KENS executive news director Kurt Davis is joining CBS News as vice president of news services.

Davis has worked at the San Antonio CBS affiliate for 10 years. In his new role, he will oversee CBS News’ satellite newsgathering organization, which provides news and information to the network’s 200 affiliates.

Davis has also worked as manager of coverage and content at WSB in Atlanta and as news director at WDSU in New Orleans. He has also worked at KDFW in Dallas, WSET in Lynchburg, Va., KATV in Little Rock and WBRZ in Baton Rouge, La.

Erin Nichols, weekend anchor for Beaumont, TX, FOX affiliate KBTV, is moving back to her hometown to join Sinclair’s San Antonio FOX affiliate KABB.

David Lowell, news director for KBTV, told TVSpy, “We hate losing her but it’s a win-win for her and the company.” KBTV is operated by Sinclair under a Joint Service Agreement with owner Deerfield Media.

According to her bio, she interned at KABB while in college and also worked as a freelance reporter for the station.

Tom Bell has been named news director at KOVR, the CBS O&O in Sacramento.

Bell moves to California from Texas, where he has been news director at WOAI in San Antonio since 2009. He is a former news director at KTVX in Salt Lake City and KPHO in Phoenix.

“Tom Bell is a veteran of more than 20 years in the local news industry and has an outstanding reputation as a leader who does an outstanding job of inspiring his colleagues to produce quality newscasts,” KOVR-KMAX VP-GM Kevin Walsh said in a statement. “I am very pleased to welcome him to Northern California and confident that he will do a terrific job of leading our news team to exciting new heights.”

Bell replaces Cameryn Beck, who recently left KOVR for KTVK in Phoenix.

The fire that knocked San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI off the air Tuesday was likely caused by an electrical short, according to the station.

The fire began on the second floor of the station’s building around 5:00 a.m. Tuesday, during the morning newscast. The building was evacuated and programming went to black. WOAI anchors reported on the fire for sister station KABB, the San Antonio Fox affiliate.

WOAI’s programming resumed around 4:00 p.m. Tuesday. With the second floor of the building still closed, the station has set up a temporary news set in the station’s parking lot.

WOAI was knocked off the air during the morning newscast Tuesday when a fire broke out in the building that houses the San Antonio NBC affiliate. The station was airing NBC’s special report on the celebration mass for Pope Francis when the programming went to black.

“At approximately 5:00 a.m. a fire alarm was triggered at WOAI-TV, and the building was evacuated. Fire units arrived shortly thereafter. The fire was contained to second floor offices. We expect to have electricity restored to the building by noon, and we anticipate having WOAI-TV on the air later this afternoon,” WOAI general manager John Seabers said in a statement. “We are grateful no one was injured.”

In the station’s slideshow of the fire, flames can be seen in the second floor window of the WOAI building. WOAI reporters and anchors did live reports from the scene on Fox affiliate KABB, which is also owned by WOAI parent company Sinclair Broadcasting.

Investigative reporter Brian Collister is joining KTRK, the ABC O&O in Houston. Collister joins the station after 13 years at WOAI, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio.

“I am thrilled and honored to join 13-Eyewitness News and to be a part of one of the most prestigious investigative teams in the country,” Collister said in a statement to the Houston Chronicle. “I look forward to adding to its legacy.”

Collister, who is a seven-time Lone Star Emmy award winner, replaces Wayne Dolcefino at the ABC O&O.

Marvin Hurst, reporter for KENS, the San Antonio CBS affiliate, was live on the scene of a standoff involving a SWAT team and an armed man when gunfire interrupted his report. You can watch the video of the report after the jump.

Multiple gunshots can be heard at 2:03 into the video. “As you can hear in the background as this situation is going off, that was gun fire of some sort,” said Hurst who kept his cool despite being close to the scene. “Something has occurred.”

The photographer zoomed in on the property in question, revealing the silhouette of a SWAT team member skirting the house.  When the photographer upped the gain on his camera, viewers could see more of the SWAT team approaching the house in force. See the video inside. Read more

KABB anchor Karen Martinez has died from breast cancer, according to the San Antonio Fox affiliate. She was 37.

“Karen’s courage in her battle inspired us all,” the station said in a statement. “She loved each of her Fox San Antonio viewers.”

Martinez was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009 and has raised awareness of the disease and its treatments on the air for the past four years. In November, the anchor underwent radioembolization treatments to treat the cancer, which had spread to her liver.

Watch KABB’s tribute to Martinez here (the station’s video player does not allow embedding).

Jennifer Dodd, a general assignment reporter at KSAT, is leaving the San Antonio ABC affiliate for an anchor job in Green Bay.

Dodd will be the solo morning anchor at NBC affiliate WGBA, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

“Jennifer wanted to pursue anchoring,” WGBA news director Bob Healey said. “”Part of her allure is that she understands what it’s like to be a working mom.”

Dodd will start at WGBA after Christmas, she wrote on Twitter.

TVNewsCheck speaks to Jan Boyd, director of digital media at KENS, about the station’s recent web-exclusive series, “Seven Days in Military City, USA.” In San Antonio, where 18 percent of the population has military ties, Boyd said the seven-part series is part of the station’s quest for a digital identity:

The series — using video, photo slideshows and written stories — included stories about the “wounded warriors” who for the second year rode bikes 500 miles across Texas; homeless veterans who reportedly make up nearly one-quarter of the homeless in San Antonio counted as head of households; and Tim Williams, a veteran who now is a maintenance crew work leader at Fort Sam Houston Cemetery, the country’s seventh busiest national cemetery.

The series was filmed, photographed, written and posted entirely by KENS5.com’s four-person digital content-creation team, says Jan Boyd, the station’s director of digital media. It reflects Boyd’s vision of a TV station website that has its own editorial voice while still meeting its obligations of supporting, and supplementing, on-air content. Read more