WXMI

Hernandez joined the station in 2008 from WJBF in Augusta. Her last day at WXMI is Wednesday, and she begins next week as communications and marketing manager at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

“In this position, I’ve met so many incredible people and covered so many great things,” she told Mlive.com. “But some of my favorite things are the daily, local stories. Telling stories about people you wouldn’t know unless you watched FOX17.”

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The photographer was traveling on U.S. 131 Friday morning when he “hit an arrow board traffic sign where a work crew was making an emergency repair to a pothole,” according to WXMI. The live truck spun out and crashed, and he was pinned inside the vehicle. He was alert and talking as he was extricated from the truck and taken to a Grand Rapids hospital for treatment.

The crash resulted in lane closures on U.S. 131 as emergency crews removed the photographer from the live truck and cleared the accident scene.

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WXMI reporter Mitch Fick interviewed Marion Conley, who was charged this week with the murder of one of his tenants, on March 10. In the interview, Conley showed Fick where the body was found and laughed about how police searched his house for the murder weapon.

“You can take a picture if you want to,” Conley told Fick. “There’s two puddles over there.”

“When I sat down with Mr. Conley there at the house where Jodi Snyder was found dead, he was open, cordial, downright hospitable,” Fick said on WXMI Thursday. “He showed me all around the home, talked to me about where the body was found … and answered all my questions very honestly. He made no impression whatsoever that he could have been committing any sort of crime.” continued…

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The newscasts, which debuted Saturday and will run both mornings from 5 to 9 a.m., will be anchored by Tim Doty and Leigh Ann Towne.

The station has also hired meteorologist Kelly Smith for the newscast. Smith joins WXMI from KDLT, the NBC affiliate in Sioux Falls, S.D.

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In the true spirit of “show don’t tell,” Perna performed a perfectly executed backwards “trust fall” into the eighteen inches of snow behind her and began creating a snow angel. Though we at TVSpy can’t pretend we haven’t seen this move before, we were impressed that she was wearing a skirt when she did it. See the video inside. continued…

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The newscasts will air Saturdays from 6 to 8 a.m. and Sundays from 7 to 9 a.m. beginning January 19. Jessica Harthorn (left),a veteran WWMT reporter, will anchor. She will be joined by meteorologist Cyndi Kahlbaum (right).

“These weekend morning newscasts will deliver breaking news and severe weather coverage while also reflecting more of a ‘Face the Nation’ feel on the local level,” VP-GM Jim Lutton said in a statement. “We will incorporate major live interviews, debate the hot issues and report live on the scene of developing stories with a dedicated reporter.”

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“WOOD-TV has such a great reputation around the country for its investigative work,” said Walker. “I’m thrilled to be a part of the team and to start telling West Michigan’s stories that matter.”

Walker comes to WOOD from CBS affiliate KIMA in Yakima, WA where she was an investigative reporter and anchor.

According to MLive.com, Walker is expected to make her debut on the WOOD news at 10 and 11 p.m. sometime next week.

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Emily Richett

“Being a FOX 17 News Reporter and sharing stories about the people, places and good news in our community has been a dream job,” she wrote on Facebook Monday. “But after 6.5 years, I’ve decided it was time for the next story in my career.”

Friday will be Richett’s last day reporting for the WXMI morning newscast. She said has “an exciting new adventure” that she will share soon. [h/t MLive.com]

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WOOD, the NBC affiliate in Grand Rapids Michigan, unveiled a sleek new set this week.

Designed by FX Design Group, the set was a year in planning and features the use of bold color graphics and a massive wall of monitors featuring 16 55″ flat screens.  The monitors can be fed as a whole or by single feeds.

Newscast Studio has a brief explanation and pictures of the design on their site.  Click here to view.  WOOD’s website also features both a retrospective of the station’s sets over fifty years and a gallery of their new set.  Click here to see the 50 year retrospective.  Click here to view the new set gallery.  You can also watch a video walk through with WOOD anchors and a shot of the monitor wall after the jump.

continued…

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Casey Jones

Jones, a Grand Rapids native, joins WOOD after a year as a multimedia journalist at WSJV, the Fox-affiliate in South Bend. Prior to that, he was a part-time member of the WOOD sports department.

“When you grow up watching a station and get into the business because of the people who represent that station, it’s really surreal to think that you’re now a part of that pedigree,” Jones said. “I’ve always imagined myself at WOOD TV and it’s a dream come true to be back home.”

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In July, Volentine did a story for WXMI about the Freedom From Religion Foundation‘s campaign to have the image of a church removed from the city logo of Wyoming, MI.  MLive reports that the Grand Rapids Fox-affiliate dismissed Volentine when it learned that he had ties to the FFRF, a Wisconsin-based organization that fights for the separation of church and state. continued…

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Terzis told mlive.com he wants to spend more time with his children, who are starting school in September. His family is moving to Charlotte at the end of the summer.

“It has nothing to do with my job and the people at TV8, but it has everything to do with my family and my schedule,” he said. “What I’ve been doing is my dream job. What’s really led to this decision, though, is I’ve worked every weekend for the past 20 years.” continued…

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A random cat crashed WXMI reporter Nicole DiDonato‘s live shot Thursday morning, jumping onto her shoulder and sinking its claws in.

DiDonato was shooting a live tease outside of a local microbrewery during the Fox-affiliate’s morning newscast when the stray cat decided to make a cameo (video above).

“Learned my lesson: Never making eye contact with a cat before a live tease ever again,” DiDonato tweeted following the incident. [WXMI]

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Jennifer Dowling

Dowling was a crime and courts reporter and fill-in anchor at CBS-affiliate WWMT. She joined the station in 2010 from WILX, the NBC-affiliate in Lansing, MI. She has also worked at KEVN in Rapid City, SD, KTIV in Sioux City, IA and WHO in Des Moines.

The Michigan native began at Fox-affiliate WXMI last week.

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Rick Mecklenburg

Mecklenburg officially joined the station on May 1. He made his on-air debut last week.

Mecklenberg is a former chief meteorologist at WSBT, the CBS-affiliate in South Bend. He filled in on WXMI after the departure of chief meteorologist Peter Chan last year. [via NewsBlues]

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