It’s National Hug an Anchor Day, and anchors across the country are getting a little love from colleagues, fans, random people in parking lots and people in tomato costumes. Here’s a sample of how a few stations are celebrating.

KXRM in Colorado Springs enlisted the Fazoli’s mascot to help them celebrate:

Read more

Michael Admire is joining WHO, the NBC affiliate in Des Moines, as a sports anchor, reporter and photographer.

Admire previously worked in the same role at KOAM-KFJX in Joplin, Mo. At WHO, he replaces Chris Hassel, who left the station for ESPN in January.

“I couldn’t be more excited about coming to Des Moines and working for the legendary WHO-HD,” Admire said in a statement. “I’m replacing a guy who is now at ESPN.  That speaks volumes for the sports reputation at WHO.”

As Admire joins the station, sports reporter John Sears gets a promotion to weekend sports anchor.

After five years at WHO, Chris Hassel is leaving the Des Moines NBC affiliate for ESPN, the Des Moines Register reports.

Hassel, a sports anchor, signed off from WHO Tuesday. At ESPN, he will appear on “Highlight Express” beginning in February.

“It’s just too big an opportunity,” Hassel told the Des Moines Register. “… I’ve never sent out a resume tape before. I wasn’t going to leave for another job in local sports. I was only going to leave for a huge opportunity in regional or national network. Sometimes you need to get out of your comfort zone and see what’s out there.”

President Barack Obama will close out his campaign with one last round of local interviews Tuesday, sitting down with 10 stations in battleground states.

The interviews will take place via satellite from Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago. In order of interview, he will talk with WHO in Des Moines, KWWL in Cedar Rapids, WTMJ in Milwaukee, WKYC in Cleveland, WKRC in Cincinnati, WFOR in Miami, WTVT in Tampa, WJLA in Washington, KMGH in Denver and KVVU in Las Vegas.

Governor Mitt Romney is spending the day appealing to voters in Cleveland and Pittsburgh. [h/t Politico]

The 2012 National Edward R. Murrow Award winners have been announced.

In the large market local TV categories, Minneapolis-St. Paul NBC-affiliate KARE took home a couple of awards. The Gannett-owned station won for “Video Reporting: Hard News” and reporter Boyd Huppert was honored in the “Writing” category.

• TVNewser: NBC News wins Overall Excellence; ABC News takes Breaking News, Continuing Coverage

In the small market categories, KCCI in Des Moines was awarded for “Overall Excellence” while its crosstown rival, WHO, won for “Video Feature Reporting.” New Orleans Fox-affiliate WVUE won two small market awards, including “Video Continuing Coverage” and “Video News Series.”

Full list of local winners inside… Read more

Jennifer Dowling has jumped from WWMT in Grand Rapids to rival WXMI, MLive.com reports.

Dowling was a crime and courts reporter and fill-in anchor at CBS-affiliate WWMT. She joined the station in 2010 from WILX, the NBC-affiliate in Lansing, MI. She has also worked at KEVN in Rapid City, SD, KTIV in Sioux City, IA and WHO in Des Moines.

The Michigan native began at Fox-affiliate WXMI last week.

President Obama did another round of local interviews yesterday, sitting down with eight stations from the Orlando, Cincinnati, Denver, Los Angeles, Austin, Des Moines, Las Vegas and Pittsburgh markets.

The interviews lasted about five minutes each and focused mostly on gas prices and energy policy. “As long as gas prices are going up, people are going to feel like I’m not doing enough and I understand that,” Obama told WFTV’s Greg Warmoth. “Ultimately, though, there’s no silver bullet here.”

The interviews were granted to three ABC affiliates, two CBS affiliates and two NBC affiliates. Adriana Arevalo‘s interview was broadcast on 18 Univision affiliates. Video inside…. Read more

Stephen Colbert‘s Super PAC, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow, recently filed a document with the the Federal Election Commission, reporting its donations and expenditures as of January 30th.

In addition to reporting over a million dollars in donations, Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow also listed how much money it spent on running ads in Iowa before the state’s Republican caucus. Read more

WHO anchor John Bachman, who has been with the Des Moines NBC-affiliate since 1987, will retire at the end of November.

“I’ve been so fortunate to anchor at WHO-HD for a quarter of a century,” Bachman said, announcing his retirement.  “Now it’s time for my wife Barb and me to visit the grandchildren during the Iowa winters, while viewers will get the opportunity to enjoy Winters–Dan, that is.”

Dan Winters, an anchor and reporter for WHO for the past eight years, will succeed Bachman at the anchor desk.

“John Bachman will forever be a part of the heritage and tradition of WHO,” president and general manager Dale Woods said.  Read more

Jannay Towne has been promoted to weekend morning anchor at WHO, the NBC-affiliate in Des Moines.

In her new role, Towne will continue reporting for the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. She will debut alongside co-anchor Dan Winters this weekend.

“She’s one of those people that gets the job done every day with a smile and we’re pleased to see her role expand,” WHO news director Rod Peterson said in a statement.

Towne, who has been at WHO for seven years, replaces Elizabeth Klinge as the weekend morning anchor. Klinge left the station earlier this month to pursue a business venture with her husband.