Leon Gibb and Lee Jordan retired from WEWS-Channel 5. The anchors have a combined 52 years of experience.

Both are Bowling Green graduates who once worked at Columbus WCMH.

Jordan beat out actress Halle Berry for “The Morning Exchange” co-host gig in 1987 after six years at WCMH.

Her co-anchors have been Fred Griffith, Joel Rose, Ted Henry, Roy Weissinger, Chris Flanagan and Frank Wiley.

Leon grew up in Cleveland was a Plain Dealer reporter.

He began his broadcast career at Toledo’s WTOL.

Leon got the Columbus job after giving a ride of a hitchhiker whose girlfriend’s mother worked at the NBC affiliate.

Lee married and divorced Michael Garofalo (1987-1996) and Jerry Kastler (1996-1998).

Leon was at WKYC-Channel 3 for years before switching to WEWS-Channel 5.

Leon and wife Marguerite have two daughters, Jennifer and Allison.

Leon is in the Hall of Fame of Glenville High, Bowling Green School of Communications, Cleveland Association of Broadcasters and Ohio Broadcasters (Associated Press).

“The Morning Exchange” began in 1972 as “The Alan Douglas Morning Exchange” with Douglas, Don Webster and Joel Rose.

ABC used “The Morning Exchange” as its model for “A.M. America” in 1975.

Forecast: Goddard’s final show tonight at 6

Dick Goddard

Dick Goddard, a friend of woollybears and family pets, will issue his final weather forecast on WJW-Channel 8’s 6 p.m. news show tonight  – Tuesday, November 12.

Goddard has been the meteorologist that Northeast Ohio turned to the most when it wanted the straight scoop on the weather. He did it for 55 years. He’s 85 years old.

WJW-Channel 8 news director Andy Fishman said: “It’s going to be a big celebration.” Expect a lot of well-known personalties to show up.

Goddard grew up in Green and lives in Medina.

Goddard vows to continue his animal advocacy role.

He created the annual Woollybear Festival in 1973 in Vermillion that draws up to 100,000 people.

Goddard began his long Cleveland career in 1961 with KYC-Channel 3.

Morley Safer dies week after retiring

CBS newsman Morley Safer, the longest-serving “60 Minutes” correspondent, who retired last week, died this week.

Morley Safer

His career was reviewed last Sunday after “60 Minutes”  with “Morley Safer: A Reporter’s Life.”  

Safer’s first season as a “60 Minutes”  correspondent began in 1970. He had done 918 more since in his 50 years with CBS, including more than 40 years in prime time. 

The special traced Safer’s life from his birth in Toronto to his rise in the ‘50s and ‘60s as a war reporter and “60 Minutes” correspondent.

Brig. Gen. Joe Stringham, who commanded a Green Beret unit that Safer accompanied into battle in Vietnam, said Safer “was all business and he reported what he saw … We looked at eternity right in the face a couple times … and he was as cool as a hog on ice.”

Safer could play a mean hand of poker, had artistic talent and loved driving a sports car at top speeds.

Safer was the last link to the original core of "60 Minutes" that included Harry Reasoner, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley and producer Don Hewitt.

Linda Ellerbee to retire

Linda Ellerbee

Linda Ellerbee, who went from “NBC News Overnight” anchor to “Nick News” on Nickelodeon channel for 25 years, the longest-running children’s program, will retire this month.

Nickelodeon will air a “Nick News” retrospective at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15.

Like most of us, she got fired – from the Dallas bureau of the Associated Press in 1972, for accidentally putting her chatty newsletter on the national wire.

Then came Houston’s KHOU-CBS, New York’s WCBS-TV, NBC News in 1974, ABC network, NBC and Nickelodeon.

To read Rich Heldenfels’ BJ article on Ellerbee’s retirement, click on

http://www.ohio.com/blogs/heldenfiles/the-heldenfiles-online-1.258385/linda-ellerbee-retiring-her-nick-news-show-ends-dec-15-1.644544

Geist retiring from WVIZ TV

Kent Geist, with Cleveland PBS station WVIZ-Channel 25 for 46 years, is retiring from his full-time job as senior director of development and communications (try getting that on a desktop sign). 

He’ll still show up for special projects and on-air fundraising.

He began at WVIZ on Brookpark Road in 1968 as an 18-year-old high school graduate.

To read former BJ TV critic Mark Dawidziak’s entire article on Geist’s sort-of exit, click on  http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2014/06/kent_geist_retiring_sort_of_after_46_years_at_wviz_channel_25.html#incart_river