Traffic

An industrious Connecticut state worker made a surprise cameo on WTIC‘s morning newscast Thursday.  As traffic reporter Rachel Lutzker was set to update viewers on commuting conditions, a worker started to meticulously clean a highway traffic camera (video above).

“In all of the years I have done this, I have never seen this in my entire life,” Lutzker said.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

Christina Leavenworth, the morning traffic reporter at WWL, is leaving the New Orleans CBS-affiliate to return to her home state of Florida.

“New Orleans completely grabbed me in every way possible and I completely claim NOLA as my adopted home,” she wrote on Facebook this morning. “However, I’m moving back home to Pensacola. I accepted an anchor/reporter position.”

Leavenworth joined WWL in April 2011 from WALA, the NBC-affiliate in Mobile-Pensacola, where she was responsible for starting the station’s Florida bureau.

Lauren Cook has been hired as a traffic reporter at WMAR, the ABC-affiliate in Baltimore.

Since 2007, she has been a traffic reporter at rival WBFF, the Fox-affiliate in Baltimore. Prior to that, she was a reporter at Fox News Channel and WNYW, the Fox O&O in New York City.

Cook will be the traffic reporter on the morning newscast, which is anchored by Charley Crowson and Megan Pringle. She started at WMAR yesterday.

The mystery behind the big flash of light that appeared in the sky during a KSAZ traffic update last Thursday morning has been solved.

The KSAZ news team was initially unable to determine the origin of the flash, which appeared on a live traffic camera, but now, after some sleuthing by reporter Miriam Garcia, the Fox O&O has determined that the orb of light was caused by an electrical breaker.

Garcia interviewed a woman who witnessed the breaker malfunction, which occured at 5:10 a.m. on Thursday. Video inside… Read more

Longtime KGUN traffic reporter Allen Kath, who’s known to Tucson viewers as “Big Al Your Traffic Pal,” recently attended traffic school after being busted for speeding last December.

Running late for a doctor’s appointment, Kath was pulled over for going 64 in a 45.  He opted to enroll in traffic school to avoid paying a big fine.

KGUN photojournalist Chris Miracle followed Kath to traffic school and reported on the speeding incident for the ABC-affiliate. Read more

Atlanta’s WSB is teaming up with Beat the Traffic, a provider of real-time traffic information, to launch an iPhone traffic app.

WSB already uses Beat the Traffic’s mapping functions for their on-air traffic reports, station manager Marian Pittman said in a statement. The free app will enable users to view and report real-time traffic conditions

WSB vice president and general manager Tim McVay said the app “is loaded with useful tools for Atlanta drivers.”

“It gives you instant access to location-based, interactive traffic maps, current travel times, and traffic jam warnings to avoid delays,” he said in a statement.

Traffic reporter Denise Johnson has been let go at Cincinnati ABC-affiliate WCPO, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Johnson is technically employed by a company called Metro Traffic Networks, but has been reporting exclusively for WCPO for six years. She told the Enquirer she was informed after this morning’s newscast it would be her last.

“They didn’t want to be say goodbye to viewers, because it would make people mad,” she said.

Johnson’s job has been posted internally for six months. WCPO reporter Adam Marshall will assume the traffic and transportation beat immediately, general manager Steve Thaxton told the Enquirer. He noted Johnson was technically part-time due to her employment at Metro Traffic Networks. Read more

Traffic reporter Bob Baxa has been replaced on the WFTV morning newscasts by Racquel Asa.

WFTV news director Bob Jordan told the Orlando Sentinel that the station decided to take the morning traffic job in-house. Baxa, who Jordan said “did a good job for us,” was never a WFTV employee — he worked for Metro Networks.

“We wanted to do something different,” Jordan said. “We had it in the budget to grow on the reporter side.”

Asa joins WFTV from WSYR, the ABC-affiliate in Syracuse. She will be a reporter in addition to handling the traffic reports on the morning newscasts.

Brandon Hamilton made his official debut as the morning traffic reporter on KNXV, the ABC-affiliate in Phoenix, yesterday.

“Brandon is an experienced traffic anchor who comes to the job with a deep-rooted respect for the time crunch that our viewers face every morning,” KNXV news director Joe Hengemuehler said. “That’s why his No. 1 mission everyday is to help them by giving them the inside track on the fastest way to get from home to work.”

Hamilton joins KNXV from WLWT in Cincinnati. “I am looking forward to helping drivers start their day off on a positive note before heading out the door,” he said.