Little Rock-Pine Bluff

Jocelyn Tovar has joined KARK, the NBC-affiliate in Little Rock, as a general assignment reporter.

Tovar joins KARK from KTXS, the ABC-affiliate in Abilene, TX, where she was hired as a city reporter in 2009. She eventually became the station’s crime and courts reporter. Prior to that, Tovar worked as the Washington, DC correspondent at KFDX in Wichita Falls, TX.

Tovar’s first day on the air at KARK was last week. “Really excited and already loving Little Rock,” she tweeted. “There’s greenery!”

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Morning anchor Pamela Smith is leaving KATV after 21 years with the station.

Smith, who joined the Little Rock ABC-affiliate as a general assignment reporter in 1990, announced her resignation yesterday.

“Thank you to all of you who have supported me over the years, watched me grow … and even to those of you who have offered constructive criticism — all of which, I believe, have helped me prepare for the next chapter,” Smith wrote on the KATV website.

She has been hired as communications director for the Little Rock school district. Her last day will be tomorrow.

Three newsroom managers have left Little Rock’s KARK this month. News director Rob Heverling, assistant news director Jeff Whatley and executive producer Stephanie Jackson all ended their employment with the NBC-affiliate on March 2, according to ArkansasBusiness.com.

KARK general manager Mike Vaughn confirmed the three are no longer employed at the station, but did not address the circumstances behind their departures.

“It’s our company policy that we can’t comment on personnel issues,” he said, noting that the positions were not eliminated and that the station is searching for replacements. Read more

Austin Kellerman has been named news director at KARK, the Little Rock NBC-affiliate announced this week.

Kellerman comes to KARK after serving as news director at KTAB-KRBC in Abilene, TX.  Before Abilene, Kellerman worked as the morning show executive producer at CBS O&O KTVT in Dallas and, before that, as an executive producer at KTAL in Shreveport.

The move represents a promotion within Nexstar Broadcasting.  KARK and KTAB-KRBC, as well as KTAL, are owned by Nexstar.

“Austin has done a tremendous job in the company and has proven himself as both a leader and an innovator,” KARK vice president and general manager Mike Vaughn said in a statement.  “Austin’s enthusiasm and passion are a great fit for the KARK team.” Read more

Does spelling count as a “technical difficulty”?  Little Rock CBS-affiliate KTHV apparently had some problems today.

No criminal charges will be filed in the death of the young man whose body was found in an empty bathtub with former KARK meteorologist Brett Cummins.

After reviewing the case, which occurred in September, the local prosecuting attorney recently concluded that “no criminal charges are appropriate based on the evidence presented.”

24-year-old Dexter Williams was found dead, with a chain dog collar around his neck, after a night of partying with Cummins over the Labor Day weekend.  The former KARK meteorologist woke up next to Williams’s lifeless body in an empty bathtub and, after initial moments of panic, cooperated with police in their investigation. Read more

Chris Kane, currently the weekend sports anchor at Little Rock ABC-affiliate KATV, is joining the morning news team next week.

“Management has deemed Chris too valuable to stay in sports,” sports director Steve Sullivan wrote on the station’s website. “Starting next Tuesday, Chris will be helping to host ‘KATV Daybreak.’”

Kane joins Melinda Mayo and Alyson Courtney on the newscast. He replaces meteorologist and co-host Barry Brandt, who will be moving to the evening newscasts.

KARK, the NBC-affiliate in Little Rock, is making some changes to the evening talent lineup.

Starting Monday, weekend anchor Jessica Dean (pictured) will co-anchor the station’s 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts alongside current anchor Bob Clausen. She will replace Melissa Simas, who will contribute to those two newscasts as a reporter, while also continuing to anchor the 5 p.m. news.

“Melissa is an exceptional anchor/reporter and has made it clear that her passion is reporting stories and digging into important issues that affect Arkansas,” KARK news director Rob Heverling said in a statement. “We are pleased Melissa will have a much greater influence on how we shape our coverage of the news of the day.”

Dean, Simas and Clausen will be joined by Keith Monahan, who is the station’s new chief meteorologist. KARK reporter Lauren Trager will take over weekend anchoring duties from Dean.

After an extensive search, KARK has named a replacement for Brett Cummins: former KIAH weathercaster Keith Monahan will be chief meteorologist at the Little Rock NBC-affiliate.

Cummins resigned from KARK after waking up in a bathtub next to the dead body of Dexter Williams. Williams was determined to have died of asphyxia and drug intoxication.

Monahan left KIAH in March after 11 years with the Houston CW-affiliate. “From all I’ve heard and seen, Little Rock’s a great city and the weather will be challenging — just like I like it,” Monahan told Houston media blogger Mike McGuff.

Monahan, a veteran meteorologist, has also worked at KDLT in Sioux Falls, WOOD in Grand Rapids and KGWN in Cheyenne. He starts at KARK on Monday.

A medical examiner in Little Rock has concluded that Dexter Williams, the 24-year-old who was found dead in a bathtub with former KARK meteorologist Brett Cummins, died from asphyxia and drug intoxication.

Williams was found in an empty bathtub wearing a chain dog collar around his neck, following a night allegedly spent drinking and snorting illegal drugs with Cummins.  The medical examiner found no evidence of strangulation.  The drug intoxication is listed as a mix of amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Although the examiner has recorded a cause of death, the manner of death remains undetermined.  The local police department is turning the case over to the county prosecutors office to determine what, if any, charges will be filed. Read more