The Rundown

Houston morning anchor Melissa Wilson has let viewers know how she’s doing with a health update.

“Hi Everyone, thank you for your incredible kindness, prayers, and concern. My surgery was planned reconstructive work related to injuries from an airbag years ago that eventually led to sleep apnea,” she wrote on social media. “Recovery is underway, my face is well wrapped at the moment, & I am healing well. I’m so very grateful to breathe clearly again, & look forward to being back soon. Texas-sized hugs to all. xoxo”

A spokesperson for the Fox owned station KRIV told Chron that Wilson is expected to be away from the morning newscast for at least a week. In the meantime, FOX 26 consumer reporter Heather Sullivan will be filling in for her on the morning show.

KPRC reporter Corley Peel said she’ll anchor evenings through February as the Houston NBC station shuffles its lineup during Winter Olympics coverage.

“Kicking off February by anchoring weekend evenings for the month,” Peel posted on social on Monday. “I’m filling in as my teammates move around during Winter Olympics coverage.”

Peel is filling in for morning anchor Daniella Guzman, who is in Milan covering the 2026 Winter Olympics, which begin Friday. Guzman is the only KPRC staffer making the trip, though she’s traveling alongside other NBC crews. Back in Houston, weekend anchor Bill Barajas filled in on the morning desk for Guzman on Monday and Tuesday.

She joined KPRC in March 2023.

Steve Savard will join TEGNA’s St. Louis NBC affiliate KSDK 5 On Your Side to share the stories of local veterans.

“There is no one better to share the stories of our local veterans than Steve Savard,” said Tim Geraghty, news director KSDK. “He’s a local legend and an integral part of our community. A lifelong member of St. Louis, and for many years, the ‘Voice of the St. Louis Rams,’ Steve connects with our community in a meaningful way.”

Savard most recently served as news anchor at KOLR in Springfield. His previous roles included news anchor and sports director at KMOV in St. Louis, sports anchor at WVIT in Hartford and KULR in Billings, sports director at KDBC-TV in El Paso, and of course, the radio play-by-play voice of the St. Louis Rams for 16 years.

“I’m incredibly excited to honor this city’s veterans every week and to continue serving the entire St. Louis community,” Savard said. “St. Louis is my home, and I am honored to tell the stories of the people who fought and sacrificed on behalf of our country and our community.”

The segments will air once a week during the station’s 6 p.m. newscast beginning the week of February 9.

Kevin Holmes will join the evening anchor desk at Minneapolis NBC affiliate KARE beginning April 13. Holmes will co-anchor the 6 and 10 p.m. weekday newscasts alongside Julie Nelson.

Matt Kummer, news director at KARE 11, said Holmes’s depth of experience behind the anchor desk and his ability to deliver news with objectivity and accuracy make him a valuable addition to an already top-notch journalism team.

Holmes joins the station after a nine-year tenure as an anchor and reporter at KSHB in Kansas City, Missouri. He also served as a news anchor and reporter at WJCL-TV in Savannah, and as a news reporter at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, as well as at HeartMedia and WPTY/WLMT-TV in Memphis, Tennessee.

“We have an incredible team of journalists telling the stories of our community to an ever-growing audience,” Kummer said. “We’re confident that Kevin’s experience, personality and expertise will connect with our local viewers and represent our community accurately to everyone watching our coverage.”

“I’m honored to join a station so deeply committed to the community it serves and to practicing thoughtful, responsible journalism,” Holmes said. “KARE 11’s long-standing tradition of outstanding reporting is something I deeply admire, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to that legacy.”

Holmes is a graduate of Lake Forest College.

Justin Hartley has been named statewide general manager for the Montana Television Network, which is comprised of Scripps television stations serving Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula and Kalispell.  

Hartley currently serves as general manager and director of sales at KPAX, the Scripps-owned CBS station in Missoula. He joined the station in 2021 as the director of sales. In his new role, Hartley will lead the statewide strategy for all the MTN stations, while continuing to oversee operations in KPAX. 

“Justin’s five years in Missoula have deepened his commitment to the people of Montana,” said Merri Hanson, vice president and regional general manager for Scripps. “He understands the communities, values local storytelling and will lead MTN with a focus on making a positive impact across the state.” 

A native of Bakersfield, California, Hartley began his career with Scripps in 2014 as an account executive at KERO, the company’s ABC affiliate in Bakersfield. He later served as a sales manager for the Nexstar station in Bakersfield before returning to KERO in 2018 as general sales manager, a role he held for three years. 

Hartley is currently a member of the public relations committee for the upcoming Special Olympics, which will be held in Missoula beginning next year. While living in Bakersfield, Hartley worked closely with Mothers Against Drunk Driving on the advisory board as well as with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) in Kern County. 

Howdy. While I struggle to understand why we still allow a certain someone to undermine our country and anything good in his role as president, local news chugs along on its noble path.

Today, we have a few stories that may be interesting reads for those who want to know more.

Let’s get started.

>Atlanta traffic anchor Rachel Cox-Rosen hails from Maryland, so she’s used to snow. But she’d never been a traffic reporter during a winter storm and had heard of Atlanta’s infamy in such events, but she came ready. Click here for that story.

>After WINK fired its chief meteorologist, Southwest Florida viewers howled with hurricane-force fury, according to the News-Press. Since then, they haven’t been shy about letting the Fort Myers CBS affiliate know: They want Matt Devitt back on the air. Now. Click here to read about it.

>Brittany Noble is about to begin her second week as anchor of “The Breakdown,” the daily live newscast that the former local TV news anchor leads for Roland Martin’s Black Star Network. She said she finally feels free. Click here to read about it.

After Former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested for his involvement in a protest at a church, both his former network and his attorney have responded to the clown show that is Trump.

“Don Lemon was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles, where he was covering the Grammy awards. Don has been a journalist for 30 years, and his constitutionally protected work in Minneapolis was no different than what he has always done. The First Amendment exists to protect journalists whose role it is to shine light on the truth and hold those in power accountable. There is no more important time for people like Don to be doing this work. Instead of investigating the federal agents who killed two peaceful Minnesota protesters, the Trump Justice Department is devoting its time, attention and resources to this arrest, and that is the real indictment of wrongdoing in this case. This unprecedented attack on the First Amendment and transparent attempt to distract attention from the many crises facing this administration will not stand. Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”

Lemon livestreamed a demonstration against Trump’s immigration war earlier this month that interrupted a church ‌service in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Lemon is charged with conspiring to deprive others of ‌their civil rights and ‍violating the FACE Act by allegedly obstructing access to a ⁠house of worship, according to a ⁠Justice Department official. FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents arrested him in Los Angeles, the source said.

Lemon said he was at the demonstration as a journalist. He said he was tipped off ahead of time but did not ‍know the activists would disrupt the service. He can be seen arguing with a parishioner about immigration enforcement.

Trump’s folks accused protesters of intimidating Christian worshippers.

CNN has also responded:

Scripps will take a closer look at what’s happening in Minneapolis.

Scripps News anchor Del Walters and co-anchor Maritsa Georgiou will anchor a live one-hour special in Minneapolis, where ICE’s weeks-long siege has led to the killing of two American citizens and injuring dozens of residents. 

Scripps said “The team will separate lies from truth and examine what is happening in the city. In addition, Scripps’ investigative team is tracking whether the violent detentions are subsiding following the killing of Alex Pretti last weekend and the change in federal leadership in the city.”

• Georgiou will interview a middle-schooler and look at how children are responding to seeing their classmates detained and disappeared—one in four students are missing.  
• Patrick Terpstra will speak with anti-ICE demonstrators at the Whipple Federal building, which has been at the center of the protests. 
• Kadia Tubman speaks with faith leaders about what they’ve seen and why they’re using their pulpits to push back. 
• The team will also be investigating the millions of dollars going to private companies to build detention centers for immigrants. 
• Gun law expert Megan Walsh of the University of Minnesota Law School and Claire Finkelstone, the director of the Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law, will appear as guests. 

Viewers can tune in live on all major streaming platforms and online at scrippsnews.com at 5 p.m. EST Thursday, January 29, 2026. The show will also be simulcast in select cities, including Salt Lake City, Las Vegas and West Palm Beach. 

Click here to watch the trailer.

CBS Atlanta has launched a new weekday morning newscast, CBS News Atlanta Mornings.

The one-hour morning newscast will feature a team of anchors, journalists and meteorologists presenting hyper-local reporting, immersive weather reporting including a detailed 7-day forecast, and national headlines, with a 24/7 monitor look of live feeds from all CBS stations and bureaus around the country.

CBS said the new show “News Atlanta Mornings “is designed to deliver local news that truly reflects the communities it serves, with a focus on county-by-county coverage across the Atlanta metropolitan area. Using advanced mapping technology and on-the-ground reporting, the team will cover stories that matter most from neighborhood developments to public safety, transportation, education, politics, health and economic impact.”

“Our goal is to meet viewers where they are in their communities and deliver news that helps them start their day informed, prepared, and connected,” said Tom Canedo, president and general manager of CBS Atlanta. “This morning show reflects our commitment to meaningful local journalism, paired with the unmatched resources of CBS News.”

The CBS News Atlanta Mornings team includes:

• Jobina Fortson-Evans, Anchor 
• Alexa Liacko, Traffic Anchor 
• Troy Bridges, Meteorologist 
• Kaley Fedko, Reporter

Additional reporters and contributors including journalist and reporter La’Tasha Givens and Jamal Goss will join the CBS News Atlanta Mornings team in the coming weeks.

Over the past year, CBS has expanded its newsroom, launched a groundbreaking AR/VR studio, accelerated hiring across editorial, production, and digital teams, and rolled out new local news and weather operations – all designed to build a modern, community-rooted newsroom for one of the nation’s most dynamic media markets. CBS Atlanta’s AR/VR news studio is the first of its kind in the Southeast, the ninth in the CBS Station group, and only the second fully immersive AR/VR-enabled studio to deliver all the news in the format, transforming traditional news delivery into a dynamic, visually rich experience, enhancing viewer understanding of complex topics.

Since launching its local news and weather operations in August, CBS Atlanta has quickly gained traction with viewers, surging with more than 150% in year-to-year growth.

Tegna has launched new mobile apps across 50 markets, which it said delivers up-to-the-minute coverage of news and weather stories from local journalists and meteorologists. Thousands of original daily mobile videos in a scrolling vertical feed are personalized for users based on their individual preferences to keep them connected to the local stories that matter most to them. 

“Our audiences rely on us for credible, local coverage that helps them stay connected to their communities and make informed decisions in the moment. That’s why we’ve reimagined our newsrooms as story-first operations, built for speed and accuracy around the clock – not just fixed broadcast timeslots. This app is an expression of our local newsroom of the future, where great local journalism meets people exactly where they are, on the devices they use throughout the day,” said Adrienne Roark, Chief Content Officer, TEGNA. 

The new mobile app first launched in four beta markets – Atlanta, Denver, Indianapolis, and Seattle – and is available for download in both the App Store and Google Play Store, with other TEGNA markets launching on a rolling basis over the next few weeks.

Tegna said the new app is already delivering strong results. Video plays are up more than tenfold during the testing period, and user sessions have increased by 40%.

“By emphasizing digital design and the user experience, we’re delivering what audiences truly want: real-time, easy-to-watch video updates from trusted local reporters and weather teams,” said Dhanusha Sivajee, Chief Experience Officer. “We’re encouraged with the early audience response and plan to release new mobile features on a regular basis tied to the valuable feedback we receive from our users.” 

“To make true 24/7 news coverage across all screens possible, we had to reimagine the software powering our local teams from end-to-end,” said Kurt Rao, Chief Technology Officer.  “Employing cutting-edge technology has unlocked more time for the teams to create original content for streaming and mobile.” 

Key features of TEGNA’s new mobile app include:

• Elegant design and fast video and image load times; 

• Localized onboarding and active customization so users can quickly set location, interests, and notification preferences for the topics they care about most; 

• A personalized home feed that surfaces the most important local news and weather stories in real time, tailored to each user; 

• Story summaries that combine text, visuals, and related coverage so people can choose to skim, watch, or dive deeper into any story; 

• A social‑native vertical video player that offers an immersive, scrollable feed of short original clips from local reporters and meteorologists; 

• Best‑in‑class local weather with customizable forecasts, maps, and alerts powered by station meteorologists;

• Topic exploration hubs that highlight in‑depth coverage of key local and national priorities, including politics, public safety, education, sports, and community life; 

• Premium integrated advertising solutions that give brands new ways to reach highly engaged, local mobile audiences; 

• Profile and account tools that let users manage preferences, save stories, and receive alerts across devices.