's new show GPS, sits down for an exclusive one-on-one interview with presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama. Among the topics of discussion will be Osama Bin Laden. In this interview, Obama claims he would seek the death penalty against Bin Laden if he were to be apprehended.

"I am not a cheerleader for the death penalty — I think it has to be reserved for only the most heinous crimes, But I certainly think plotting and engineering the death of 3,000 Americans justifies such an approach."

The entire interview will air this Sunday at 12:00 p.m. local time on CNN.

New Look

I had some free time this afternoon so I thought I would give TheNews2K a new look. I will continue working on it over the next couple of hours, so if you notice things changing a bit... that is why. I get bored with things staying the same for too long.

Where Did They Go?

...Ellie Merritt, former KY3 anchor, now anchors the 4:00 news for the NBC station in Columbus, Ohio.







...Dee Griffin, former KCTV evening anchor, now anchors the 5, 6, and 10 news at the ABC affiliate in Memphis, TN.






...Chris Herzog, former weekend anchor at KOLR/KSFX. He is now managing editor and evening anchor at WEAU-TV in Wisconsin. He is joined there by former co-anchor (and now wife) Sarah Stokes.













But, where did these individuals go?

• Sam Lane, former KSNF Chief Meteorologist


• Eric Maize, former KRCG evening anchor


• Jessica Allen, former KOAM weekend weather anchor

Jennifer Denman Joins KOLR-10

This seems to be a trend... do well in the Joplin market and you can find a nice home in the Springfield one. Following in the steps of Cara Connelly, Tracy Turner, Lisa Rose, and Chad Plein, Jennifer Denman has joined the KOLR 10/ Ozarks FOX family as a reporter. She had previously been with KOAM for three years. Coincidentally, her bio is still up at KOAM TV's website as well.

Schools Out...Just For Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

KSPR touched a nerve yesterday with a story and an associated TalkBack segment about whether or not schools should consider extending the day but not going to school on Friday and many Ozarkers let them know about it. Apparently there are two districts in Arkansas who are examining this possibility because of rising energy costs.

There appeared to be a mixed bag of responses to this proposal. I could see the benefits of this plan, while I could also see some major drawbacks. I am not sure that giving kids one more day off a week is a great idea. That also then opens up the whole idea of breaks... do you now give them 5 day weekends? I think it is very complicated.

I tend to fall under the same umbrella as a poster named Amy who commented, "It is a sad day when schools have to choose between educating kids properly and energy costs."

You can find the talkback information from KSPR by clicking here.

Lisa Ling Joins Nightline

Wow, she is one busy lady! Lisa Ling, former co-anchor of The View as well as anchor/reporter for Channel One News, has joined Nightline as a contributor for the program, according to Broadcasting and Cable. Her first story will air tonight.

In addition to her work for the ABC late night news show, Ling also works as a coorespondent for Oprah and the National Geographic Channel.

Just In: Rod Smith Back To KRCG

A tipster informs me that this is the new venture. He will be doing limited work for KRCG Sports, including the widely popular venture of his fishing segment. I am still awaiting confirmation.

Update: KRCG has now posted an article confirming that Rod Smith will come back to KRCG as the sports director, effective August 4. Read the complete details here.