WLUC staffers are still trying to digest the implications of the resignation of their news director on Friday.
Regena Robinson, who'd held the position for two and a half years, unexpectedly announced that she'd be leaving the job within two weeks. Later that morning, she told some employees that, in fact, she was leaving that very day. She cleared out her office on Saturday and she's now gone.
What happened? She'd only say that she resigned and she was moving on. To where, she wouldn't say, nor would she say whether she was staying in the TV news business.
The truth was, her tenure at WLUC had been marked by some dissension and a major rift in the newsroom. That's not all that uncommon in the TV news business, but Robinson's journalistic skills and management style never won her full respect among the veterans in the newsroom.
Who's going to be the next news director? Good question. Anchor Steve Asplund, who once held the ND job, would be a likely and welcome in-house candidate, but station CEO Rob Jamros and the new owners, Sinclair Broadcasting, may have other ideas.
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We're enjoying a respite from the frightful cold of the polar vortex of just a week ago but TV6 weather guru Karl Bohnak says don't put away your thermal underwear and knit caps just yet.
Things are setting up, he says, for a stretch of similarly frigid weather later this month or in early February.
How cold was last month here in the UP? The coldest December in a quarter century, a full seven degrees below average.
Long range forecasters are strongly suggesting that we could have a series of delayed springs in the years ahead--ie winters will last longer.
Bohnak says, yeah, there's a lot of winter left.
How about global warming? Does it figure into this at all? Bohnak doesn't buy it. He claims there's been no significant warming of the earth for the last two decades
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So what's happening with the old Delft Theater in downtown, the one that's been vacant for a couple of years?
Tom Vear, who owns the building along with Donckers next door as well as other properties in town, has a plan.
For a dinner theater. With 250 seats, some in the balcony. Also a bar.
The idea would be to show movies--old classics, maybe new classics--on a huge screen while patrons are enjoying a first class meal and drinks.
Sounds a little off-the-wall, but off-the-wall can be good sometimes.
Vear, who's applied to the state for grant money, expects to present his plans to the City Commission later this month.
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A little bit of a hiccup at Sol Azteca, the new Mexican restaurant overlooking the Lower Harbor.
The restaurant doesn't have its liquor license yet and apparently some patrons were trying to take matters into their own hands. Literally.
They were arriving at the restaurant with their own alcohol and telling staff that it was fine--the patrons would provide their own liquor and the restaurant would provide the tacos, enchiladas and burritos. Hey, everybody does it here! A great deal all around.
Except, of course, for the fact that it's illegal.
The restaurant manager, who's from out of state, made a call to the city and got the true story.
Next thing you know, Sol Azteca posts a sign instructing customers to leave their booze at home.
Crowds are still big there, by the way. Is it just the honeymoon phase or is this the real deal?
You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com
