WILL Press Room
Free Tornado Safety Show
Thursday, March 13, 2008
WILL AM-FM-TV chief meteorologist Ed Kieser will present a free tornado safety seminar at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, with tips people can use to protect themselves when tornadoes threaten.
Kieser, now in his 18th year of presenting tornado safety shows, uses spectacular video and graphics to help arm central Illinois residents with information that could save their lives. The seminar takes place at the University of Illinois’ Beckman Institute Auditorium, 405 N. Mathews St., Urbana.
Tornadoes Kill
“Tornadoes have already caused 69 deaths in the United States in 2008,” Kieser said. “The number of fatalities this year is already ahead of the 30-year average for the entire year, and we’re just entering the prime tornado season.”
Free parking for the event is available in the university parking garage at the corner of University Ave. and Mathews. For more information, call 244-5072 or visit the WILL Web site at http://www.will.uiuc.edu.
Managing a Crisis
Rick Atterberry, public information officer for the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency, will also provide information about what to expect from local government in a disaster.
Atterberry will talk about what the Emergency Management Agency does in times of crisis and how people can be prepared during an emergency.
WILL-AM 580 Tornado Safety with Ed Kieser is presented with the cooperation of the UI Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.
Contact:
Mary Barrineau
Public Information Coordinator
WILL AM-FM-TV
(217) 333-1070
Leonard Named General Manager at WILL AM-FM-TV
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Mark Leonard, general manager for Central Washington of KCTS-TV in Seattle, has been named the new general manager of WILL AM-FM-TV-Online and director of broadcasting for the College of Communications at the University of Illinois, pending approval of the U of I Board of Trustees. He succeeds Donald Mullally, who retired in 2005.
Announcing the appointment, effective June 15, Ron Yates, dean of the College of Communications, said Leonard’s career spans more than 27 years in public broadcasting, including senior management positions in Seattle and Yakima, Wash., and at WXXI in Rochester, N.Y., where he was vice president for television.
“He brings vision, energy and creativity to WILL and the Division of Broadcasting at a time when public broadcasting needs such qualities,” Yates said.
As general manager for Central Washington at KCTS-TV, Leonard manages all station operations of KYVE, KCTS’ Yakima station. He was chief administrative officer at KCTS-TV from 2000-2003.
Leonard said he is looking forward to heading up WILL’s operation, in part because it’s a combined public media service with radio, television and new media. “It’s an opportunity to innovate with new models of service for public media,” he said.
WILL is a station with a long history and great tradition that has already built a solid history of service to its local communities, Leonard said. His experience at other stations has reinforced his understanding that localism is an essential value of public broadcasting, he said. “With the overall consolidation of commercial media, localism is an increasingly rare but important asset. As a result, public broadcasting has a unique opportunity to build and expand upon local strengths,” said Leonard, who worked briefly in television production for WILL-TV in 1982.
Leonard is a past president of the Washington State Public Broadcasters Association, where he successfully reversed declining state support for public television. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, and participated in the Executive Development Program at the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration at the University of Rochester.
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Contact:
Mary Barrineau
Public Information Coordinator
WILL AM-FM-TV
217-333-1070