Hubbard Broadcasting is shutting down news operations at KSAX, its ABC-affiliate in Central Minnesota, and 17 employees are being laid off.

“Although this has been a difficult decision for our company, we will be streamlining operations at KSAX-TV beginning today,” Hubbard Broadcasting president Rob Hubbard announced in an email to staff Tuesday morning.

Hubbard plans to maintain KSAX’s studio in Alexandria, MN but the station will no longer produce local news.  Instead, KSAX viewers will receive all of their news from sister station KSTP in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Read more

Nick Lenz is leaving KSAX in Alexandria, MN for KDLT in Sioux Falls, SD.

Lenz has spent the past six months working as an anchor-reporter for KSAX. He’s joining KDLT as the station’s weekend sports anchor.

“After careful consideration I have decided to take the next step in my career,” Lenz wrote in a message on his Facebook page, announcing the move.

He added that the job at KDLT will allow him to do what he loves: covering sports.

Dan Williamson has joined Duluth ABC-affiliate WDIO as sports director.

Williamson joins the station from Lifetouch Media Productions in Minneapolis, where he was a reporter, photographer and producer. He has previously been a sports and news anchor at KSAX in Alexandria, MN and sports director at KXMB in Bismarck, ND.

“Dan is a great addition to our staff,” assistant news director Jon Ellis said in a statement. “With his experience in the Midwest, he brings a good understanding of what our viewers are looking for in sports coverage.” Read more

The Hubbard Broadcasting station group will revamp their text messaging alert system with a platform created by Inergize Digital, the two companies announced today.

The text messaging platform allows stations to reach viewers on mobile devices, enabling alerts and interactive campaigns. The platform can be used for breaking news, weather updates, school closings and traffic delays, as well as text-to-win contests.

“Our viewers depend on receiving breaking news alerts on time, while our sales teams require SMS campaigns they can sell to reach digital revenue budgets,” Cory Kampschroer, digtal media director at KSTP, said in a statement. “We are excited at the possibility of generating more revenue.” Read more

Todd Hicks is joining WTMJ, the NBC-affiliate in Milwaukee, in early 2012.

Hicks joins the station from WGBA, the NBC-affiliate in Green Bay, where he has been a reporter and weekend anchor for two years. His last day will be January 23. Prior to joining WGBA, he worked at WSAW in Wausau, WI and KSAX in Alexandria.

Hicks will be a general assignment reporter at WTMJ. His first day will be January 23.

A photo of roadkill has changed the way a small station in Central Minnesota thinks about social media.

Earlier this month, KSAX, a satellite of KSTP in Minneapolis-St. Paul, posted a photo taken by a local woman to its Facebook page of a strange-looking dead animal that had been found on the side of a highway.

The animal’s pale white flesh and long claws sparked rampant speculation about its origins on KSAX’s Facebook wall and led the station to run a series of stories about it.

Spurred on by mentions from the Minneapolis Star Tribune and the Huffington Post, as well as a ton of interest on social media, the story led to record traffic on KSAX’s website. According to Poynter, the station set a single-day record of 250,000 pageviews. Read more

“Some of the footage you’re about to see is a bit disturbing,” KSAX reporter Joe Nelson warned Minnesota viewers this week, before the ABC-affiliate aired his story on a mysterious carcass found alongside an area highway.

“Roadkill is nothing new for Minnesotans,” Nelson said, “but this curious creature got people talking” (video above).

Cristi Jessee is set to join KBAK-KBFX on August 16. She will be the news director at the Fisher Communications duopoly in Bakersfield, CA.

Jessee has been the news director at KSAX, the ABC affiliate in Alexandria, MN, since 2009. Prior to that, she was a multimedia journalist at KXTV in Sacramento.

“As the local news landscape broadens to include various content platforms, Cristi’s work with social media and her experience as a multimedia journalist will strengthen the stations’ commitment to bringing viewers news when and where they want it,” KBAK-KBFX vice present and general manager Teresa Burgess said in a statement.

Jessee began her career as a production assistant at KARE in Minneapolis. She has also worked at WDAZ in Grand Forks, ND, KTHV in Little Rock and KCBS in Los Angeles.