Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 26, 1994 TAG: 9411090013
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
News director Jim Kent confirmed that Real was no longer employed by the station as of last Monday. No reason for Real's departure was given, and attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
Coverage of the capital will rotate among other staff members, beginning with Joe DeSheild, Kent said, until a permanent replacement is named. In addition, photographer Randy Lynn continues to work in the Richmond bureau and will be able to handle "a lot of the routine things" by himself, Kent said.
Real's departure is the latest of several personnel changes at the station.
Reporters Kimberly Hicks and Crystal Jackson recently left the station for similar jobs in larger markets. Hicks moved to Louisville, the country's 47th-largest TV market, and Jackson headed for Kansas City, the 29th-largest market. Roanoke-Lynchburg, by comparison, is the 66th-largest TV market in the nation.
Beth Myers, formerly weekend weather anchor and three-day-a-week reporter, has moved into the co-anchor and weather position on 7's weekday early-morning news program, `Mornin'''
Kimberly Shifflett will take over Myers' former role. Shifflett is a Vinton native who did internships with the station while she was a student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Kent said.
Public radio WVTF (89.1 FM) has hired a veteran classical-radio programmer as its director of performance programming.
Obelit "Obie" Yadgar comes to Roanoke from Milwaukee, where most recently he was assistant manager of public relations for Marquette University.
Yadgar previously worked for two classical music stations in Wisconsin as programming director. He is an Army veteran who was a war correspondent in Vietnam.
He has overall responsibility for both music and non-news talk and performing-arts programming at the station.
He is one of four directors - the others are responsible for news, development and engineering - who report to station manager Steve Mills.
Reporting to Yadgar are Seth Williamson, who remains music director for classical music, and Jeff Hunt, who continues as music director for jazz and New Age music.
Blue Ridge Public Television, WBRA (Channel 15), has received a $5,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to help pay for an expansion of its "Homework Helpline" program.
After school on weekdays, the helpline connects students who need homework assistance with Roanoke public-school teachers, using a sophisticated telephone system at the station.
The grant will be used to extend the service to high school students. Until now, the assistance was available only to students through the eighth grade.
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is awarding $188,000 in what it calls "Last Mile" grants to 39 small public television and radio stations around the nation to support educational programs. Each project could apply for a maximum of $5,000.
The goal of the program, according to Corporation officials, was to help stations complete projects that were already under way.
Cody Lowe will write about radio and TV news in Channel Surfing, an occasional column.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***