Police in South Strabane, PA, filed sexual assault charges yesterday against a WTAE news photographer.

Lenni Todd, 58, is accused of inappropriately touching a woman while pretending to be shooting a segment. South Strabane police said that Todd was in a WTAE vehicle and was using equipment with the station logo on it. WTAE, the Pittsburgh-area ABC affiliate, said that Todd was not on duty at the time of the incident.

The station said in a statement that they intend to cooperate fully with the investigation. Todd, who faces misdemeanor charges, apologized to the victim and her family, saying he used poor judgment.

A South Strabane, PA family spent eight helpless days knowing their cat was stuck in a tree before WTAE reporter Sheldon Ingram came to the rescue.

The Carr family cat, Moo, climbed a 40-foot tree near in the woods near their home. The family called the fire department but were told the department’s trucks could not navigate the hilly area to free Moo.

“(I) lost a lot of sleep over it. You can hear him crying outside the window. He’s been out there for eight days without any water or food,” said Jessica Carr.

The family had the idea to call WTAE on Monday. The ABC affiliate sent Ingram out with a crew, and the successful rescue was made. Ingram climbed a 20-foot ladder and lured Moo into his arms with a bag of treats. Watch video of the rescue here.

Spurred on by hometown hero Hines Ward’s performance on “Dancing With the Stars,” ABC-affiliate WTAE, which regularly promoted the show during its newscasts, saw significant ratings gains for the May sweeps period. That said, there was a lot of movement in the news rankings with, for instance, WPXI winning 5 p.m. while KDKA, last year’s #1 for the time period, finished in third.

Here’s a rundown…

Household:

	6 a.m.	5 p.m.	6 p.m.	11 p.m.
WTAE (ABC)	5.7	7.6	7.9	8.4
WPXI (NBC)	5.1	5.9	6.3	5.7
KDKA (CBS)	4.2	7.6	7.3	9.5

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In a summit attended by local media officials and black community leaders, the news directors of Pittsburgh’s top three stations said that they were considering signing a joint agreement on coverage policies regarding the city’s black community.

The summit, held at WPXI‘s studios, was part of an ongoing series of meetings put on by the Black Political Empowerment Project, a Pittsburgh organization that works to increase the social standing and political influence of the local African American community.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the meeting was an opportunity for media officials and black leaders to “discuss — and oftentimes vent — about how the city’s black community is covered by television, newspapers and radio.” Read more

Hearst has named a successor to Rick Henry at Pittsburgh’s WTAE. The company announced today that Michael Hayes, who has been the president and general manager of Hearst-owned WYFF in Greenville-Spartanburg, SC, has been appointed president and GM of WTAE.

“Mike Hayes is an accomplished television executive,” said David Barrett, president and CEO of Hearst Television. “We are delighted that he is stepping into the leadership role at WTAE, one of Hearst Television’s legacy stations.  WYFF has distinguished itself in local news leadership, and sales and profit performance during Mike’s seven-year stewardship. We are confident that he’ll bring that same energy, urgency, and effective leadership to the team at WTAE.”

Henry is set to retire this month after nearly four decades with Hearst, including nine with WTAE.

Hayes began his career as a sports anchor and producer for WISH in Indianapolis. He became president and GM of WYFF in 2003 after serving as general sales manager of Cincinnati’s WLWT.

Rick Henry, president and general manager of WTAE, is set to retire.

Henry has been in charge of the Hearst-owned ABC-affiliate for the past nine years.  In March, he’ll finish a career that’s included over 40 years with the Hearst organization.

Henry’s retirement was confirmed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and a WTAE official said that, in “Hearst tradition, an official announcement will be forthcoming.”

Henry had previously served as vice president of sales for the WTAE before leaving to become president and GM of Milwaukee’s WISN. After five years with WISN, he returned to Pittsburgh, where he will finish out his career.

No word yet on who will replace Henry but, as the Post-Gazette points out, “it’s likely Hearst already has a replacement in mind.”

Shiba Russell, who has been a weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for Boston’s WCVB, is reportedly in talks to join WNBC.  Russell’s current deal with WCVB expires in January and she could be behind the anchor desk of NBC’s flagship station in early 2011.

Russell has told WCVB that she is leaving the station, according to New York’s Daily News.  She would likely become a weekend anchor for WNBC.

The move would be a homecoming of sorts for Russell, who started her career in the New York area.  As TVSpy’s sister site FishbowlNY points out, Russell grew up in New Jersey and graduated from the College of New Rochelle in New York, before going on to work for Cablevision’s News 12 Long Island and News 12 The Bronx.

Russell joined WCVB in 2006 after a stint as weekend anchor and general assignment reporter for Pittsburgh’s WTAE.  Read more