", He adds, "It makes me really sad, because Ive given 31 years to the station. 3bd. Frank Somerville has spoken out for the first time since his Dec. 30 arrest for a suspected DUI. I wish I could apologize to all of them in person. The collision took place near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Broadway Street just after 7:45 p.m. Dec. 31, 2021, Oakland police said at the time. Silence irks activists, stirs questions about suspension, Oakland NAACP calls for Frank Somervilles reinstatement at KTVU. As Somerville has pointed out on social media, he is the father of an adopted Black daughter. Get all the latest & greatest posts delivered straight to your inbox, Longtime Bay Area Anchor Frank Somerville Off Air Since Slurred-Speech Broadcast On Sunday, AdWeek's TVSpy blog is covering his disappearance, fake names of the pilots of Asiana Airlines Flight 214, Day Around the Bay: San Jose Man Arrested In Connection With PG&E Transformer Explosions, Berkeley Poised to Close Famed Anthropology Library, Angry Students In Full Occupy Mode, The SFPD Brags About Busting Johns Seeking Sex Workers on Capp Street. According to two KTVU newsroom sources, who declined to give their names because they were not authorized to speak on the record, Somerville wanted to add a 46-second tag to an update on the Petito case, which aired Sept. 21. Alameda County DA charges former TV anchor, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Alameda County DA charges former TV anchor Frank Somerville with DUIs, Info stolen in Oakland ransomware attack set to be released, Woman suspected of making threats toward Christian schools campus in Walnut Creek arrested, Federal jury finds Bay Area man guilty in string of East Bay bank robberies, Jurors hopelessly deadlocked in Bay Point murder trial, mistrial declared, In wake of scandal, East Bay school district keeps a close eye on staff behavior. ContactGeorge Kelly at 408-859-5180. KTVU anchor Frank Somerville, one of the most recognizable of the Bay Area's news personalities having been on the air at KTVU since 1991, was pulled from a Sunday broadcast and has not returned . That's a shivering duck sheltering a puppy with its wings. There was no word on how heated the discussion got. In further comments to Lieberman over the phone, reported on his 415 Media blog, Somerville allegedly insisted he had not been drinking, and had just mistakenly taken Ambien before going on the air. [6], Somerville was an intern at KTVU in 1981, while attending San Francisco State. I would give anything to work there. The FBI has issued an arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie, Petitos 23-year-old fianc. Federal jury finds Bay Area man guilty in string of East Bay bank robberies Somerville, a white male, is being lionized and becoming the topic of the story and not the women who have been ignored, Reynolds said. Somerville takes these charges very seriously. 42 Portfolio, Somerville, MA 02143 is a 9 bedroom, 18 bathroom, 15,789 sqft multi-family built in 1900. Look closely at this picture. The California native first started at KTVU as an intern in 1981 while attending San Francisco State University. 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And I guess thats the issue, isnt it?. Former SF anchor Frank Somerville publicly opens up about arrest, KTVU exit. All this drama isnt good, Somerville said. He grew up in the Los Angeles area, went to UC Berkeley and has previously worked as a news reporter at USA Today and SFGATE and as a music writer at NPR. He was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, booked into Santa Rita Jail on that charge and later released with a citation to appear. Theylearned that Somerville had been driving a 2014 Porsche east on West Grand when he rear-ended an Audi stopped at the intersection. He first joined the San Francisco Bay Area station in 1991 and in 2008 became an anchor of the six o'clock and ten o'clock news broadcasts. The Alameda County District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. According to Windham's statement, Somerville showed symptoms of being under the influence of alcohol when officers reached him. So I am done at Channel 2, Somerville said in a brief phone interview this week with the Bay Area News Group. The request was denied by KTVU news director Amber Eikel, who called the tagline inappropriate, a source told SFGATE in September, leading to criticism from the Oakland chapter of the NAACP. Over the years he has become one of the station's most recognisable having presented on screen for more than two decades. Now, the tagline controversy has put Somerville in a position that journalists usually find uncomfortable: instead of reporting on the story, he is the story. Because Mr. Somervilles case is pending, he cannot personally comment at this time, but he takes full responsibility for what happened that night.. 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Born Frank William Somerville on 19th March 1958 in San Luis Obispo, California, Frank Somerville is a journalist. MSNBC host Joy Reiddiscussed the Gabby Petito case on her showon September 20. I would love to work at one of the other stations in the market. Following Somervilles suspension, two rallies were held outside the KTVU studios in Jack London Square in October, both sparked by his reported desire to address disparities in media coverage of White crime victims like Petito versus women of color. 2 Frank Somerville Credit: Facebook/Frank Somerville Who is Frank Somerville's wife? The months-long saga surrounding longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville may have finally reached its conclusion. Somervilles arrest came after he crashed his Porsche into another car in a downtown intersection in an accident caught on video. He grew up in the Los Angeles area, went to UC Berkeley and has previously worked as a news reporter at USA Today and SFGATE and as a music writer at NPR. For whatever reason, they decided not to re-sign me.. Frank Somerville is a journalist and news anchor for KTVU. 80346 /80620. Stay up to date! Holland wondered if KTVU or Fox simply hope the controversy will disappear. He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. Frank Somerville, a veteran TV newscaster suspended from KTVU following a dispute over coverage of the Gabby Petito homicide case, said Tuesday that he believes he is not returning to the station . KTVU anchor Frank Somerville anchors the five o'clock news at the KTVU studio on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. It's been one year since Somerville replaced longtime anchor Dennis . The City of San Leandro also issued an official proclamation honoring him for speaking out about missing women of color and setting an example of strength and equity to our community and those worldwide.. She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree in German studies and from Mills College with a MFA degree in creative writing and English. Crime and Public Safety | He was off air for much of the summer, following his now-infamous May 30 newscast, when he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. Theyre the backbone of Channel 2. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Info stolen in Oakland ransomware attack set to be released FRANK Somerville has reportedly been pulled off the air at KTVU over his coverage of the Gabby Petito case. Frank Somerville says KTVU wouldnt re-sign, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Los Gatos: Hundreds still without power as Black Road repair project finishes early, Frank Somerville says KTVU wouldnt re-sign him: I am done at Channel 2, Bay Area TV anchor Frank Somerville arrested on suspicion of DUI after crash in Oakland, Frank Somerville says hes done at KTVU, apologizes to newsroom for drama, Wheres Frank Somerville? Following the suspension and subsequent social media attention, two rallies were held in support of Somerville outside KTVU headquarters in Oakland. As of now, he is already 64 years old and his zodiac sign is Pisces. As of Thursday afternoon, officials at KTVU and at Fox had not responded to repeated emails asking about Somervilles departure or about whether they had offically signed a replacement. As per the sources, he was named after his father's friend Frank Patty. Longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville, who's been off the air since being suspended by management in September over a disagreement about the coverage of the Gabby Petito case, is speaking out and telling the press that he doesn't expect he'll be back at the station and also, no one from the station or Fox has even bothered contacting him. 53-127 m (174-417 ft) (avg. According to station sources, Somerville, 63, has been "suspended indefinitely" by Channel 2 management after a disagreement with news director Amber Eikel over coverage of the Gabby Petito. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Wheres Frank Somerville? I helped make Mornings on 2 the No. Arianna Fitts would now be eight years old, but she hasnt been seen since 2016, and CNN is shining new light on her case in hopes of a breakthrough. Somervilles next hearing will take place May 6. Longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville shared a Facebook post Saturday reflecting on his arrest and his termination from KTVU nearly a year later. [5] He then attended San Francisco State University. Since Somervilles suspension, two rallies have been held outside the KTVU studios in Jack London Square on Oct. 2 and and Oct. 12, both sparked by Somervilles reported desire to address disparities in media coverage of White crime victims like Petito versus women of color. In related news, CNN is reckoning with its Petito coverage and just took up a local missing-persons case involving Arianna Fitts, a Bay Area girl who is black, and who went missing in 2016 at the age of 2. Officers who spoke with Somerville said he exhibited symptoms of being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage: bloodshot/watery eyes, thick/slurred speech, and odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person.. Meanwhile, the media coverage issue Somerville had hoped to raise has garnered plenty of attention in recent days as debate rages over how much is too much. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Somerville, who has an adopted black daughter, reportedly pushed back after the tagline was refused. At the time, Somerville said he had not yet lined up offers to work at other stations but wanted to keep working and was disappointed about how his time at KTVU had ended. But even with such declarations, community activists say they have yet to hear from the station managers or Fox about their concerns. Last fall, he told this news organization that he anticipated his days anchoring at KTVU were over after he was suspended in September for an off-air dispute about the coverage of the Gabby Petito case. She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree in German studies and from Mills College with a MFA degree in creative writing and English. 4ba. Somerville displayed symptoms of driving under the influence of alcohol, with bloodshot eyes, slurred speech and odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person. After a field sobriety test showed signs of impairment, the documents said, two separate breathalyzer tests found that Somerville had blood alcohol levels of 0.239% and 0.219%. He became co-anchor of the stations highly rated Mornings on 2 in 1992. [5], In 2013, Somerville apologized on behalf of KTVU for an incident in which racist pilot names were read out in a broadcast on Asiana Airlines Flight 214. Somervilles last newscast for KTVU was on Sept. 21. On March 19, 1958, Frank Somerville was born in San Luis Obispo, California, US. [8] He returned to the anchor chair on August 4 without addressing the incident that saw his brief departure. If not, Ill go to other stations outside of the market. He also was off the air for much of last summer following a now-infamous May 30, 2021 newscast, when he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. The New York-born Petito was slain during a cross-country van trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie. As per his date of birth, his birth sign is Pisces. Somerville wanted to add a brief tagline at the end of the report that questioned the extraordinary level of media coverage devoted to the story. Crime and Public Safety | In an interview with the Bay Area News Group published Friday, the celebrated former KTVU anchor confirmed that his former employer will not re-sign him and allegedly not because of his arrest. As first reported by the Mercury News on Thursday, the venerated KTVU broadcaster faces two misdemeanor charges from the Alameda County District Attorneys Office one for driving under the influence of alcohol and a second for driving with a blood alcohol level of over 0.08% with potentially enhanced penalties because his BAC was over 0.15%. The longtime KTVU news anchor is married to his wife, Donna Wright, a television producer. About Frank; Contact Information; Court Records; Frank Bacci is 50 years old today because Frank's birthday is on 09/10/1972. Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? Reportedly, Somerville butted heads with KTVU News Director Amber Eikel over the addition of this "tag" that Somerville wanted to say on air, with Eikel saying that the topic deserved separate coverage at a later date. MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized her own industry on her prime-time program, calling the Petito coverage an example of missing White woman syndrome, a term coined by the late PBS anchor Gwen Ifill to describe the medias often lopsided focus on white women and girls when they go missing. [citation needed] He attended Berkeley High School, graduating in 1976. Since his suspension, Somerville has shared videos and posts on Instagram his social media platform of choice since leaving KTVU. Frank Somerville's 31-year career at KTVU, where his nightly anchoring duties made him one of the Bay Area's most beloved TV news personalities, officially came to an end Friday, as his. She has previously reported or edited for Bay Area news and lifestyle publications, including Walnut Creek Patch, and Diablo, Oakland and Alameda magazines, as well as The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand and The Economist. frank somerville house. Previously: Anchorman Frank Somerville's Future at KTVU In Doubt As Rumors Swirl About High Drama In the Newsroom. Thats just a guess. [7], In June 2021, Somerville took a personal leave of absence from KTVU following an on-air incident during which he struggled to read the script for several stories and appeared to slur his words. Its another strange twist in a turbulent year for Somerville. KTVU suspended veteran anchor Frank Somerville after the station news director nixed his proposal to add commentary about racial justice to coverage of the Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito homicide . Woman suspected of making threats toward Christian schools campus in Walnut Creek arrested George Kelly is a breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group's East Bay Times and Mercury News. He was named as a person of interest in the case, and his remains were found in Florida last week. Somerville is the adoptive father of a Black teen daughter. At that point, Somerville stopped driving; police arrived a short time later. AdWeek's TVSpy blog is covering his disappearance from the air as well. [13], In December 2022, Somerville went public about his dismissal from the station on a Facebook post. $5,550,000. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Now, though, Somerville appears to be putting it out there that he's looking for a job. But a shortened version of the tag made it into the script for that evening's broadcast, which allegedly prompted Somerville's suspension for insubordination. KTVU anchor Frank Somerville, one of the most recognizable of the Bay Area's news personalities having been on the air at KTVU since 1991, was pulled from a Sunday broadcast and has not returned since after slurring his speech on air. He is due to appear Feb. 28. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. Write by: . Ive given my heart and soul to Channel 2, he told the Bay Area News Group. By the end of the broadcast, co-anchor Julie Haener had taken over solo, and did the signoff for the show. Frank Somerville is an American journalist and three-time Emmy Award winner. Somerville was off the air for more than nine weeks before returning in August to Channel 2s The Ten OClock News without addressing his unusual absence. The couple has two daughters - one of which, Callie, who was adopted in 2005 when she was a baby. Meanwhile, Oakland police are awaiting the results of blood tests before turning the case over to Alameda County prosecutors to decide whether to file charges. KTVU News Director Amber Eikel has allegedly taken Somerville off the air until further notice, as Liberman reports. Somerville did reply to local media commentator Rich Lieberman on Monday saying he'd be back on the air that night and that the incident was simply a mistake regarding his prescription medication. The request was denied by KTVU news director Amber Eikel, who called the tag line inappropriate, according to the source. The Berkeley native had been an intern at KTVU many years before. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! He believes that his automotive collision that happened the month before did not play a role, instead, he believes management had already decided to cut him loose months earlier. After a brief return, he was suspended indefinitely by KTVU management following a dispute over coverage of the Gabby Petito missing person and homicide case. I just dont notice the things you see, he added. After the collision, the Audis driver managed to get out of their car, according to the statement, but Somerville kept driving east on West Grand, pushing the Audi across the intersectionuntil it hit a pole on the southwest corner. This property is currently available for sale and was listed by MLS PIN on Mar . [16][17][18][19], Somerville has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. In November, Somerville told this news organization that management had not contacted him since September, when he was suspended from his anchoring duties for an off-air dispute about coverage of the Gabby Petito case. More than a month after Frank Somerville was suspended from KTVU, the popular anchor remains off the air with no word from either him or the station about if or when he might return. In a statement Thursday afternoon, Somervilles attorney Shannan Dugan acknowledged the charges. 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I feel great, he said in response. [2][3][4], Somerville was born on March 19, 1958, in San Luis Obispo, California, but was raised in Berkeley. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Frank Somervilles 31-year career at KTVU, where his nightly anchoring duties made him one of the Bay Areas most beloved TV news personalities, officially came to an end Friday, as his contract expired and the station opted to not bring him back. Shortly before the 5 p.m. broadcast, Eikel told Somerville she planned to cut the tag after newsroom editors raised concerns. His last video was published March 31, voicing his perspective on the Will Smith slap at the Oscars and recounting anincident in which his wifes boss repeatedly harassed her. A station spokesperson could not be reached as of Friday evening, and Eikel declined to comment. Sources said he wanted to point out that the U.S. media often disproportionately covers tragedies involving young White women, while largely ignoring similar cases involving women of color and Indigenous people. But beyond that, the outlet did not get much more information from Somerville, who has had a rocky 2021. In 1992, he became co-anchor of the station's popular Mornings on 2 show. You can see video of the Sunday 10 o'clock broadcast below, in which Somerville has difficulty reading from his teleprompter. Somerville, 63, won the awards at KTVU, which included an accolade for best on-camera news anchor. February 27, 2023 equitable estoppel california No Comments . Somerville has reportedly been "suspended indefinitely" after a behind-the-scenes disagreement about his coverage of the22-year-old vlogger's disappearance. ", "My guess is that Im not coming back to Channel 2, Somerville tells the Chronicle. Somerville pushed back, but was overruled, a newsroom source said. Elevation. Early Life and Education. In 2008, he was elevated to one of the stations marquee positions when he was anointed co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing 40-year veteran Dennis Richmond. He has worked as an online coordinator and, before that, a copy editor and page designer for Bay Area-based newspapers and magazines. Reynolds, a former editor at the Oakland Tribune and Bay Area News Group, said it would have resulted in the very disparity (in coverage) he was seeking to address.. Frank Somerville has spoken out for the first time since his Dec. 30 arrest for a suspected DUI. "[11], On December 30, 2021, Somerville was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after an automobile collision. 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