Mike Lopez is the new news director at WEAU in Eau Claire, Wisc., the station confirmed to TVSpy.

Lopez joins the NBC affiliate from WVEC in Norfolk, where he was the assistant news director for seven years. He has also worked as an executive producer at WAVY in Norfolk and WISH in Indianapolis and as a producer at KRON in San Franscisco.

Lopez, who started earlier this month, replaces Eric Shepard.

WVEC, the ABC affiliate for Hampton Roads, VA, will air a one-hour special devoted to explaining the impact of Sequestration on the area.

“This is a complicated and important issue,” Doug Wieder, WVEC executive news director told TVNewsCheck. “Our award-winning military reporter Mike Gooding has been at the forefront of this story for weeks, and we see this as a natural extension of our commitment to our viewers.”

The “sequester” is the name of the mandatory federal budget cuts scheduled to go into effect March 1.  The cuts will be triggered if Congress and President Obama cannot agree on a plan to reduce the nation’s deficit by $1.2 trillion over the next ten years. The economy in the Hampton Roads market relies heavily on the defense industry, one of the targets of the mandated cuts. Read more

Doug Wieder has been promoted to executive news director at WVEC, the ABC affiliate in Norfolk, Va.

Wieder has been interim news director since Rich Lebenson left WVEC in October. Prior to that, Wieder spent five years as executive producer.

“Doug had the ultimate ‘on-the-job’ interview, and passed with flying colors,” WVEC president and general manager Brad Ramsey said in a statement. “We have seen tremendous momentum under Doug’s leadership, thanks to his deep commitment to growing our people and improving our content every single day.  Together we are incredibly excited about the future of 13News.”

Wieder, formally an investigative reporter, has also worked at WRIC in Richmond, WDEF in Chattanooga and WGXA in Macon, Ga. His promotion is effective immediately.

Brad Ramsey has been named president and general manager of Belo’s Hampton Roads ABC affiliate, WVEC.

He comes from WCAV-WVAW-WAHU in Charlottsville, VA where was was vice president and general manager.  He succeeds Tod Smith who was tapped by Belo to run its New Orleans duopoly, WWL-WUPL.

“Brad is an up-and-coming leader in the television industry who has delivered consistent revenue and ratings growth in his previous positions,” said Kathy Clements, Belo’s senior vice president of media operations in a statement posted to the company’s website. “His experience in the Virginia marketplace will be a significant asset to WVEC.”

Ramsey began his career as an anchor/reporter for WHSV before working his way up to vice president and general manager of the Winchester, VA ABC affiliate.

His first day will be November 5.

Shortly before 9:30amET this morning from the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, VA, Mitt Romney introduced Paul Ryan as his vice presidential running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.

NBC-affiliate WAVY,  CBS-affiliate WTKR and ABC-affiliate WVEC all elected to produce their own coverage instead of airing national coverage produced by their respective affiliated networks.

On WTKR, Juliet Bickford anchored, with Laurie Simmons live from the campaign rally. On WVEC, Mike Gooding helmed coverage from the USS Wisconsin. David Culver anchored coverage on NBC-affiliate WAVY, with Andy Fox at the announcement site. Read more

Reporter Craig Civale is leaving Dallas ABC-affiliate WFAA, media blogger Ed Bark reports. He will be leaving television to join Baylor Health Care System in Dallas.

“I will be working with the team over there on their marketing strategies and continuing to build the brand,” Civale told Bark. “It’s a hard decision. This is all I’ve ever done. But it was time to focus more on my family and this opportunity allows me to do just that.”

Civale joined WFAA in 2007 as a general assignment reporter. Prior to that, he worked at WVEC in Norfolk, VA and WRIC in Richmond.

Sula Kim is joining WDSU, the NBC-affiliate in New Orleans, as a morning anchor.

She will be paired with Randi Rousseau, who currently anchors solo in the mornings. Kim will join the station after the May ratings period.

“Mornings are special in New Orleans, and we think she’s a truly special person … and a tremendous addition to our news team,” WDSU news director Jonathan Shelley said in a statement.

Kim has worked at WVEC, the ABC-affiliate in Norfolk, VA, since 2005. She is currently the station’s weekend evening anchor.

News of an F-18 Navy jet crash in Virginia Beach broke during the noon newscasts in Hampton Roads today.

WVEC anchors LaSalle Blanks and Vanessa Coria was the first to report the news at 12:15 p.m. WAVY and WTKR both followed at 12:17 p.m.

“There may be a huge breaking news story happening in Virginia Beach right now,” WTKR anchor Blaine Stewart said. All three stations have remained in wall-to-wall coverage throughout the afternoon. Read more

Belo has named former WFAA news director Michael Valentine vice president of content for the company.

Valentine has been with Belo since 2002 when he became news director of WVEC, the company’s ABC station in Hampton-Norfolk.  He moved to WFAA in 2005.

In the newly created position, Valentine will “direct news content strategies across multiple platforms” for Belo’s 15 markets.

In announcing the move, Belo president of media operations Peter Diaz remarked that Valentine has “delivered remarkable results” throughout his tenure at the company.

Four more local stations are headed to the White House for a Presidential interview today: Seattle’s KIRO, Norfolk’s WVEC, Pensacola’s WEAR and Colorado Springs’ KOAA.

The primary focus of the interviews will be the close of the Iraq War, and the stations were chosen because they have large military communities in their markets, according to President Obama’s official schedule. The payroll tax cut extension — which was the subject of a round of local press last week — will also be discussed.

The anchors — KIRO’s Angela Russell, WVEC’s David Alan, WEAR’s Bob Solarski and KOAA’s Rob Quirk — will sit down with the President at 10:30 a.m. Interviews will be embargoed until 5:00 p.m.