On a day when local TV was making news as well as reporting it, officials announced Kevin Janison, chief meteorologist at KLAS-TV, Channel 8, since 1994, is out.
The popular Janison, known for a quick wit on air and his tornado-chasing hobby off duty, has been replaced by Gina Cancelliere, who was the primary meteorologist for a 24-hour cable news channel in Philadelphia.
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Meanwhile, the status of KTNV-TV, Channel 13, weekend anchor Bob Salter remained unclear. Staffers were hearing rumors that he had been fired and reinstated, but Jim Thomas, spokesman for KTNV's parent company, did not return calls for the second day.
Salter found himself in the center of an election night brouhaha, telling Channel 13 viewers that a staff member at the campaign headquarters of Clark County sheriff candidate Jerry Airola threatened him.
Salter, who has Mondays and Tuesdays off, did not return calls.
Janison, whose last day was Friday, said the replacement was "in the works for a while."
"KLAS wanted a different look, and they hired a young woman from Pennsylvania," he said. "It's tough at my age and mileage to look like her."
He said he plans to remain in Las Vegas with his family and help his wife, Terri, with her Clark County School Board campaign.
Cancelliere is a graduate of the meteorological program at Penn State and worked as an intern for The Weather Channel in 1999.
The Pittsburgh native provided morning weather reports for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and was a meteorologist staffer at WPLG-TV in Miami. She has reported the weather on "Good Morning America."
On another front, KVBC-TV, Channel 3, was undergoing a shakeup of its own.
News Director Jamie Ioos, Assistant News Director Dan Wilson and Assignment Manager Robert Martinez have given notice.
Ioos, news director since 2001, is joining the consulting firm of Crawford Johnson & Northcott as a consultant. The firm consults for rival KLAS-TV.
Ioos did not respond to requests for comment on the mass departures.
Wilson is leaving after nine years at KVBC to work for a Phoenix TV station, and Martinez is going into public relations after 15 years at KVBC.
Over at KVVU-TV, Channel 5, veteran local weatherman Nate Tannenbaum made his first appearance as the station's fourth weatherman during the weekend. His 5 1/2-year run at KTNV ended in May.
He joins Darren Peck, Ted Pretty and Les Krifaton.
THE SCENE AND HEARD
Usher has put his Las Vegas headliner ambitions on ice. He starts a six-week run today on Broadway as Billy Flynn, the cagey defense attorney in "Chicago." Earlier this year, Usher and his creative team checked out several Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil shows for concept ideas. ...
Lisa Mackay, 25, of Las Vegas on Sunday was crowned Miss Rio. She won $10,000.
SIGHTINGS
Former Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera and his wife, Emily, having a very quiet post-sentencing lunch Monday at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza on West Sahara. His wife had her head down, "acknowledging nothing but her plate," a spy said. Herrera was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison after his political corruption conviction in the "G-Sting" case. ... At "Le Reve" at Wynn Las Vegas over the weekend: Courteney Cox-Arquette and David Arquette, Tobey Maguire, Kenny G, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, Louie Anderson and members of Nickelback. ... Celine Dion's husband, Rene Angelil, their son, Rene Charles, 4, and Celine's family, backstage Sunday after attending the Blue Man Group at The Venetian. Angelil told staffers that Rene Charles insisted on seeing the Blue Men after their appearance on Thursday's finale of "America's Got Talent."
THE PUNCH LINE
"Good news ... we found weapons of mass destruction. The bad news is they're in North Korea!" -- Jay Leno
