The longtime news anchor faced a rocky 2021. The case of Gabby has sparked a national outcry as her fianc Brian Laundrie continues to evade authorities. I just dont notice the things you see, he added. Somerville has had a tumultuous year. Sign up for NBC Bay Areas Housing Deconstructed newsletter. In a statement Thursday afternoon, Somervilles attorney Shannan Dugan acknowledged the charges. The longtime KTVU news anchor is married to his wife, Donna Wright, a television producer. 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 homicide case. I feel great, he said in response. After graduation he worked at local stations in Santa Rosa, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Providence, Rhode Island, before returning to the San Francisco Bay Area. Somerville reportedly told the producer that Eikel had approved a shortened version, a source said. Somerville does not believe that his Dec. 30 arrest in Oakland on suspicion of driving under the influence was a factor in the stations decision. Somerville has a Black daughter and wanted to add a note at the end of any news story on Petito about the rates of domestic violence for Black women in America. The photo shows him with a beard and the caption: I think I look pretty cool for 63 if I do say so myself In response to a follower who said Somerville didnt look well, he said, I feel great. Leslie Shawn Rayburn posted this. Neither Fox nor KTVU has made any official statement on the matter. 42 Portfolio, Somerville, MA 02143 is a 9 bedroom, 18 bathroom, 15,789 sqft multi-family built in 1900. Frank Somerville has spoken out for the first time since his Dec. 30 arrest for a suspected DUI. 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 . 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. Like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheSunUS and follow us from our main Twitter account at @TheSunUS, 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Frank Somerville, Donna Wright Somerville and their two daughters, Brian Laundrie cops narrow search based on new intelligence as rancher says Gabby Petito's fianc is NOT in reserve, Mystery as mom & son, 2 fall to their deaths before game at San Diego Padres stadium as cops probe suspicious case, Horrifying moment two starving Afghan boys are lashed to a wooden post by the Taliban for stealing bread, ISIS leader Abu Omar Khorasani executed by Taliban at Afghan prison as jihadis wage war after Afghanistans collapse, Inwood shooting: 'Five shot' outside Manhattan restaurant as 'gunman opened fire at crowd', Sickening moment young woman in a black bikini viciously attacks a teenage sunbather, Gabriel Salazar 'car accident': Heartbroken pals pay tribute to TikTok star Gabe amid reports influencer died aged 19. "The Petito family certainly deserves answers and justice. He took an indefinite leave of absence in June following a broadcast of the TheTenO'ClockNewsonKTVU in which he slurred lines and left mid-broadcast, resulting in speculation over his health and well-being. MSNBC host Joy Reiddiscussed the Gabby Petito case on her showon September 20. There was no word on how heated the discussion got. Among them, whether the anchor was offering an effective or appropriate way to challenge the medias often lopsided obsession with stories about White women in jeopardy. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. Visitation will be held on Monday, March 6th 2023 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Cusick Funeral Home (80 Mountain Ave, Somerville, NJ 08876). Somerville was booked into Santa Rita Jail in Dublin after his arrest, then released with a citation to appear in court. A funeral service will be held on Tuesday, March 7th 2023 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the same location. Somerville, driving a 2014 Porsche 911, rear-ended a silver Audi. Somerville was not involved in that flub. Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? He is also survived by many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. 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%. Related Articles He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. ), He disputed one comment that said he looked sick on a video he posted talking about an incident in which his daughter was allegedly racially profiled. Somerville pushed back, but was overruled, a newsroom source said. Somerville was hospitalized shortly after the incident and was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. frank somerville house. She'd now be 8 years old, and her case got little national attention at the time and she remains unaccounted for. FRANK Somerville has reportedly been pulled off the air at KTVU over his coverage of the Gabby Petito case. Somerville, now 64, was arrested at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30 in the 2200 block of Broadway following a collision between his 2014 Porsche 911 and a silver Audi, according to a probable cause statement by Officer Natalie Windham. 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. Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? As per the sources, he was named after his father's friend Frank Patty. ContactGeorge Kelly at 408-859-5180. He's still in mourning over the cancellation of "Freaks and Geeks. But if Petitos story needs to be told, so do the stories of thousands of overlooked women of color, they said. Get all the latest & greatest posts delivered straight to your inbox, Frank Somerville Speaks, Says He's Likely Out at KTVU, fairly strange Memorial Day Weekend broadcast, just took up a local missing-persons case, Anchorman Frank Somerville's Future at KTVU In Doubt As Rumors Swirl About High Drama In the Newsroom, 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. Sources said that Somerville was informed by station management the next day that he was being suspended. He is due to appear Feb. 28. Its another strange twist in a turbulent year for Somerville. Somerville, 63, took over as anchor of the six o'clock and ten o'clock news broadcasts at KTVU in 2008, following the retirement of Dennis Richmond. The case of Gabby has sparked a national outcry as her fianc Brian Laundrie continues to evade authorities. The crash had nothing to do with it, Somerville said, saying managers had decided to cut him loose months earlier. Since his departure from KTVU, he has steadily posted videos on Instagram featuring an assortment of commentary. 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. And I guess thats the issue, isnt it?. He is a graduate of Bowie State University in Maryland with a BS degree in communications. 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. The New York-born Petito was slain during a cross-country van trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie. All this drama isnt good, Somerville said. Petito, 22, had been reported missing earlier this month while on a cross-country camping trip. 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. Stay up to date! 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. But the way this story captivated the nation has many wondering why not the same media attention when people of color go missing?" 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? Sources at the station said news director Amber Eikel and editors didnt think Somervilles proposed tag, a brief closing the story, was an appropriate way to cover the issue and would blur the lines between an anchor delivering a straight news story and offering editorial commentary. Over the years he has become one of the station's most recognisable having presented on screen for more than two decades. I would love to work at one of the other stations in the market. Somervilles arrest came after he crashed his Porsche into another car in a downtown intersection in an accident caught on video. KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville again has been removed from the air, but this time a newsroom spat not an on-air meltdown appears to be the reason. 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 . About Frank; Contact Information; Court Records; Frank Bacci is 50 years old today because Frank's birthday is on 09/10/1972. Somerville was hospitalized shortly after the incident and was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. 2. The public silence from Channel 2 and Fox, its parent network, has fueled community frustration over the ostensible reason he was suspended a reported dispute over his push to add a brief commentary on racial inequity to the end of a straight-news story about the disappearance of social media influencer Gabby Petito, whose case had attracted a firestorm of media coverage. Its really, really sad, because Ive given 31 years to the station, he said. Now, though, Somerville appears to be putting it out there that he's looking for a job. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Reynolds said Somerville may have been well-intentioned, and that he certainly seems passionate about fairness in coverage. Somerville wanted the tag to address domestic violence and the medias tendency to overlook reports about missing and slain women of color, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, which obtained a copy of Somervilles original tag. [8] He returned to the anchor chair on August 4 without addressing the incident that saw his brief departure. 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. Theyre the backbone of Channel 2. 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. Previously: Anchorman Frank Somerville's Future at KTVU In Doubt As Rumors Swirl About High Drama In the Newsroom. According to a police statement in charging documents obtained Thursday, officers responded to Broadway and West Grand Avenue at about 8:20 p.m. Dec. 30, 2021 for a vehicle collision. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. 3bd. He is extremely sorry to the person he hit and has provided all information to his insurance company to cover the other drivers losses. 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. Speaking about the case ofmissing geologist Daniel Robinson, she added: "I never heard of it until this friend of mine sent it to me. Since then, Fox and station management have refused to publicly speak to the issue. Who is Frank Somerville? It should have been much more about stepping into the journalism and giving respect and honor to the issue and people youre purporting to be in service of.. The next day, Somerville was told he was suspended for defying a superiors orders, sources said. Off work, he enjoys playing in bands, busking and karaoke. His parents raised him in Berkeley, California. Staff writers Harry Harris and Rick Hurd contributed to this report. 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. His next scheduled court appearance will be 9 a.m. May 6 at Oaklands Wiley Manuel courthouse, a district attorney spokesperson said. Holland and Galvis insist the ultimate focus of their rallies was not Somerville, nor were they saying the media shouldnt cover Petitos killing. Shortly before the 5 p.m. broadcast, Eikel told Somerville she planned to cut the tag after newsroom editors raised concerns. Stay up to date! Update: A spokesperson for Fox tells the Mercury News, "We can confirm Frank is taking time away from the desk to focus on his health and we welcome his return when he is ready.". 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. On Tuesday, the district attorneys office charged Somerville with driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08, with an added clause for having a level over .15. KTVU News Director Amber Eikel has allegedly taken Somerville off the air until further notice, as Liberman reports. Jurors hopelessly deadlocked in Bay Point murder trial, mistrial declared Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. If not, Ill go to other stations outside of the market. Following the suspension and subsequent social media attention, two rallies were held in support of Somerville outside KTVU headquarters in Oakland. The Alameda County District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. Martha Ross is a Bay Area News Group features writer for The Mercury News and East Bay Times who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, womens issues and families. (He was a prolific Facebook user until September. 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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. Related Articles Longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville is facing two DUI charges following a car accident on Dec. 30, 2021. Somerville was born on March 19, 1958, in San Luis Obispo, California, but was raised in Berkeley. Look closely at this picture. Former KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville was charged earlier this week with driving under the influence following an arrest in late December in Oakland, Alameda County prosecutors and police. 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. The veteran anchor was told that the tagline was inappropriate and he apparently pushed back on it. However, she agreed with the editors who thought the tag on its own wasnt a sufficient way to cover the story and would blur the lines between an anchor delivering a straight news story and offering editorial commentary, sources said. [9] In September 2021, he was suspended for disobedience after seeking to keep a "tag" concerning domestic violence and "missing white woman syndrome" in a story on the Gabby Petito case. [6], Somerville was an intern at KTVU in 1981, while attending San Francisco State. So I am done at Channel 2, Somerville said in a brief phone interview this week with the Bay Area News Group. Martin Reynolds, co-executive director for the Oakland-based Maynard Institute, which promotes diversity in Americas newsrooms, said Somervilles reported solution, to tack a commentary on at the end of a straight news story, would have been lazy, as opposed to assigning a full story on the topic. Franqueville ( French pronunciation: [fkvil]; Picard: Franqville) is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France . [12], Somerville's suspension from KTVU would become permanent in January 2022 when his contract expired and KTVU would decide not to re-sign him. Hes one of the highest paid anchors in the Bay Area, but his contract is up in March. Somerville's attorney said that he is "attending meetings and working on himself. Somerville spoke this morning to local media hound Rich Lieberman who said Somerville was speaking to him exclusively but very quickly Somerville gave quotes to the Mercury News and the Chronicle saying that he's all but certain he won't ever be at the anchor desk again at KTVU. FRANK Somerville has reportedly been pulled off the air at KTVU over his coverage of the Gabby Petito case. Theylearned that Somerville had been driving a 2014 Porsche east on West Grand when he rear-ended an Audi stopped at the intersection. And the photo has since gone. 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. He added that the decision was made long before December, when the alleged DUI took place. Mr. He took a nine-week leave to focus on his health and had only returned in August. In an interview with the Bay Area News Group published Friday, the celebrated former KTVU anchor. I think its probably time to (let them know) were still listening and waiting, Holland said. Viral Kids' Star Ms. Rachel Is Taking a Break From Social Media After Backlash Over Co-Star Who Uses They/Them Pronouns, Actor Tom Sizemore, of Saving Private Ryan,' Dies at 61, Alex Murdaugh Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder of Wife and Son, Los Gatos Mom Accused of Hosting Alcohol-Fueled Teen Parties Attacked in Jail, Hospitalized. 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%. A picture of him styling his Black, adopted daughter's hair went viral on the Internet. I helped make Mornings on 2 the No. He returned in August, but a month after, was suspended permanently following turmoil over the coverage of Gabby Petito, the missing van-lifer who was killed by her fiance Brian Laundrie in September. Somerville is the adoptive father of a Black teen daughter. Joshua Bote is the tech editor at SFGATE. 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. The driver of the Audi stepped out before Somerville pushed the vehicle across the intersection with his car before ramming it into a light pole, according to documents provided to SFGATE by the district attorneys office. [5] He then attended San Francisco State University. He said it was deeply concerning that KTVU wasnt even willing to have a conversation about media coverage when it serves the Bay Areas diverse viewers. 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. 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. 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. [5] He then attended San Francisco State University. 2. 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 Berkeley native had been an intern at KTVU many years before. The ABC News report also said that onlyabout one-fifth of missing person cases involving minorities are covered by the news, according to a 2016 analysis published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. 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? Frank Celeste, Gibson Sotheby's International Realty. A search-warrant obtained blood sample later yielded a result of .24 blood-alcohol content. That's a shivering duck sheltering a puppy with its wings. That night he pushed to add a brief commentary on racial inequity to the end of a news update about the disappearance of Petito, a young White woman and social media influencer whose case had attracted a firestorm of media coverage. According to The Mercury News, Somerville wanted to add a tagline to a segment about the case to point out the disparity in the coverage of missing persons cases of white women relative to women of color. His first newspaper job was as a Washington Post paperboy. After the initial collision, the driver of the Audi got out of their vehicle and Somerville, in his Porsche, allegedly pushed the Audi across the intersection of Broadway and West Grand Avenue until the Audi hit a pole on the southwest corner of the intersection, Windham's statement said. All rights reserved, with driving under the influence following an arrest in late December in Oakland. He said the couple spend their "together time" at the gym and that the pair "encourage each otherto keep pushing.". Info stolen in Oakland ransomware attack set to be released Longtime KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville was booked into jail early Friday morning for allegedly driving under the influence, after a car crash at a busy intersection in downtown Oakland. He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. He became co-anchor of KTVU's morning news program in 1992 and was the first anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast when it launched in 2005. When I saw Will Smith stand up for his wife, it reminded me of what I didnt do 30 years ago, he says in the video. Write by: . Days later, a spokesperson for Fox the network that owns and operates KTVU announced that Somerville would take an indefinite leave of absence to focus on his health.. They had told me long before that.. 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.
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