David Reese has been named news director at KMIR-KPSE, Journal Broadcast’s NBC and MyNetworkTV affiliates in Palm Springs, Calif.

Reese joins KMIR after 15 years at KNBC in Los Angeles, where he began as the nightside desk manager. Most recently, he was the assignment manager. Before joining KNBC, Reese worked as a freelance assignment editor and field producer for KCBS in Los Angeles and the CBS News Los Angeles bureau.

“David’s many years of experience as a southern California news executive will help take the news on KMIR / KPSE to the next level. We are extremely pleased he has agreed to join our team as we work together to make the Coachella Valley a better place to live,” KMIR General Manager Craig Marrs said in a statement.

Carter Evans has been named a Los Angeles-based correspondent at CBS News, TVNewser reports.

Evans has been working as a freelance correspondent for the network and for KCBS, the CBS O&O in Los Angeles, in recent months. Earlier this month, he was caught in the crossfire of the Christopher Dorner shootout in Big Bear.

In a memo to staffers announcing the news, CBS News president David Rhodes cited Evans’ reporting on the Dorner story, noting “he always seems to be working when no one else is around.”

Evans is married to former KTTV entertainment reporter Courtney Friel.

Tuesday’s coverage Christopher Dorner standoff and shootout gave stations in Los Angeles a big ratings boost for February sweeps. Local stations at least doubled their usual viewership, according to the Los Angeles Times:

KABC-TV led the way, with 708,000 viewers, followed by KCBS (680,000 with a KCAL simulcast), KTLA (259,000), KNBC (221,000) and KTTV (169,000). KCBS said it was the station’s highest-rated 5 p.m. newscast since at least 2004 and was nearly five times the previous average so far this month.

The Times reports that ratings fell considerably when the local stations cut away from the Dorner standoff for President Obama’s State of the Union address.

The San Bernadino County Sheriff’s Office asked the press to stop tweeting updates on the manhunt for Christopher Dorner Tuesday evening, saying the updates were “hindering officer safety.” Two CBS-owned stations — KCBS in Los Angeles and KPIX in San Francisco — complied with the request.

Per @sbcountyda request we are complying and will not tweet updates on #Dorner search. Watch #live coverage on #KCAL9, #CBS2, @cbsla.com

— CBS Los Angeles (@CBSLA) February 12, 2013

Jim Romenesko has the memo from KPIX director of operations Jim Parker:

It sounds like there is concern that Dorner may be monitoring Twitter for information as he as holed up in a cabin at Big Bear.

After consulting with CBS Local VP Andy Lindenauer, we will going forward for now “tweet our coverage – but not details as to what’s happening.”

When the search for Dorner began last week, the LAPD asked stations to not show the “tactical movements” of police officers, citing a concern for their safety.

Despite breaking news in their backyard, local stations in Los Angeles pivoted away from coverage of the Christopher Dorner manhunt to broadcast President Barack Obama‘s State of the Union address Tuesday evening.

CBS O&O KCBS, NBC O&O KNBC, ABC O&O KABC and Fox O&O KTTV all switched from wall-to-wall Dorner coverage to State of the Union coverage provided by their respective affiliated networks around 6pmPT. Dorner and police engaged in a shootout in Big Bear shortly after 4pmPT Tuesday afternoon. The cabin he the ex-L.A. cop was believed to be hiding in went up in flames later in the evening.

• Related, TVNewser: Dorner Cornered, California Manhunt Pushes Up Against State of the Union Coverage

CW affiliate KTLA and independent station KCAL were the only stations to stay in coverage of the Dorner search. Dorner is believed to be dead inside the cabin.

CBS News correspondent Carter Evans found himself in the middle of a shootout between San Bernardino Country, CA authorities and murder suspect Christopher Dorner, who has led police on a widely-publicized manhunt over the past four days, Tuesday afternoon (video above).

Evans was reporting via phone from Big Bear on KCBS when the shots exploded behind him. “I hear gunfire from several directions. The area that the helicopter seems to be circling is an area about 100 feet ahead of me, just directly ahead of me,” Evans said. “That seems to be the area that everyone is focused on.”

• Earlier on TVSpy: LAPD Requests Stations Avoid Showing Officers’ ‘Tactical Movements’

Evans remained remarkably calm while the events unfolded in front of him, occasionally staying silent for long chunks of time so viewers could hear the gunfire. At one point, someone can be heard yelling at Carter to “get the f-ck out.”

KCBS-KCAL reports Evans is safe. More video of his reporting from Big Bear after the jump. Read more

Anchors from CBS O&Os across the country will fill in as guest-hosts on “The Talk,” CBS’ daytime talk show, next week.

Anchors from stations in New York, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles will join the show’s co-hosts Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood and Aisha Tyler for one day each. This is the third time a round of guest-hosts have been selected from the CBS O&Os.

Kristine Johnson from WCBS will host Monday, Amelia Santaniello and Frank Vascellaro from WCCO will host Tuesday, Susan Barnett from KYW will host Wednesday, Lisa Hughes from WBZ will host Thursday and Pat Harvey from KCBS will host Friday.

Steve Crawford, assignment editor at KCBS in Los Angeles, died of cancer last night in his home in Los Feliz, according to LA Observed.

“As many of you have heard this morning, we lost our longtime colleague and friend Steve Crawford,” wrote the CBS O&O’s vice president and news director, Scott Diener, who was introducing a note written to KCBS by Crawford’s wife, Candy.

In the note, Crawford’s wife talked about her husband’s last moments and revealed something most of his former co-workers may not have known about why he left the station more than four months ago.

Now, finally, you can tell all his friends and co-workers that on May 2 he was diagnosed with Stage 4 esophageal cancer that had metastasized throughout the lymph system…After 35 years with KCBS, Steve chose to continue working for three more weeks after his diagnosis. The doctor told him he had only three to six more months to live. His last day of work was May 23.

You can read the entire letter by clicking the link here.

As the space shuttle Endeavour made its final flight around Los Angeles Friday afternoon, every major station in the region was carrying live coverage of its arrival.

KNBC anchors Michael Brownlee and Kathy Vara began anchoring coverage just before 9:30amPT. They were joined by Colleen Williams at Griffith Observatory, John Cadiz Klemack in Palmdale, Sean Murphy at the Santa Monica Pier, Ted Chen at Edwards Air Force Base, Toni Guinyard and Chuck Henry at LAX, Patrick Healy at the Nasa Propulsion Center and Antonio Castelan in El Segundo.

KTTV had several anchors participating: Phil Shuman, Carlos Amezcua, Araksya Karapetyan, Lisa Breckenridge and Jeff Michael. Meteorologist Maria Quiban and Pablo Pereira handled the weather reports, and reporters were live across Los Angeles, including Bob DeCastro and Gigi Graciette at LAX, Mar Yvette at a restaurant near LAX and Gina Silva at Griffith Observatory. Hal Eisner and Tshaka Armstrong also contributed. Read more

Kristine Leahy (pictured left) has joined KCBS-KCAL in Los Angeles as a sports anchor and reporter.

“Kristine joins us from the FOX-owned station in Boston where she has been a sports anchor/reporter covering all the professional teams in Beantown,” news director Scott Diener told staffers in a station memo.  ”KCAL9 and Los Angeles Lakers fans will remember Kristine from her days back in 2008 when she did reporting on the Lakers Fan Cam for nightly broadcasts as an intern for KCAL9.”

After the jump you can read the entire memo and see Leahy (video alert!) in her first day of work, sitting next to co-anchor Gary Miller.

Read more