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Tuesday, October 7, 2008
KVUE’s Tyler Sieswerda gets a new co-anchor
KVUE’s Tyler Sieswerda won’t be flying solo much longer.
Without a partner at 6 and 10 p.m. since the August departure of Christine Haas, he’ll be joined soon by Terri Gruca who, like Haas, comes to Austin from a station in Minneapolis.
“It’s a really interesting set of circumstances,” said Frank Volpicella, KVUE’s news director.
Gruca says she had just arrived in the Twin Cities five years ago when Haas left for Austin, but she’s kept tabs on her former competitor over the years. And when Haas departed for a job in Houston earlier this year, the two reconnected.
“Christine is terrific,” Gruca said. “She understands what it’s like to go from Minneapolis to Austin, and that really helped me.”
Gruca, who grew up in North Carolina, says she fell in love with Austin — and KVUE — instantly.
“The station has such a rich history of quality journalism,” she said. “The people are amazing.”
That admiration extends to Sieswerda, her new co-anchor.
“He and I completely connected from the moment I walked in the door,” she said. “You just don’t see that very often.”
Volpicella says more than 200 people — from all corners of the nation — applied for the job. Gruca immediately impressed him.
“She’s a good reporter and a good anchor who has broken a lot of solid stories,” he said.
Those stories include an expose on the jewelry found in gumball machines that led to a nationwide recall, a look at the dangers escalators pose to small children, and a piece on exploding thermoses.
In Austin, she, like Haas, will file investigative reports for KVUE’s Defenders franchise.
Gruca starts Dec. 8, but plans a house-hunting trip before then with husband Greg, a day trader.
“I love the way Austin feels,” she said, “and I want him to experience that.”
Photo courtesy of WCCO-TV, Minneapolis
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