logo
KIMT owner's plan to layoff local weather team seems to have melted away

KIMT owner's plan to layoff local weather team seems to have melted away

Yahoo29-01-2025

Jan. 29—ROCHESTER — Just as the temperatures have warmed up, the leaked plan of KIMT-TV's owner to lay off meteorologists and consolidate all national weather forecasting in Atlanta seems to have mostly melted away.
This stormy situation started on Jan. 17, when the news broke that Los Angeles-based Allen Media Group was planning to consolidate the local weather forecasting from its 27 local stations, including KIMT, and shift the duties to the Weather Channel. AMG paid $300 million to acquire the Weather Channel in 2018.
KIMT-TV News 3, which is a CBS affiliate based in Mason City, Iowa, has operated a Rochester news bureau and broadcast studio at 1751 U.S. Highway 52 North since 2017.
Viewers across the country loudly criticized the plan as meteorologists at some of the AMG stations offered up prematurely tearful goodbyes on air. While there were no local goodbyes, many in the area voiced concern about the future of the KIMT's StormTeam 3 meteorologists.
KIMT has four people on its weather team, led by Chief Meteorologist Aaron White. The other members are Sara Knox, Travis Clark-Smith and Hunter Donahoe, who has been at the station for just six months.
The tidal wave of negative feedback about the plan reportedly caused AMG to reverse course. While there are still no details or official statements from AMG, that seems to be generally accurate.
KIMT News Director Dan Clouse answered some questions about the situation this week.
"I can confirm that everything here at KIMT remains without change when it comes to our weather team staffing," said Clouse. "All four of our meteorologists are still working here. None of them have been laid off. And there is no immediate plan in place to let any of them go at any particular time."
Rumors of possible layoffs were rampant in the wake of AMG's plan being leaked. Some stations claimed that meteorologists were notified of the dates of their last days.
AMG is reportedly working on an announcement about what changes, if any, will now happen.
"Allen Media is considering ways to incorporate more Weather Channel content at its local stations. But specifics of how that might work are still being determined. It will likely work differently at each Allen Media station across the country," said KIMT's Clouse.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

L.A. is rolling out 3,000 bus shelters to help protect riders from extreme heat
L.A. is rolling out 3,000 bus shelters to help protect riders from extreme heat

Fast Company

time7 hours ago

  • Fast Company

L.A. is rolling out 3,000 bus shelters to help protect riders from extreme heat

Temperatures in Los Angeles continue to rise—the number of annual extreme heat days has tripled over the past century, and average summer temperatures have increased more than one degree Fahrenheit in the past 20 years. To provide some relief from the sun, StreetsLA is deploying 3,000 bus shelters across some of the highest-ridership areas in L.A. Some of the city's most vulnerable communities live in these neighborhoods and yet green space with natural shade is scarce. Since the shelters started being rolled out, an average of 63,800 riders are seeing the benefits every weekday. 'It became a very human-centric effort of understanding who the transit riders are and understanding their needs,' says Carlos Madrid III, senior associate principal at SOM LA studio, the architecture firm that designed the project. Inspired by California modernism architecture, the shelters are simple and functional, with clean lines and a clear indoor-outdoor connection. The final deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is Friday, June 20, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.

'I didn't think I was gonna make it,' says Brandon construction worker who survived northern Ontario wildfire
'I didn't think I was gonna make it,' says Brandon construction worker who survived northern Ontario wildfire

Yahoo

time14 hours ago

  • Yahoo

'I didn't think I was gonna make it,' says Brandon construction worker who survived northern Ontario wildfire

A construction worker who huddled with his crew inside a smoky shipping container as a northern Ontario wildfire encircled them said he's happy to be alive and back home with his family in Brandon, about 215 kilometres west of Winnipeg. The 19-person crew, made up of employees from Sigfusson Northern, a Winnipeg-based construction company, and Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc., a contracting and construction company with headquarters in Langley, about 50 kilometres southeast of Vancouver, had been working at a job site for a project near Sandy Lake First Nation, a fly-in community located about 600 kilometres northwest of Thunder Bay. Every worker in the crew, except for one, was from Manitoba. As the work day began, Carl Genaille told his co-workers he was worried that the Red Lake 12 wildfire was getting close to their camp. That fire was more than 156,000 hectares in size and was still out of control, according to Ontario's wildfire map on Monday night. "I told them this fire is gonna be here real quick because I could see the smoke was really black and then orange and it was mixed together," Genaille said in an interview with CBC News on Monday. "The wind was blowing really hard, man, like really hard," he said. The fire was about 40 kilometres from the site early Saturday morning, site superintendent Neal Gillespie told CBC on Saturday night. He said conditions got worse around 9:30 a.m. and the crew began packing up. Genaille, a former firefighter, told his crew they had to leave. Then the fire closed in. "We had nowhere to go in that camp area and the fire burned right around it, full blast," he said. He tried to get away from the fire by sheltering in a shipping container, and the rest of the crew followed him inside. The sea can was filled with thick smoke, but the fire outside was worse, he said. In a terrifying video posted to social media by his daughter Anika, Genaille can be heard telling co-workers to be careful as orange, tree-height flames roared just metres away. "I was scared and I didn't think I was gonna make it," he said. "But I just accepted it and started helping out the guys and calming them down." Genaille said his past firefighter training kicked in and he put water on some blankets and got his colleagues to put them over their heads so they could breathe more easily. "[I was] just thinking about my family, my kids," he said. "I was just telling them I love them." Back home in Brandon, his daughter Anika Genaille said she feared for the worst as she received harrowing videos from her father's job site. "After that one video and he said he was scared, I just burst into tears. I couldn't stop crying because I never heard my dad say he was scared before," she said. At 37 weeks pregnant, Anika said she feared the extreme stress might have sent her into labour. "I thought I was gonna lose my dad to that fire." She said her dad and his crew should have never been in that situation to begin with, and she's angry they weren't rescued sooner. "I'm glad they decided to leave when they did, otherwise they would have burned in that sea can," she said. Superintendent Gillespie said there were several attempts to get the crew out by helicopter, but that the smoke was too thick for pilots to find them. About four or five hours later, some of the smoke cleared and there was a window of opportunity to drive out of the camp and head to Sandy Lake First Nation, whose project the crew was working on. "We got out of there just in time, but we should have been out of there like first thing in the morning or two days earlier," Carl Genaille said. Courage and remarkable professionalism In a statement emailed to CBC News on Sunday, Sigfusson Northern said it sent the planes that picked up the crew from Sandy Lake First Nation and took them back to Winnipeg on Saturday night. The staff showed "remarkable professionalism, courage, and calm response," Sigfusson said, adding that the company's emergency and safety protocols were "critical" in this wildfire situation. It said it is providing counselling and wellness services to affected team members. In an email to CBC News, Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. declined an interview, saying it is focusing on "the safety and security of the team, the community, and all those connected to our work." In a statement posted to Facebook on Monday morning, the company said all of its employees were safely evacuated from the site. Milestone said mental health and wellness resources are available for affected staff members. The social media post said the company is "actively exploring" ways to support Sandy Lake First Nation and other Indigenous partners. Genaille's family was waiting for him at the airport when he arrived. He said he was shaken by the experience but happy to be home with his children. "My baby girl just came running to me and just jumped in my arms with a big smile," he said. Anika said: "I felt so relieved and happy to see his face, because I honestly thought I was never gonna see him again. "I'm just happy he's back in Brandon." Find the latest wildfire information at these sources: Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anywhere in Manitoba or email 211mb@

Choppy waves delay South Haven channel dredging
Choppy waves delay South Haven channel dredging

Yahoo

time19 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Choppy waves delay South Haven channel dredging

SOUTH HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD) — Lower water levels and a buildup of sand is clogging the Lake Michigan channel in and out of South Haven, making it difficult for some bigger sailboats and powerboats to get in and out. While clearing it out is usually the job of the feds, the city couldn't wait. It's paying to dredge the channel itself at a cost of $72,000. It's kind of like using Drano while waiting for the plumber. City officials say the sand and sediment has built up on the north side of the South Haven pier, where the Black River empties into Lake Michigan. Instead of 14 to 16 feet deep, it's closer to 7 or 8. 'Every year, there's a bar that gets built up in front of the pierhead and when the water's too low, it will make it too low for sailboats or bigger powerboats to get out, and if there's waves, they'll come up and come down and crash into it,' said Jake Pero, owner of Pero Marine Construction, which got the contract to dredge the blockage. Lake Michigan Summer Beach Guide While it hasn't stopped smaller boats, it has blocked some bigger watercraft, including the popular sloop, Friends Good Will — especially when the water is rough, like it was Monday. 'As people are not able to enter into our ports, go to our shops, dock at our facilities and be a part of the economic culture that is South Haven, that impacts a lot of the day-to-day, that impacts the businesses here in town and there is really a snowball effect that occurs due to it,' said Assistant City Manager Michael Landis, who also serves as the harbor master. Friends Good Will, part of the Michigan Maritime Museum, was forced to cancel tours this spring from South Haven to Holland for Tulip Time. Last week, the museum paid to dredge around its dock on the Black River, allowing the boat to run during calmer weather this past weekend. South Haven museum tells story of sailing Great Lakes Usually, clearing the channel is the job of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which last dredged it in 2023. The Corps of Engineers was expecting to start dredging in St. Joseph starting Monday night and in Grand Haven next week, said agency spokesman Brandon Hubbard. But it's not scheduled to dredge again in South Haven until next year at a cost of $1.7 million, Hubbard said. So the city got an emergency permit. South Haven-based Pero Marine Construction had hoped to get started Monday, scooping out about 500 cubic yards — enough to fill the beds of 250 pickup trucks — over several days. But the water was too rough to get started. It's not clear when the work will begin. 'It's such a crisis with low water everywhere that they're just trying to do something to alleviate it enough that summer can go on and people don't have to be concerned, and it's not a liability,' Pero said. 'We're going to help them out until the big guys can get there.' The sand will be used to build up South Beach. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store