Elizabeth Cook has been named as evening co-anchor for San Francisco CBS owned station KPIX. She fills the slot created by longtime anchor Dana King‘s departure in December.

Cook, who already co-anchors the 5:00 p.m. news with Allen Martin, will also co-anchor the 6:00 p.m. news with Martin.  She will also join Ken Bastida for the 10:00 p.m. news on sister station KBCW and 11:00 p.m. news on KPIX.

“Since joining KPIX, Liz Cook has shown herself to be a first-rate broadcast journalist – diligent, insightful, and responsive to Bay Area news viewers,” said Dan Rosenheim, KPIX vice president and news director. “We are thrilled that she will be taking on this important new responsibility.”

Cook started her career at KMIR in Palm Springs, CA where she was a reporter and anchor.

Dana King, anchor for San Francisco CBS O&O KPIX, has announced she will be stepping down from the anchor desk.

“I am leaving the business to build my next life as an artist,” said King. “In order to do it right, I am making a commitment that requires a choice between continuing an already amazing career and starting a brand new one. KPIX has been my second home.  I will miss it all more than you know.”

King, who has worked at KPIX for the last 15 years, began working towards a a Master’s Degree in classical sculpture from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University a few years ago.

She was known for boldly allowing her hair to go gray, something not seen among anchors. At the time, King said, “For me, it was a decision about matching my looks with my experience”  You can watch a story she did about the subject after the jump. Read more

KPIX didn’t have too far to travel to find the aftermath of a high speed police chase through the streets of San Francisco when one of its news vans was sideswiped by the SUV the alleged thieves were driving.

The CBS O&O’s 6 p.m. anchors Allen Martin and Dana King tossed to reporter Joe Vazquez who was live on the scene minutes after the pursuit’s dramatic ending.  You can watch the video of the report after the jump.

The scene unfolded when a man stole a woman’s backpack containing an iPad around 5 p.m.  The suspect jumped into a silver Mercedes SUV but not before drawing the attention of dozens of witnesses who called police according to the San Francisco Chronicle who said,

The robbers didn’t help their cause by sideswiping a KPIX van as they tried to get away. The TV crew notified their assignment desk, and colleagues were quickly on the way, a CBS staffer said. The news crew had been preparing to cover a community safety meeting with police officials and city supervisors at the Bean There cafe on Steiner Street that, as the invitation indicated, was convened “in light of a recent string of cell-phone muggings and criminal activity.”

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“When I went gray in March, viewers wrote asking about my health,” veteran anchor Dana King recalled during a recent KPIX story on going gray. “For me, it was a decision about matching my looks with my experience” (video above).

Earlier this year, King, who anchors the CBS O&O’s 6, 10, and 11 p.m. newscasts, gradually changed her hair color from brown to a more natural salt-and-pepper look and she decided to share her experience doing so in KPIX’s investigation into the pressure older people face to hide their gray.

Before-and-after photo of King’s hair inside… Read more