Carl Clark co-anchors News Channel 7 at 5:00, and delivers the weekly Positively South Carolina reports every Tuesday on at 6:00. Carl has been involved in upstate news since 1983. He has been with News Channel 7 since 1995 and has over 35 years of experience in news and radio. He graduated from Whitman College (Walla Walla, Wash) and the Yale Drama School (New Haven). Carl worked as a TV/Stage actor for11 years in New York City. When he's not in front of the camera, Carl enjoys writing and the outdoors and is an avid sailor. Carl is married with two grown children. Contact Carl Clark at cclark@wspa.com
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Dan Bickford has been the meteorologist for News Channel 7 Daybreak and Noon since June of 2001. He is a member of the American Meteorolgical Society and holds their television Seal of Approval.Since first hearing the sounding of tornado sirens as a child, Dan has had a strong interest in weather, specifically strong storms. This led him to study at the University of Oklahoma, where he received a Bachelor's and Master's degree in meteorology. The interest in strong storms continued, as during his college years Dan did some studying at the National Severe Storms Laboratory and spent two spring seasons as a storm chaser for KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City. While completing his studies, Dan also spent a year and a half as the weekend meteorologist for KSWO-TV in Lawton, OK/Wichita Falls, TX. College also included a two year captaincy of the University of Oklahoma water polo team. After graduating in December of 1993, Dan became the chief meteorologist at KOAM-TV in Joplin, MO/Pittsburg, KS, a position he would hold for seven years. During that time, he became heavily involved in severe weather education, was a member of a local emergency management group, and became involved in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Project Impact campaign to mitigate severe weather losses. As a hobby, he also worked for four years as a radio personality for KXDG-FM in Joplin. Dan enjoys swimming, biking, watching Chicago sports teams (and Oklahoma of course), and spending time with his wife. Contact Dan Bickford at dbickford@wspa.com
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Tom Crabtree has been with NewsChannel 7 since 1983 and has been a professional broadcaster for over twenty-five years. Tom, anchor of News Channel 7 at 5:30, 6:00, and News Channel 7 at 11:00, has been recognized by the South Carolina Press Association and was part of the team that won the 1998 Southeastern Regional Emmy Award for Best Newscast.Tom has been a lifelong resident of the Carolinas, and in his spare time he enjoys music and singing. He is also a member of the Council of Stewards at St. James United Methodist Church in Spartanburg. Tom is married with two daughters. Contact Tom Crabtree at tcrabtree@wspa.com
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Fred Cunningham is the weekend Sports Anchor for News Channel 7. He has been covering sports for News Channel 7 since 1987. He holds a bachelor's degree in Telecommunications from Indiana University. Fred contribute to his weekly sports feature Fred's Sports Page.Fred enjoys the Upstate and its close proximity to the mountains and the beach. In his spare time Fred loves golfing, running, and spending time with his wife and new baby girl. |
Pamela Graham is an Emmy award-winning journalist who is a 21-year veteran of the television news business. She currently anchors News Channel 7 at 5:00 and News Channel 7 at 6:00.During her career she has been honored both nationally and statewide for her anchoring, winning an unprecedented five years in a row for Best Anchor by the National Association of Press Women. She has been honored by the South Carolina Broadcasters Association (SCBA) as Newscaster of the Year and Personality of the Year. Since 1990 she has raised the level of health reporting to a new standard with her nightly award winning Healthwatch reports. She has been recognized twice by doctors statewide for excellence in health reporting by the South Carolina Medical Association. Her credits also include the 1999 Matrix award for a special report on breast cancer. Pamela Graham has also interviewed some of the most revered and respected individuals in this country…including the Reverend Billy Graham (no relation), Senator Strom Thurmond, and Presidents George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter…just to name a few. She is very active in the community, recently honored by the Rotary with the prestigious Paul Harris Fellow award. By far the most important aspect of her life though is her family…happily married for more that 15 years…with three children. Contact Pamela Graham at pgraham@wspa.com
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Terri Gruca anchors the weekend evening newscasts and reports three days during the week. She grew up in Hendersonville, NC and so this has been somewhat like a homecoming for her. Before coming to News Channel 7 Terri spent more than 3 years as the morning and noon anchor at WBIR in Knoxville, TN. There Terri made her mark both on the desk and in her reports. She's won numerous AP awards and an SPJ award of Excellence for Investigative Journalism. Terri also worked for 3 years as a reporter/photographer at WRAL in Raleigh, NC. While there she traveled overseas with the 82nd Airborne Division. She covered the first ever joint training exercise involving U.S. and Russian soldiers in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. She also covered Hurricanes Bertha and Fran. Terri enjoys working out, reading, scrapbooking and volunteering with various charities. She spent the last three years reading and playing weekly with seriously ill children at East Tennessee Children's Hospital. She is a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate, where she met her husband. They both live in Greer. Contact Terri Gruca attgruca@wspa.com
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 Bill Hovey is the weekend morning meteorologist for News Channel 7 Saturday and Sunday. Bill has forty years experience in meteorology and extensive experience in broadcasting. He has been with NewsChannel 7 since 1994. His professional memberships include the American Meteorological Society, as well as holding both the Radio and Television Seals of Approval for Weathercasting given by the American Meteorological Society.Before coming to News Channel 7, Bill had been a meteorologist at WHDH-TV, WCVB-TV, and WBZ-TV and Radio in Boston, as well as WNHT-TV in Concord, NH. Before working in television, he was an Associate Professor of Meteorology in Belknap College, Center Harbor, NH. Bill is the founder and president of the New England Weather Service in Center Harbor, New Hampshire. He holds a Masterís degree in Meteorology from Rutgers University and a Bachelorís degree in Meteorology from Pennsylvania State. Bill has a wife, Marilyn, and three grown children. Contact Bill Hovey at bhovey@wspa.com
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 Tom Johnson co-anchors News Channel 7 Daybreak along with Julie Phillips, and is a General Assignment Reporter for News Channel 7 at Noon. Johnson has been with News Channel 7 since 1997. After graduating from the University of Georgia with a degree in Broadcast News, Johnson began his career at WSAV-TV in Savannah, GA.Johnson has received numerous awards for his work, including a 1998 Southern Regional Emmy Award for Best Feature Program. Tom was also nominated for Best Feature Story that same year. In 2000, he was nominated for another Southern Regional Emmy in General News Reporting. Other awards include 3 SC Association of Broadcasters Star Awards and 7 Associated Press Awards. Tom spends his spare time volunteering in local elementary schools. A true Southerner, he also loves watching football, especially the Georgia Bulldogs and Washington Redskins. He is an avid reader and expert video gamer. Tom met his wife, Beth, when they worked together at WIS-TV in Columbia. She now produces News Channel 7 at Six. Contact Tom Johnson at tjohnson@wspa.com
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 Julie Phillips has been anchoring Daybreak and Noon since 1994. She joined News Channel 7 in 1992 as a reporter and Weekend Anchor. Julie started her broadcasting career in 1981 as a radio news reporter for a station in Pensacola, Florida. Her first television job was as a reporter at WCTV in Tallahassee, Florida where she won an Associated Press Award for spot news on the shooting death of a police officer and then later became Weekend Anchor. She then joined WPBF TV in West Palm Beach, Florida in 1989 as a reporter and anchor for the 5:30 Report, a daily afternoon broadcast.Julie graduated from Auburn University in 1979. She is married and has one son. Her favorite hobby is painting, particularly in water colors. Contact Julie Phillips at jphillips@wspa.com
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 Elaine Reyes
is the News Channel 7
Weekend Morning Anchor and a General Assignment Reporter. Elaine produces
her own show and has even added a weekly cooking segment featuring local
restaurant chefs.Elaine moved to the Upstate from Savannah, Georgia where she was the Weekend Evening Anchor at WTOC-TV for two years. She won a Georgia AP Broadcast Award for field anchoring and reporting about her favorite team, The UGA Football Team. Elaine graduated from the Henry W. Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia in Athens with a degree in Telecommunications. She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association. Elaine enjoys volunteering with local animal rescue organizations...and spending time with her fiance and her dog, Max. "The best thing about living in the Upstate is the people. They welcome strangers with a smile then offer a glass of sweet iced tea!" Contact Elaine Reyes at ereyes@wspa.com
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 Jack Roper
Community service,
hard work, and dedication are what make Jack Roper one of the Upstate's
most popular news personalities. Born and raised in Union, SC, Jack spends his time outside of work performing magic shows for hospitalized children, as well as speaking at churches, civic groups, and businesses. He also makes many appearances at local elementary schools to teach students about the weather. Jack is also a musician, as he and NewsCHANNEL 7 anchor Tom Crabtree regularly team-up and love to perform. Upstate viewers have benefited from Jack's forecasts since he joined the News Channel 7 family in 1986. With over twenty years of weather forecasting experience, Jack delivers the most accurate forecasts on NewsCHANNEL 7 at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, and 11:00. It's no surprise that Jack has twice been awarded the South Carolina Broadcasters Association's Local Broadcast Personality of the Year award. Locally, readers of the Greenville News Piedmont have also chosen him as Favorite Upstate Television Personality for three years. A graduate of Union High School and the University of South Carolina, Jack studied meteorology at the University of Florida and Penn State University. He worked as a weatherman at local radio stations before becoming a weather anchor and children's show host at WITN-TV in Washington, NC. He then headed out west to KENS-TV in San Antonio, TX where he was also a weather anchor. He returned to South Carolina in 1986 to join the News Channel 7 team. Jack, his wife, and their three sons, are proud to call the Upstate home. Contact Jack Roper at jroper@wspa.com
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 Maureen
Umeh co-anchors
News Channel 7 at 5:30 along with Tom Crabtree. She has been honored by the
Illinois Broadcasters Association and the NAACP. Umeh has worked with many
nonprofit organizations including Big Brothers, Big Sisters and Mathew House,
an agency for disadvantaged youth. She is a member of the National Association
of Black Journalists and South Carolina Upstate Association of Black Journalists.Contact Maureen Umeh at mumeh@wspa.com
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 Amy Wood has been anchoring News Channel 7 at 11 since 1991. Amy anchored News Channel 7's Emmy Award winning coverage of Susan Smith's arrest for drowning her sons in Union County. Over the years she's hosted Connecting with Kids, Family Matters and Teenagers and Tough Decisions. Her extensive experience with parenting reporting has been honored by the South Carolina Media Women. The South Carolina Broadcasters Association recognized Amy for spot news and education coverage. Amy started her career covering blizzards and breaking news in Western Minnesota. Amy's involvement with the Ellen Hines Smith Girls Home and important groups led the South Carolina Jaycees to name her the state Distinguished Community Service Award winner in 1999. Amy frequently speaks to local groups on parenting and the broadcast industry.Amy is a big ACC basketball fan where she roots for her husband Mike, an ACC official. Nothing makes Amy happier than time with her daughters Brianna and Jami. Contact Amy Wood at awood@wspa.com
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 Pete Yanity has been an important part of the News Channel 7 family for over a decade. Pete heads up the News Channel 7 Sports Team and appears weeknights on News Channel 7 at 5:30, 6:00 and News Channel 7 at 11:00.In addition to his responsibilities as Sports Director and Sports Anchor, Pete produces such annual sports specials as High School Friday Night, the Wofford Football Show, The Masters and Daytona 500 Specials. Some of his reporting specialties include covering the Atlanta Braves from the World Series and the Carolina Panthers. But the pride in Pete's life comes from his family. He and his wife, Kelly, enjoy spending their time raising their three-year-old daughter, Paige, and their eighteen-month-old son, Trey. Contact Pete Yanity at pyanity@wspa.com
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Tracey Atwood is our General Assignment Reporter for News Channel 7’s Greenwood Bureau. She was born in Spartanburg, but has lived all over the U.S. before coming to News Channel 7.Tracy is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she received a B.S. degree in Communication and a minor in Political Science. She has worked at several stations, including WATE and WLTX in Knoxville, TN, and WLNS in Lansing, MI. Tracy and her husband are proud to call Greenwood home. In her spare time, Tracy loves figure skating, decorating and taking care of her plants. Contact Tracey Atwood at tatwood@wspa.com
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Jodie Fleischer is a Reporter for News Channel 7. She primarily covers crime and courts in Spartanburg, Cherokee and Union Counties.Jodie joined the NewsCHANNEL Seven team in August of 1999. She came to us from WLTX-TV, the CBS affiliate in Columbia. Jodie has won two South Carolina Associated Press awards for Spot News and Education Reporting. She graduated with high honors from the University of Florida in Gainesville, with a degree in Telecommunication and a minor in Criminal Justice. While she was there, Jodie worked at WUFT-TV and WRUF-AM. In her spare time she enjoys reading, hiking the Carolina mountains, and watching Florida Gator football. Contact Jodie Fleischer at jfleischer@wspa.com
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Scott Goldberg joined the staff of News Channel 7 at the Greenville Bureau after working as a Business Reporter and Anchor for the CBS affiliate in Roanoke, VA. In Roanoke, Scott won a regional Edward R. Murrow award and an Emmy nomination for his hard-hitting series about American companies sending American jobs to Mexico.Before that, Scott lived in Washington, DC, where he covered national news and politics for the CBS station in Lexington, KY. He also worked for CBS News at the 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Scott earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. He's a native of Kansas City. And to this day, he remains a die-hard fan of the Chiefs and KC-style barbecue. Contact Scott Goldberg at sgoldberg@wspa.com
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Robert Kittle is a Reporter and Photographer for News Channel 7’s Columbia Bureau.Robert was born and raised in Atlanta, GA, and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Political Science. He interned at WSAV-TV 3 in Savannah, Georgia his senior year, then got his first job in television at WMBB-TV 13 in Panama City, Florida. He was there from May 1985 until January 1989. While there he did just about everything in TV news. He was a one-man-band, meaning he shot his own video and was a reporter. But he also was the fill-in anchor, who at various times did news, weather and sports. Robert came to NewsCHANNEL Seven in January 1989 to work in the Columbia bureau, again as a one-man-band who shoots, writes, edits and reports his own stories. He’s been there ever since, covering the Legislature when it’s in session, politics and anything else that’s newsworthy. He’s now the Chairman of the Statehouse Press Corps. Robert is married, and he and his wife have a son. They are active in their church, Shandon Baptist in Columbia. In his spare time, Robert enjoys spending time with his family, photography, reading, golf and watching Georgia Bulldogs sports. Contact Robert Kittle at rkittle@wspa.com
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Kris Mau came to News Channel 7 in July of 2000 as the education reporter from El Paso, Texas. And boy, has time really flown! Although I'm not from the South, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with the friendly people and beautiful places.I grew up in Glenview, Illinois and attended the University of Northern Iowa. I spent two semesters interning. First at WGN-radio in Chicago, then at KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa.. The most incredible experience of my college life was spent in Spain. For six months, I studied the culture, language and history. In the spring of 1993, I graduated with a double major in Broadcast/Journalism and Spanish. My first full time job was at KWLO-radio in Waterloo, Iowa where I anchored hourly newscasts and reported. Eight months later I got my first job in television as a photographer/reporter/anchor at a cable station in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was the toughest job I've ever had. I shot and edited my own stories, and at 6:00 p.m. I anchored the news. Another eight months later, I found myself moving to Jonesboro, Arkansas and KAIT-TV. There, I anchored the 10:00 p.m. news and covered general assignments. More than two years later, I moved to the desert Southwest, El Paso, Texas. I started as the morning and noon anchor, and eventually moved to the 5:30 p.m. anchor and education reporter position. I enjoy reporting on education more than I ever imagined. Visiting with kids every day really puts your life into perspective. That's why I was so happy to get this job, continuing with education reporting at News Channel 7 in Upstate, South Carolina. During my eight years in this business, I have won several Associated Press awards and have been recognized for fair an accurate coverage on the education beat. But what makes this job really fulfilling is the ability to bring you information you can use every day. I love driving into the mountains and exploring this part of the country! In my spare time I enjoy, camping, playing pool, golfing and visiting family. Contact Kris Mau at kmau@wspa.com
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Matthew Nordin is a Reporter for News Channel 7’s Anderson Bureau. He joined News Channel 7 in January and covers stories in Anderson, Oconee, and Pickens Counties.Matthew graduated from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in May 2000 with a B.A. in Radio-Television and a minor in history. He's also an alumnus of the Washington Center for Politics and Journalism. Organizations such as the Radio-Television News Directors Association, the Illinois News Broadcasters Association, and the National Broadcasting Society have recognized his reporting with scholarships and awards. Matthew got his start in the business at age 16 when he reported and anchored the news on a country music radio station in his hometown of Mount Vernon, Illinois. Then he moved to Carbondale to attend college, where he'd get up at 4am to anchor a morning drive show on a local news/talk station. It was also during this time that he made the transition to television news by reporting and anchoring for the university-owned PBS affiliate. Matthew says he thrives on breaking news but also loves to feature "everyday people simply telling the stories of their lives." Away from the Anderson bureau, you'll probably run into him catching a play at one of the Upstate's many theatres. He says he also loves movies, reading, and "embarrassing myself on the golf course." Contact Matthew Nordin at mnordin@wspa.com
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Ken Okel joined News Channel 7 in March of 2000 as the evening General Assignment Reporter for the Greenville Bureau.Prior to coming to News Channel 7, he worked as a Weekend Anchor/Reporter at WSIL-TV in Carterville, Illinois. Ken has also worked as an Anchor/Reporter for the "Fort Collins Evening News" in Fort Collins, Colorado. His work has earned him several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. While in Colorado, he also hosted a community affairs talk show. Ken is a graduate of Arizona State University, where he majored in Broadcast News. During his senior year, he worked as a Producer/Reporter at KAET-TV in Tempe, Arizona. Contact Ken Okel at kokel@wspa.com
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Staci Walker is one of the newer members to the News Channel 7 team. She's coming to the Upstate from a station in Columbus, Georgia WTVM (Channel 9). There Staci was a general assignment reporter, but during her last six months she helped anchor the weekend newscast. Atlanta is home for Staci, that's where she was born and raised.Staci recieved her bachelor's degree from Princeton University ("95) and her master's in Broadcast Journalism from Columbia University in New York City ('98). When she's not reporting on the Upstate's Golden Strip, Staci enjoys running, reading mysteries, and listening to jazz. God and then family are the two most precious things in her life. |