In the aftermath of Don Harman‘s tragic death, TVSpy asked friends and colleagues of Harman’s to share their stories of the beloved Kansas City meteorologist. In their own words, here are their memories:

KSHB chief meteorologist Gary Lezak:

Don Harman, Joe Lauria, Jeff Penner and I would get together every year at the end of tornado season in June. We would meet at an area restaurant after Don finished his morning shift and spend a few hours talking about weather, the behind the scenes of the business, and more.  He always had us laughing from the minute we saw him.  We did this almost every year until he started his family a few years ago.

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WDAF has issued a statement on the death of Don Harman, saying the meteorologist “brightened our mornings for more than 10 years and made his mark on Kansas City television.”

“We are saddened by this tragic loss,” WDAF president and general manger Cheryl McDonald said in the statement. “Don wasn’t just our meteorologist, he was a part of our family and we loved him. Words cannot express how deeply he will be missed.”

“To all of us, Don was like family and the news comes as a great shock to all the people he worked with at Fox 4,” anchor Kathy Quinn said in announcing the news at the top of the noon newscast.

Harman was found by his wife. The police report lists the cause of death as suicide, according to the Associated Press. Read more

Katie Horner, who announced this summer that she would leave her post as chief meteorologist to spend more time with her two young daughters, said goodbye to KCTV on Wednesday.

In a taped segment (video inside), Horner reminisced about all of the “amazing people” she has worked with at the Kansas City CBS-affiliate.

“I still don’t know what I’m going to do when I leave KCTV 5.  But I do know one thing: I’ve got two pretty special girls,” Horner said, introducing her daughters before walking out the door with them. Read more

After receiving grand jury subpoenas requesting that they share video footage connected to the disappearance of 10-month-old Lisa Irwin, Kansas City stations plan to cooperate with investigators but are making an important distinction: they will submit footage that has aired but will not hand over raw footage, as the Clay County prosecutor’s office has requested.

Jim Roberts, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, told the Associated Press this week that the subpoenas were intended to prevent KMBC, KCTV, KSHB, and WDAF from discarding footage of the girl’s family and neighbors. Read more

Kansas City TV stations received grand jury subpoenas on Monday evening as local police ramped up their search for Lisa Irwin, the 10-month-old girl who went missing last week.

The Clay County Prosecutor’s Office served subpoenas to KMBC, KCTV, KSHB, and WDAF, requesting that the stations share raw footage of interviews conducted with family, neighbors, and family friends of the missing girl after she disappeared from her crib in the late evening/early morning of October 3rd/4th.

All of the stations are currently consulting with attorneys about the subpoenas and it is unclear if they will ultimately share footage with investigators. At least two of the stations–KCTV and KSHB–have been ordered to bring their footage to the Clay County Courthouse next Tuesday, the 18th at 9:00 a.m. Read more

After three years at Tampa’s WTSP, Chris Suchan is leaving to become chief meteorologist at KCTV, the CBS-affiliate in Kansas City.

Suchan replaces Katie Horner, who announced over the summer that she would step down, citing a desire to spend more time with her young daughters. Horner will reportedly exit in early November.

Blaise Labbe, the station’s news director, said in a statement that Suchan is in the process of moving to Kansas City. “His weather reports are calm and reassuring and watching him you feel as though he is just talking to friends or family,” Labbe said. “Chris doesn’t believe in hyping weather, or making more out of simple weather events. But if there is severe weather, he issues clear and precise warnings aimed directly at maintaining people’s safety.”

“I love covering the four seasons,” Suchan said. “Each represents different challenges, especially when it comes to severe weather.”

Starting next Monday, all four local stations in Kansas City will begin the day with live programming at 4:30 a.m.

Fox-affiliate WDAF announced today that they will jump in to the early morning timeslot next week. With the expansion, the WDAF morning newscast will now be five-and-a-half hours long — making their total news 10 hours daily and 59 hours weekly, the most in the Kansas City market, according to Bottom Line Communications.

WDAF’s three rival stations — NBC-affiliate KSHB, ABC-affiliate KMBC and CBS-affiliate KCTV — all made the switch to a 4:30 a.m. start last fall.

Meredith Local Media Group and WorldNow have completed the launch of ten redesigned local stations’ websites. All of the stations are owned by Meredith and published on a WorldNow platform.

The sites were launched in a span of three weeks beginning last month. The redesign gave each site improvements across multiple platforms, including video and mobile capabilities, advertising sales tools and production of original editorial content.

“The launch of the sites is our first step toward cementing Meredith’s leadership position among local media in their markets,” WorldNow senior vice president Melissa Hatter said. “We look forward to a number of advancements over the coming months that are focused on providing the best user experience on multiple platforms for continuous growth.”

The stations with relaunched websites are: WHNS, WGCL, WNEM, WSMV, WFSB, KPHO, WSHM, KVVU, KPTV and KCTV.

After 17 years with KCTV, veteran meteorologist Katie Horner will sign off from the Kansas City CBS affiliate later this year to spend more time with her young daughters.

“We discussed several options, but we simply couldn’t figure out a way to make it all work,” KCTV general manager Bobby Totsch said. “I’m certain her career as a meteorologist is far from over, it may just be on hold for a bit.”

Horner’s tenure as meteorologist has not been without controversy. In 2007, viewers in the Kansas City area launched a website attacking Horner, FireKatie.com. The website calls for a boycott of the station over Horner’s “antics and needless interruptions during primetime.” After recent reports surfaced that she was leaving KCTV, fans also created a “Save Katie Horner” page on Facebook.

Horner said her goal as a meteorologist has always been the safety of her viewers. “I believe all meteorologists play a role in keeping people feeling safe in severe weather conditions, and I know we have made that a focus at KCTV over the years,” she said.

Management at Kansas City’s KCTV probably won’t be laughing as former reporter-anchor Shaun Broyls returns to town for a stand-up comedy gig.

Broyls was let go by the station last year after the then-news director warned him to dial back the funny, according to The Kansas City Star. Broyls said that management told him, “You don’t fit with our brand. We’re not a funny newscast.”

Broyls is now pursuing a career in entertainment, working as a stand-up comedian after nearly landing a job as guest co-host on “Live! with Regis and Kelly.”

“You can definitely expect a jab at Channel 5 right out of the gate,” Broyls told The Star. “They’re gonna know that this guy’s back in town.” Read more