Amanda Barren is back at WSAZ.  The Charleston, WV, NBC affiliate has announced Barren will co-anchor the 5:00 p.m. news beginning next Monday, December 17.

This is the second stint at WSAZ for Barren who worked for the station in 2006 as a weekend anchor and weekday reporter.  She left WSAZ for WKYC in Cleveland in 2010.

“Beyond the family that is WSAZ, I have a special place in my heart for the extended family of viewers,” said Barren. “The people in this region make it special. I can’t wait to start sharing their stories again.”

“Amanda is an outstanding journalist whose number one priority is to serve the community she loves,” said WSAZ news director Dan Fabrizio. “She’s a great addition to a great news team. We’re excited to have her back.”

You can watch her future co-anchor Bill Murray announce the news in a video after the jump. Read more

Reporter Randy Yohe was let go from WSAZ after he was arrested on Saturday morning for DUI and possession of a small amount of marijuana.

“I was let go (Wednesday),” Yohe told the Portsmouth Daily Times. “It was a seriously bad decision. It’s the first time anything like this has ever happened to me — and it will be the last. I’m embarrassed, humiliated and deeply sorry.”

According to a story on the WSAZ website, Yohe was stopped after running a stop sign in Coal Grove, Ohio at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Police found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and an open container of “an alcoholic beverage” in his car, according to the Huntington-Charleston NBC affiliate. Read more

Like many local stations, WSAZ — the NBC affiliate in Charleston, WV — has completed the switch to high definition across their news broadcasts.

“This represents the end of a multi-year, multi-million dollar project and the beginning of a new way for all television viewers in the Charleston-Huntington market to see their world,” vice president and general manager Don Ray said. “We’ll all be looking at the drama and excitement that happens every day in breathtaking color and clarity.”

Part of making the switch included new equipment upgrades for WSAZ. The station donated the old equipment — including field cameras, editors, video switchers, television audio consoles and studio cameras — to the communications department  West Virginia State University.

WSAZ is the first station in the Charleston market to make the switch. The station will show their local broadcasts, as well as nationally syndicated NBC programming, in HD.