For the third straight year, veteran reporter Magee Hickey is gathering many colleagues for a musical fundraiser.

Hickey is giving back to the community in a personal way. Money raised will support the Lawrence F. Hickey Center for Child Development in the Bronx, part of Astor Services. Students attending that Dyre Avenue school range in age from three and five.

Hickey’s late father co-founded the school. The senior Hickey died three years ago at age 91, just weeks before the first fund-raising event.

“We close each show singing a song he loved, The Very Thought of You,” Hickey says.

Her dad wasn’t an educator. His background was in concrete.

“He developed the property in the Bronx for this school,” Hickey says.

Mr. Hickey’s “major” may have been construction, but he earned a “minor” in altruism. The elder Hickey was head of his church’s parish council and neighborhood coalition for shelter.

“A nun from a nearby school asked for his help in the building because it was a hole in the wall, and they knew my father had a history in construction,” Hickey recalls. “So he started volunteering at that school [Lexington Avenue and 67th Street] and then word spread that there was this Larry Hickey who liked to help out at special needs schools.”

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It’s been providing a venue for well-known local politicians for two decades. PIX11 News Closeup airs its 970th episode this weekend, as the show marks 20 years.

The public affairs program has been decorated with numerous awards, including three Emmy Awards. PIX11 News Closeup has a loyal following of viewers who either watch or record the program 6 a.m. Sundays.

“We’re on early, but we’re worth watching,” says PIX11 senior correspondent Marvin Scott, who has hosted the program since its inception.

In addition, the anniversary retrospective will replay Sunday night at 10:30 p.m. Mayor Bloomberg will be a special guest.

The guest list over the years is a Who’s Who of political and community leaders from New York and New Jersey. New York governors Hugh Carey, Mario Cuomo, George Pataki, and David Paterson have appeared, along with their New Jersey counterparts. New York City mayors Ed Koch, David Dinkins, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg have been guests.

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We’ve reported about the recent ratings win for WPIX. But the Tribune flagship also has a victory in the legal world.

A jury Wednesday, in its second day of deliberations, ruled against former Channel 11 news director Karen Scott. She had claimed that her 2009 firing was age-related. Scott, who turned 60 before being let go, worked 16 years at WPIX.

The station argued that Scott was dismissed due to weak ratings and declining ad revenues.

Scott sought $4.5 million in her lawsuit. Scott’s lawyer, Kenneth Rubenstein, says no decision has been made on whether his client will appeal, Newsday reports.

WPIX weekend anchor Kaity Tong, who turned 65 last month, and veteran reporter Marvin Scott, 74, were among the witnesses who testified in Manhattan Federal Court.

WPIX is not out of the woods yet. Channel 11 and former station general manager (and current WLNY GM) Betty Ellen Berlamino face similar age-discrimination lawsuits from former sports anchor Sal Marchiano and one-time features reporter Larry Hoff, the New York Post writes.

The testimony was akin to legal fireworks, as WPIX weekend anchor Kaity Tong appeared as a witness in the age discrimination trial of her former news director.

Tong, who turned 65 this week, was in Manhattan Criminal Court yesterday to defend Karen Scott, and promptly told lawyers that she was also singled out because of ageism.

Tong recounted a meeting with then-station GM Betty Ellen Berlamino (now GM at WLNY), who was Scott’s superior, according to the Daily News.

She said Berlamino criticized her performance and cut her salary “rather dramatically.” Tong, the former PIX co-anchor (with Jim Watkins) added, “I was devastated, surprised, hurt, and I thought it was baseless.  I was blindsided.”

Tong, a New York mainstay in the mid 1980s at WABC, believed she was given a bad review and the pay cut because “they were setting the groundwork to eventually get rid of me because of my age.”

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On a night that the world learned about the death of Osama Bin Laden, TV networks and New York City stations poured in special coverage.

The first word came in at 10:45 p.m. last night that President Obama would make a major announcement from the East Room of the White House. He actually was scheduled to speak to the nation at 10:30 p.m.

The major networks all hit the air.

At the same time, Fox 5/WNYW broke into Sports Extra with anchor Sharon Crowley telling the audience that President Obama would speak shortly. Waiting, Fox 5 returned its regularly scheduled programming. Following Sports Extra, Crowley did have an extended 10 minutes leading up to Fox News Channel’s simulcast at 11:10 p.m. (Ironically, FNC had the graphic as their standard–”Usama,” while previously he was “Osama” on WNYW.)

Meanwhile at WPIX, Jim Watkins informed viewers of the breaking news at approximately 10:50 p.m., moments after the networks took to the air.    
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When is breaking news not breaking news?

In the case of WPIX, when it happens during their opening “11 stories in 11 minutes” segment. Just after 8 p.m. last night, word came into newsrooms across the city that two planes collided while taxiing at Kennedy Airport.

Fox 5/WNYW treated it as breaking news it was (not just by using those words on the screen). Anchors Ernie Anastos and Dari Alexander opened the newscast with the story, supplementing information available (no one was injured) with live video and reporting from the chopper. Fox 5 remained on that lead story for four minutes.

However, a check with Channel 11 and anchor Jodi Applegate shows a different result.

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Nominations for the 54th Annual New York Emmy Awards were announced yesterday.

WNBC tops the list among over-the-air stations with 48 nominations. WPIX was next with 33 nods, while WABC received 27 nominations.

WCBS was recognized 19 times. Fox 5/WNYW got 14 nominations, Thirteen/WNET earned 8 nominations. My9/WWOR picked up a pair of nominations.

Examining the nominations further, among those recognized in the Best Morning Newscast category: WPIX (twice) for PIX Morning News, and WNBC (twice).

Daytime Newscast: Eyewitness News at Noon (WABC), anchors Lori Stokes and Ken Rosato.

Best Evening Newscast Under 35 Minutes: WCBS (for the 8th Anniversary of 9/11) with anchors Chris Wragge and Kristine Johnson, and WNBC, are part of the six nominees.

Best Evening Newscast Over 35 Minutes:  Among the five nominees, WNBC, WPIX, and WCBS (twice).

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Longtime sportscaster Sal Marchiano filed a multimillion-dollar age discrimination lawsuit against the former head of WPIX/Channel 11.

Marchiano, who left WPIX in December 2008 when the station decided not to re-sign him, is seeking unspecified damages. The Daily News reports that the figure could hit $10 million.

When Marchiano, 69, originally exited station officials called it a retirement, although the sportscaster said otherwise.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, names Betty Ellen Berlamino, the former general manager of Tribune-owned Channel 11. The station itself was not named.

The article says Marchiano’s legal proceedings took place in large part because of former news director Karen Scott filing her own suit in June. In it, Scott maintains that she was pushed out due to age discrimination.

Scott, according to the Daily News, alleges that the station, led by Berlamino, demoted Marvin Scott and tried to force out Kaity Tong. (This week, WPIX reassigned anchors Tong and Jim Watkins in favor of Jodi Applegate.)

He just ‘doesn’t look good on the air,’ Berlamino allegedly said of Marchiano, according to Scott’s suit.

FishbowlNY attempted to reach Berlamino. Messages were not returned.

Channel 11 had no comment.