DATE: Monday, September 15, 1997            TAG: 9709150035

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Steve Kiehl 

                                            LENGTH:   42 lines

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ... WAVY'S LISA PARKER?

Lisa Parker was the consumer reporter and weekend anchor at WAVY-TV, Channel 10, from 1993 through December 1995, when she left to take a reporting job at WMAQ, the NBC affiliate in Chicago. A new job in a new city isn't all Parker is dealing with these days.

Dirty diapers, baby bottles and cries in the middle of the night have replaced microphones and cameras for Lisa Parker recently. And she loves every minute of it.

Parker, a former weekend anchor at WAVY, gave birth to her first child - 8-pound, 8-ounce Jocelyn Sara - on July 31. She said she never imagined how wonderful motherhood could be.

``Words don't describe it,'' Parker, 31, said last week. ``It's been great. Being a reporter, you deal with people so much. Now I understand a new part of humanity.''

After a 12-week maternity leave, Parker will return to her consumer reporting job at Chicago's WMAQ in November. She's not too worried about trying to balance her career with her daughter. The child will always take priority, she said.

``There's a lot of working moms in my newsroom,'' she said. ``So it's a fairly hospitable environment for emergencies.''

In her first year at WMAQ, Parker won an Emmy for a story showing that the level of lead in imported miniblinds is harmful for children. After her story aired, it was picked up by NBC affiliates across the country and by ``NBC Nightly News.''

Despite her success in the nation's No. 3 market, she said she misses Norfolk - especially her friends and the climate.

``In Norfolk, I never had a cab driver give me an obscene gesture. Here, I think it happened on my first day.''

Parker and her husband, a prosecutor for the city of Chicago, live on the city's North Side. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Lisa Parker, who has moved north, has more than Chicago news on her

mind. She is a new mother.

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