News 19 Archives
Friday 09th of May 2008 
La Crosse, WI
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WXOW TV :: La Crosse, WI
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Scott Hackworth
News Anchor

Scott Hackworth co-anchors the News 19 Six and Ten PM reports. He came to News 19 in 1991.

Scott grew up in Oklahoma and upstate New York. After graduating from Oklahoma State University, he started his broadcasting career as an Associate Producer at KJRH Television in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He went on to become the Weekend Anchor at KSNF Television in Joplin Missouri and from there to a Morning and Noon show anchor position at KCRG Television in Cedar Rapids Iowa.

Scott has been honored by the Associated Press of Wisconsin for Best Series Reporting and was part of the team that put together our September 11th, 2001 coverage that won the Wisconsin Associated Press award for Best Newscast.

Scott is an avid reader and loves politics, current events and sports. In addition to his duties at WXOW, Scott is a columnist for "La Crosse Magazine". He is also believed to be the only Oklahoma State University or New York Mets fan in all of Wisconsin.

Scott lives with his wife and two sons in Onalaska.
Molly Nichols
News Anchor

Molly Nichols co-anchors the News 19 Six and Ten PM reports. She came to News 19 in March of 2007.

Before coming to La Crosse, Molly anchored and produced the noon news at KGAN in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and reported for the 6 and 10 o’clock newscasts. She was also the fill-in anchor at KDSM in Des Moines. She started at KGAN as nightside reporter, but was quickly promoted to the anchor chair. She began her journalism career as a reporter and fill-in anchor at KAWE in Brainerd and Bemidji, Minnesota.

Molly is originally from Spirit Lake, Iowa. Most of her family is still in Northwest part of the state, so she’s glad she’s not too far from them. She says she’s “tired of corn and excited to live in America’s Dairyland.”

Molly received her broadcast journalism degree from the University of Northern Iowa. When she's not working, Molly enjoys going to concerts. She is a classically trained flutist. Molly lives with her husband Phil, in Onalaska. She's thrilled to be a part of the community and says "if you ever see me, don't hesitate to say hello"! You can also email me anytime at mnichols@wxow.com
Dan Breeden
Chief Meteorologist

Chief Meteorologist Dan Breeden has been forecasting Wisconsin weather his entire professional career.

Born and raised in northern Wisconsin, Dan attended the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where he studied Meteorology. Upon receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Meteorology in 1981, Dan moved on to Wausau to predict the weather for WSAW as the 10 PM weather anchor.

For the past 20 years Dan has been forecasting Coulee Region skies for the News 19 Forecast Team as the Chief Meteorologist and Live at Five, Six and Ten PM Weather Anchor.

When Dan is not making maps and forecasting the weather you will most likely find him on the golf course, or just spending time with his wife and two sons.
Scott Emerich
Sports Director

Scott has been with News 19 in a variety of roles since the summer of 1989 with the exception of a six-month stint as a weekend sports anchor at KDUB-TV in Dubuque, Iowa. He has been the Sports Director at News 19 since May of 1995.

Scott is an award winning journalist, most recently having won a Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Award for Best Sports Reporting-Division 3 in 2003 for "The Heart of the Team". It was a story about La Crosse Aquinas Senior Paul Servais who couldn't play basketball because of a heart condition.

Scott also served as a writer/producer on News 19's half-hour special "a Golden Dream" which won a WBA award for Best Documentary in 2003. The show chronicled La Crosse Aquinas 2002-2003 Boys state basketball championship.

Among his other awards is a 1995 Associated Press award for Best Sports Reporting for "NFL Draft." That story followed former UW-La Crosse football star Bill Schroeder on draft day. Schroeder was eventually drafted by the Packers.

Scott is also a member of the UW-La Crosse Quarterback Club and on the board of directors for the "Coach Z Youth Basketball Camp.

Scott and his wife Jill have three boys; Jarrod and twins Ryan and Michael. He enjoys playing basketball and golf, as well as, running his kids around to various activities during his spare time.
Dave Solie
News Anchor

Dave is an area native who joined News 19 as a general assignment reporter and originally planned to stay at the station two years.

That was in 1990. Since then, he's also worked as an assignment manager, anchor of a weekly news magazine and in 1995 became the anchor of News 19 Live at Five.

Along with his work at News 19, Dave is an academic staff member at the school from which he graduated, the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. He's also been involved in a number of community organizations over the years.

He occasionally performs with his high school rock band, Phoenix, which re-formed in 2000 and includes all five original members. He lives in Onalaska, Wisconsin with his wife and three children.
Amy DuPont
News Anchor

Amy began her television career at WXOW in 2001.

Amy was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and grew up in Inver Grove Heights. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a degree in Communication Studies. Amy interned with News 19 and was eventually promoted to weekend producer. She left La Crosse to become the weekend anchor at KSAX-TV in Alexandria, Minnesota.

Amy returned to WXOW in 2002 and assumed the duties of weekend weather anchor. She made the switch back to news a year later and was promoted to Daybreak anchor in March of 2004.

Although she enjoys bringing you the news each morning, Amy's passion is reporting. Amy has been honored by the Associated Press of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association for Best Series Reporting, Best Feature Reporting, Best Hard News Story, and Best Photography.

Amy is also the head coach of the West Salem-Aquinas gymnastics team and coaches young gymnasts for the West Salem Park and Recreation department and the UW-La Crosse Junior Eagles program. She is also a member of the board of directors for the UW-La Crosse Alumni Association and serves on the executive committee.

When she's not working or catching up on sleep, Amy enjoys photography, seeing movies with her husband Erich, and walking her golden retriever Sergeant and beagle Tally.
Zach Brown
Daybreak Meteorologist

Zach joined the News 19 Forecast Team in January of 2007. He can be seen every morning on News 19 Daybreak. He comes to WXOW from Kirksville, Missouri where he spent the last three years as the weekend weather anchor and general assignment reporter.

Zach is also an award winning reporter, receiving the 2005 Story of the Year award from the Associated Press and a 2005 Telly award for his coverage of the crash of flight 5966 that crashed just a few miles from the Kirksville Regional Airport killing 13 of the 15 people on board.

He has always had a passion for the weather. Growing up on the Isle of Palms which is an island about four miles off the coast of South Carolina near Charleston, he has a fascination with hurricanes. After his house was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989, he decided to go into meteorology and learn more about how the weather works. He got the chance in high school to intern with Chief Meteorologist Rob Fowler from WCBD in Mt. Pleasant, SC. That is where he began his career as a production assistant before being hired as a photojournalist in their news department.

“I have a great passion for the weather and making sure my viewers have the most accurate and dependable forecast around,” said Zach.

When not forecasting the weather, Zach loves to catch the most recent movies at the theater, traveling or hanging out at home with his Siberian Husky, appropriately named Thunder.

If you have any questions or comments, Zach would love to hear from you. You can email him at zbrown@wxow.com.
Jordann Ojanpa
News Anchor

Jordann Ojanpa anchors News 19 weekends. She came to News 19 in March of 2007.

Before Jordann came to La Crosse, she worked in her hometown of Mankato, MN as a sports reporter and was later promoted to weekend anchor.

Jordann began her career as the morning/midday anchor at KSAX Eyewitness News in Alexandria, MN.

Since Mankato is home to Vikings training camp, Jordann has had the opportunity to interview several players and coaches, and is an avid Vikings fan. She says you may see her wearing a lot of purple on Sunday nights during football season.

Although Jordann is a Minnesota native, she considers La Crosse her second home. She is a 2003 University of Wisconsin- La Crosse graduate. While Jordann was in college, she competed for the UW-L gymnastics team where she earned three national team titles and All-American honors on the vault.

When Jordann is not working, she enjoys watching football games and learning how to cook with her fiancé Mark, learning how to play golf, trying new sports, spending time on the lake, walking her pug Jace, judging high school gymnastics meets, spending time with family and friends, and supporting UW-L athletics.

If you have a story idea or comment, you can email Jordann at jojanpa@wxow.com
Andrew Thut
Weekend Meteorologist

Andrew joined News 19 in December of 2006 as the Weekend Meteorologist. You may also see him doing News Reporting during the week. He is familiar with the Midwest having grown up in Green Bay, Wisconsin where he developed his interest in weather. Andrew particularly enjoys forecasting and watching severe weather events.

Andrew attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison and graduated with a degree in Meteorology in December of 2006. His debut in broadcasting was with WSUM, a radio station in Madison. Andrew is a member of the Madison chapter American Meteorological Society and has also participated in national forecasting competitions. He further expanded his knowledge of weather while undergoing research on snow density in Steamboat Springs, Colorado in March of 2006.

Before joining the News 19 Forecast team, Andrew worked for two years at Weather Central, a company which produces weather equipment and creates forecasts for many areas around the world. He also interned with WXOW’s sister station WKOW in Madison.

Andrew enjoys outdoor activities and sports. While his favorite sport to play is soccer, he is an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers and all Wisconsin Badger sports. He also likes to travel and spend time with family and friends.
Kenyon Kemnitz
Sports Anchor / Reporter

Kenyon Kemnitz joined the Hometown team in June 2007 as the Weekend Sports Anchor/Sports Reporter.

Kenyon is happy to be back in Wisconsin covering the teams that he grew up watching.

Kenyon is a Wisconsin native, he grew up in Watertown, Wisconsin (home of the Goslings and right on your way to the bigger cities of Madison or Milwaukee). He is also a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he received his B.A. in Communication Arts and Journalism in December 2005.

Before coming to News 19, Kenyon worked as Sports Director at WBKB-TV in Alpena, Michigan. He also worked at sister station WKOW-TV in Madison as a sports photojournalist, learning the business from a veteran sports team.

In his spare time he enjoys playing and watching basketball, especially the Wisconsin Badgers, and catching up with family and friends.
Sara Stewart
Reporter/Fill In Anchor

Sara is a general assignment news reporter, and a fill-in Anchor. She joined the News 19 team in December of 2006.

Reporting will always be one of Sara’s passions. She enjoys meeting new people, telling meaningful stories that make an impact on the Coulee Region.
She’s worked on several interesting assignments, including flying with the Blue Angels, covering the 2007 Floods that ravaged the Western Wisconsin and Eastern Minnesota, as well as an emotional series on suicide.

She’s a University of Iowa graduate where she was a double major in Journalism and Mass Communication and German. Though she likes the Badger state, she’ll always cheer on the Hawkeyes. While in college, she was a founding member of The Daily Iowan’s TV news show, DITV. Sara also interned at KGAN in Cedar Rapids in the summer of 2005. Later she interned at KWQC-TV6 in Davenport, Iowa for seven months.

Sara is from Bettendorf, Iowa. She moved around a few times while growing up, but she considers herself a Midwest girl. One of the places Sara lived was Germany. She lived there for five and a half years. Because of that Sara loves traveling and exploring different areas.

Sara lives in Onalaska with her husband.
Shelby Cloke
Reporter

Shelby Cloke joined News Nineteen in May of 2007 as a General Assignments Reporter.

Shelby graduated from the University of Iowa in May as well with a double major in Journalism and Communication Studies.

Before working at News Nineteen Shelby completed five internships in television news. Shelby was a videographer and reporter for KCRG in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She also interned at WEIU in Charleston, Illinois where she did everything from anchoring the nightly news, to producing and assignment editing.

Shelby was also the Executive Producer and Anchor for DITV. She was one of the founding members of the University’s television station and won the Iowa Broadcast News Associations Best Newscast award in 2006.

Shelby has also received four IBNA awards for reporting including best investigative story of the year.

Shelby lived in Wisconsin for a few years when she was younger but grew up in Bondurant, Iowa. Even though she is back in Badger-Land now she says she is an avid Iowa Hawkeye at heart.

When she is not cheering on her alma-mater…Shelby loves the theatre, traveling, Starbucks coffee, and deadlines. Shelby also loves spending time with her family and friends.
Sarah Alain
Reporter

Sarah joined WXOW News 19 as a fulltime general assignment reporter in May of 2007.

She graduated from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with honors that same month. There she majored in Telecommunications and International Studies with a Middle Eastern Emphasis.

During college, she worked at WKBT NewsChannel 8 in La Crosse as the weekend assignment editor and associate producer. Sarah also anchored, reported, and produced at KQEG-TV in La Crosse. She held similar positions at WMCM-TV, along with serving as the co-news director and assignment editor. Before graduating, Sarah was a part-time reporter for WXOW News 19 and a morning dj for WCOW 97.

Sarah has been honored for her journalistic achievements. She was awarded the Great Milwaukee Foundation’s Walter Jay and Clara Charlotte Damm’s scholarship and was one of four students to receive a Wisconsin Broadcasting Association scholarship in the spring of 2007. She also took home first in WBA’s New Series/Documentary (TV) category for a story on sex offenders in the Coulee Region.

Sarah is from Onalaska so, it is certainly fitting that this "hometown girl" is working for your "hometown team". When she’s not working, Sarah loves traveling, spending time with family and friends, studying Arabic, being active, trying new things, and cheering on the La Crosse Loggers! You can e-mail Sarah at salain@wxow.com.
Sarah Sullivan
Sports Reporter / Producer

Sarah Sullivan joined WXOW in July 2007 as a Sports Reporter/Producer.

Sarah is originally from Bloomington, MN and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Communication Studies. She interned at KSTP in the Twin Cities during college, where she decided sports was the way to go.

She grew up playing several different sports, but made lacrosse her number one sport in high school. Sarah enjoys watching hockey, football and baseball in her free time. And even though she’s a Minnesota girl, she doesn’t mind cheering on Wisconsin, as long as they’re not playing Minnesota.

When Sarah’s not watching sports she enjoys hanging out with friends and family and going on vacation. She recently had to opportunity to explore parts of Europe before she moved down to LaCrosse
Steve Hurguy
Assignment Editor

Steve has been part of the Hometown Team since 1991. In that time he has been a technical director, photographer, reporter, producer, and now assignment editor.

In his latest position, he is responsible for setting up news stories and assigning crews to cover them.

Steve is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in Accounting. Steve visits Cleveland every year to see his family, and remains a loyal Cleveland Indians and Cleveland Browns fan.

Later he attended the Ohio School of Broadcasting and upon graduation, began his television news career in Gainesville, Florida.

His wife, Jan, grew up in Onalaska, so naturally, Steve applied for a position at WXOW and has been here ever since.

Steve enjoys classic movies, singing and playing the guitar, and spending time with his family. He and Jan live with their three sons in Midway.
Travis Kobs
Photographer

Travis has lived in the Seven Rivers Region his entire life. He has had an interest in television news since first grade when News 19 interviewed him about a story about a bird case at Irving Pertzsch.

In high school Travis had the opportunity to job shadow 6 and 10pm anchor Scott Hackworth. Then, near the end of Travis's junior year at Onalaska High School, Travis began working at News 19 as a studio camera operator. In the summer of 2004 Travis was promoted to News Photographer.

Travis is currently a junior at Winona State University and continues to work as a News 19 photographer, shooting both news and sports.

In his spare time Travis enjoys boating on the river, working on his apple computer, and spending time with friends. Travis is proud to be a part of your hometown team, and is thankful for all that the station has offered him.
Kevin Millard
Photographer

There's something new every day, that's what makes this a great job, says 16 year veteran news photographer Kevin Millard. During his time at WXOW, Kevin has covered everyone from Presidents, to sports stars, to celebrities. Kevin says the most enjoyable stories are the ones told by unique people who open their homes and themselves. Especially kids, who will say anything at anytime.

Kevin has won numerous Wisconsin Broadcasters Association and Associated Press awards for his photographic work.

Besides a love for news photography, Kevin also enjoys fishing, stained glass, and reading.

A native of West Salem, Kevin and his wife, Cheryl, now share their La Crosse home with their two retired racing greyhounds Bud and Twister, and their cat Rex.
Michael Bubbers
Photographer

Michael is a Minnesota native who finds Wisconsin to be a second home to him.

Living most his life in Caledonia, MN he has traveled to a few different places around the country but still finds himself coming back to the Midwest.

Mike started work for the hometown team in 2003 as floorcrew working in the studio and was promoted to News Photographer in March of 2007. What he loves about it is that at every shoot he goes to he finds something new and interesting about the community around him.

In his spare time Mike enjoys playing drums, guitar, and listening to music. He also enjoys getting outside when he can but also loves to watch movies.
Kyle Jorgenson
Photographer

Kyle Jorgenson joined the Hometown Team in May of 2007 as a News Photographer. He attended Brown College in Mendota Heights, MN and graduated with a degree in Television Production in April of 2007.

Before coming to News 19, he interned with TV 19 in White Bear Lake, he doesn’t know the significance of the number 19 but he says it seems to be working well for him.

Kyle grew up in Chanhassen, MN (home of the Dinner Theater and the less mentioned Prince). He attended Chaska High School which is where his interest in television started. He finds it scary to be on his own in a new town, but he’s excited to see what the future holds for him.

He loves his job at News 19 and says he has learned so much already. He is grateful for the opportunity to help bring the news to the Coulee Region.

When he is not working, Kyle enjoys going to concerts, watching movies, and discussing music.
 
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