Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 29, 2008 at 14:17:06:
Local radio news suffered a blow Friday when WKAN let go of Rob Rodewald, better known by his radio name, Rob West.
The one-man news department for the station, his service will be "reworked" by part timers and a full-time news staff in Quincy, according to Mike Moyers, senior vice president of STARadio, which owns eight stations, including WKAN 1320 AM, and two local FM stations, WYKT 105.5 and WXNU 106.5.
Rodewald, 43, said that he found out he no longer works for WKAN on Friday, the last day of a two-week vacation. He said Monday that "I have gotten to work with some really good people over the years ... from Larry Timpe (former program director), Ed Munday (former news director) down to Mike Tomano (host) and Steve Touhy (host)."
Moyers wrote in an e-mail Monday that three reporters from WTAD in Quincy have been providing news for the Kankakee stations while Rodewald was on vacation.
Reporters Jim Dewey, Mary Griffith and Kevin Payne make the daily beat calls and gather information from WKAN's part-time associates and send them, via the Internet. "When it's news time, the stories are there," Moyers wrote. "Should there be an emergency of some nature, the announcing staff on site in Kankakee would have the wherewithal to go live and provide the listening audience with the necessary information."
Rodewald said he started at WKAN 23 years ago as a part timer on weekends and nights as a DJ and announcer. At the time, the former Rochester, Ind., resident was a student at Olivet Nazarene University, where he worked on the college radio station. He changed his radio name to West while at Olivet because some people had trouble pronouncing Rodewald.
In September of 1988, he became a full-time WKAN announcer and DJ.
When Jan Parcell left WKAN, Rodewald joined Ed Munday as a news reporter. Then when Munday left almost five years ago, Rodewald became the news director with minimal part-time help.
He said that he usually worked Mondays through Fridays, unless something happened on the weekend. His day started at 3:30 a.m. collecting police and fire news in preparation of the 6 a.m. newscast.
Then he would contact local government officials and police chiefs for the noon report.
Several nights a week, there would be night meetings to attend and report on. "The longest day I ever had was when the water plant went down (July 12, 2004). My day started at 3:30 a.m. and ended at 9:30 p.m." Rodewald was referring to the rupture of a water main that left many homes and businesses without water for up to three days.
While he said he may seek a job in public relations, Rodewald has no immediate plans.
He and his wife Fredda, of Bourbonnais, have two children, one at the Bourbonnais Upper Grade Center and one at Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School. He was elected to the elementary school board in 2003 and re-elected in April 2007.
(The Daily Journal)