Friends,
I want to share with you some changes in my life that will also bring changes to our 7 and 11 p.m. newscasts.
I'll continue to be with you every night on our evening newscast from 5-6:30 p.m. But starting Monday, Dave Wagner and Monique Ming Laven will be anchoring our 7 p.m. newscasts, and Monique will be anchoring the 11 p.m. newscasts. Monique and Dave are fantastic teammates, and two of the most talented journalists I know. Their great work will continue to bring the in-depth coverage you expect.
No, I'm not yet retiring.
Why the change? This is something that my wife, Sharon, and I have been talking about for months. For the first time in more than 30 years, my bride and I will get to make dinner after the evening newscast, and we're excited to have that time together. I don't normally talk about myself – you tune in for the news, and I'm not the story – but I'm sharing this so you hear about my decision directly from me. No one asked me to step down from the 7 or 11 p.m. broadcasts. Our company's pending sale wasn't a factor. I'm fortunate to be in good health. This is simply something Sharon and I have been hoping to do for some time, and the time is right now.
In addition to being with you each night from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on KIRO 7, I'll continue to be with you as the voice of the Seahawks. I love that team and I love my teammates at KIRO 7 – a place I've been happy to call home since my last season with the Seahawks in 1981.
Dave, who will be anchoring the 7 p.m. with Monique, is one of the best in the business. He's won four Edward R. Murrow Awards, 36 Emmy Awards, and still hits the streets to talk to people one-on-one in our community. His ground-level reporting on the opioid epidemic in Seattle is some of the best in the city. And Dave's ties here run deep: his great-grandfather, William Weaver, was a prominent businessman and Seattle City Councilmember.
Monique also is a great friend and an amazing journalist. She has the intelligence to report a complex, investigative story and the compassion to tell it better than most people in the business. That's what earned her a National Headliner Award, and Edward R. Murrow Award, and multiple Emmys. I really admire Monique's empathy and dedication to the stories she finds.
I've always had complete confidence sitting next to Monique and Dave on the anchor desk, and I know you'll feel that as a viewer, too.
Thanks for all the support you've shown me in my 37 years at KIRO. I'll see you with the Seahawks on Sundays, and on our weekday newscasts at 5 p.m.
Steve