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. [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. Ive given my heart and soul to Channel 2, he told the Bay Area News Group. At that point, Somerville stopped driving; police arrived a short time later. Somerville was hospitalized shortly after the incident and was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Following the suspension and subsequent social media attention, two rallies were held in support of Somerville outside KTVU headquarters in Oakland. In a statement Thursday afternoon, Somervilles attorney Shannan Dugan acknowledged the charges. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! He said the couple spend their "together time" at the gym and that the pair "encourage each otherto keep pushing.". Chuck Barney is the TV critic and columnist for the Bay Area News Group. frank somerville house. 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Somerville has said in the past that he wants to work two or three more years and would like to finish his career at KTVU. Somerville was off the 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. Silence irks activists, stirs questions about suspension. I appreciate and admire what they do every day.. Its another strange twist in a turbulent year for Somerville. But if Petitos story needs to be told, so do the stories of thousands of overlooked women of color, they said. 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. Longtime KTVU anchor Frank Somerville shared a Facebook post Saturday reflecting on his arrest and his termination from KTVU nearly a year later. 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. 3,096 sqft. Woman suspected of making threats toward Christian schools campus in Walnut Creek arrested Reynolds said Somerville may have been well-intentioned, and that he certainly seems passionate about fairness in coverage. Driver allegedly hit by Frank Somerville says TV anchor floored his Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. The crash had nothing to do with it, Somerville said, saying managers had decided to cut him loose months earlier. 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. Somervilles Bay Area roots helped make him popular with viewers. 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. Venerated KTVU anchor Frank Somerville will be 'taking time - SFGATE [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. Stay up to 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. Leslie Shawn Rayburn posted this. Somerville was hospitalized shortly after the incident and was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Somerville, who has a mixed-race daughter, wanted to make a statement at the end of a segment regarding "missing white woman syndrome," a term coined by the late Gwen Ifill about American media's obsession with the disappearance of young, pretty Caucasian women, when very little national attention is given to the thousands of people of color who go missing every year. 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. But she hadnt and the new tag was removed. In an interview with the Bay Area News Group published Friday, the celebrated former KTVU anchor. (He was a prolific Facebook user until September. 1 newscast in the market. 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. 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. Thats just a guess. Off work, he enjoys playing in bands, busking and karaoke. Somervilles arrest came after he crashed his Porsche into another car in a downtown intersection in an accident caught on video. TV anchor Frank Somerville 'pulled off air' over Gabby Petito dispute As of now, he is already 64 years old and his zodiac sign is Pisces. [6] [16][17][18][19], Somerville has been a vegetarian since the age of 12. Franqueville, Somme - Wikipedia ), 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. I helped make Mornings on 2 the No. 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%. NEW - 21 HRS AGO. Frank Somerville says he's 'never going to anchor' at KTVU again Speaking about the case ofmissing geologist Daniel Robinson, she added: "I never heard of it until this friend of mine sent it to me. But the way this story captivated the nation has many wondering why not the same media attention when people of color go missing?" 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. 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