A Fond Farewell to KPRC-TV General Manager Larry Blackerby December 17, 2010

It’s always tough to say goodbye to a really good boss.

It was with mixed emotions Thursday night that the Channel 2 family bid a fond farewell to Larry Blackerby, our station’s Vice President and General Manager. 

After nearly five years, Blackerby is leaving the station to take a similar job in Indianapolis.

He will be sorely missed at KPRC and in the greater Houston community.

Under his leadership,   KPRC  built a solid reputation for  providing responsible journalism to our viewers and building a strong relationship with all aspects of Houston’s diverse community.

The Houston International Festival April 17, 2009

young Irish Dancers

It’s that time of  year again when downtown Houston is being transformed into a  fun place to check out the annual I-Fest, or International Festival. 

I-fest is scheduled for the weekends of April 18-19 and April 25-26. You can learn more about the entertainment lineup by going to www.ifest.org

This year, the event will spotlight the country of  Ireland, and organizers are busying creating what they call an “Irish Countryside.”

On Thursday night, 2 on the Beat had the fun opportunity to attend the Mayor’s International Festival Gala, along with anchor Dominique Sachse (who also served as emcee)  producer Tracy Hatfield, Photographer Tyrina Gleinser, News Director Rick Mcfarland and General Manager Larry Blackerby and his wife Brenda. 

Channel 2 is a proud media sponsor of  I-fest. 

Dominque, Tracy and Ty recently spent ten days in Ireland and produced some amazing stories about the people, food and culture.

Some of that Irish flavor was on display at the gala, which was attended by  dignitaries including Mayor Bill White, County Judge Ed Emmett and his wife Gwen, Sheriff  and Mrs. Adrian Garcia, city councilwoman Melissa Noriega and her husband former State Rep. Rick Noriega and Joanne King Herring. 

Channel 2’s New – News Director April 14, 2009

A few weeks ago, I told you how the  Channel 2 news team bid farewell to our former news director Skip Valet, who skipped out on us to take on a much bigger job as General Manager of  WKMG in Orlando.

That station is also in the Post-Newsweek family, so it was a big promotion.

On Monday, we got some really exciting news about Skip’s replacement.

 KPRC General Manager Larry Blackerby announced at  a staff meeting that he was promoting Assistant News Director Rick McFarland to the position of  News Director.

(this is a photo of Skip, Rick and Larry and Skip’s going away  party!)

It’s a big promotion with many more responsibilities involving  budgets, ratings, revenue, hiring and firing. 

 So….That means Rick is the person you should email or call if you have any complaints or compliments (did I say compliments?) about me or our news product.