Latest news with #RonSteele
CTV News
26-05-2025
- CTV News
‘How could this have possibly happened': Attention turns to Thames Centre intersection where five lives were lost
A candlelit vigil was held to honour the five victims killed in a crash. Scott Miller reports. While Walkerton grieves the loss of the five victims in Friday's crash in Thames Centre, attention has also turned to the intersection where the crash took place. Walkerton crash Thames Centre - May 2025 Flowers and stuffed toys seen at the site of the crash in Thames Centre, Ont. on May 26, 2025. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London) Traffic was back to normal on Monday along Thorndale Road at Cobble Hills Road northeast of London. An indentation through a ditch and into a farmer's field and flowers attached to a barbed wire fence, were what's left after the tragic collision. Commuter Mark Pinnegar, who travels through this intersection several times a week, is trying to make sense of it. Walkerton crash Thames Centre - May 2025 Mark Pinnegar, who travels through the intersection multiple times a week, seen in Thames Centre, Ont. on May 26, 2025. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London) 'I know the intersection well, and I couldn't figure out why, at that time of the day on Friday with the weather that we had, how this could have possibly happened. I just, I don't know,' he mused aloud with exasperation. Middlesex OPP said late Friday afternoon an SUV collided with a transport truck, before colliding with a second vehicle at the intersection. All five people in the SUV died. Ron Steele owns the land on the southwest corner where the vehicle came to rest, about 200 feet west of the stop sign on Cobble Hills Road. He said he has seen crashes along this stretch of Thorndale Road, but not at this particular intersection. 'Well, the only thing out of the ordinary is that it has the hill over there, which is a little difficult seeing traffic coming this way,' he explained, referring to drivers coming from the south and checking to their east for any westbound traffic. Walkerton crash Thames Centre - May 2025 A speed limit sign seen near the intersection of Cobble Hills Road and Thorndale Road in Thames Centre, Ont. on May 26, 2025. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London) Cyclist Rob Moser said he has seen drivers on Cobble Hills Road miss the stop sign. 'Especially if you're coming from the south, you come over a few risers and then it's like 'okay, pick up some speed now.' You just have to look out to a farm field, and you miss the stop sign altogether,' he said. Cobble Hills Road borders Middlesex and Oxford Counties. Thames Centre Council will consider a motion at its Monday meeting asking both counties to consider 'conducting a comprehensive traffic and roadway study of the intersection following the conclusion of the ongoing OPP investigation.' In the meantime, Mark Pinnegar said he can't help but think of the families affected by the tragedy at this rural crossroads. 'It might not really be any of my business to be here at all, but I've been consumed by this since it happened. And it's just a sad, sad thing,' he lamented.
USA Today
12-02-2025
- Climate
- USA Today
Longtime KWWL anchor Ron Steele says he's leaving the station after more than 50 years
Hear this story Iowa news television anchor Ron Steele is leaving KWWL after more than 50 years. Steele, who started with the eastern Iowa station in 1974, announced on Tuesday's evening broadcast that he would be departing from KWWL in the coming weeks. "I have come to an agreement with and accepted an offer from KWWL, which will end my career here," he said. "KWWL has been very generous to me and my family, and has given me some amazing opportunities to go around the world and cover news, weather and sports over these five decades." A member of the Iowa Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame, Steele has interviewed numerous U.S. presidents and influential figures, including George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and more. Steele reported from Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf War and was at the White House in 1981 when 52 American hostages returned home from Iran, including Iowan Kathryn Koob. When is Ron Steele's last day at KWWL? Steele's final day with KWWL will be Feb. 27. How old is Ron Steele? Steele was born in Washington, Iowa, in 1950, according to KWWL, making him 75 years old. He grew up in Wappello and graduated from the University of Iowa in 1973. Are KWWL meteorologists being replaced with The Weather Channel? KWWL and other stations owned by Allen Media Group announced in January that they would lay off local meteorologists and replace them with forecasts from The Weather Channel. About a week later, KWWL said that the decision had been "put on hold." More:Iowa meteorologists safe for now as Allen Media reviews plan to use The Weather Channel "The other day, we received word from our parent company that they heard you loud and clear," KWWL meteorologist Mark Schnackenberg, who was among the meteorologists to be included in the layoffs, said in a video posted to the station's website. In the video, he said Allen Media Group's decision to lay off local weather teams is under "further review. " The current team of meteorologists at KWWL and sister station KIMT will stay in place for the time being, but a final plan has yet to be made. Cooper Worth is a service/trending reporter for the Des Moines Register. Reach him at cworth@ or follow him on X @CooperAWorth.
