Meet The Team
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Danielle Avitable
Morning Anchor
Danielle Avitable joined WOWT 6 News in August 2020 as co-anchor of Daybreak, but she is no stranger to the Midwest.
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Dave Zawilinski
Morning Anchor
Dave Zawilinski joined the WOWT team as a morning anchor in October 2014.
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Brian Mastre
Investigative Reporter / Weekend Anchor
Brian Mastre can be seen weekdays reporting and anchoring for WOWT 6 News at 6 & 10. His in-depth reports, special projects and documentaries air throughout the year.
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Emily Dwire
Anchor / MMJ / Reporter
Emily Dwire joined the WOWT News team in late 2019. She currently anchors the weekend evening newscasts and reports on general assignments during the week.
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Lauren Melendez
MMJ / Weekend Anchor
Lauren is no stranger to the Midwest, coming from WEEK-TV in Peoria, Ill., where she was the weekend anchor and investigative reporter.
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Mike McKnight
MMJ / Reporter
A Lincoln native and 1977 Journalism graduate of UNL, Mike has 30 years reporting experience at WOWT -- 10 years of that as State Bureau Chief.
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Tara Campbell
MMJ / Reporter
Tara brings some Canadian flavor to the WOWT newsroom: She was born and raised just outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, and spent the majority of her journalism career in the province of Saskatchewan.
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Roger Hamer
Photographer
A member of the WOWT staff since 1990, Roger Hamer has covered everything from National Championship games to presidential visits.
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Lileana Pearson
MMJ / Reporter
Lileana, who enjoys journalism that makes a difference, knew from a young age that this was the career for her.
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Leigh Waldman
Weekend Anchor / MMJ
Leigh Waldman is a proud Texan excited to venture into the Midwest.
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John Chapman
Reporter
John Chapman is a veteran member of the WOWT 6 News team. The award-winning news and sports reporter has worked for close to three decades in the Omaha area.
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Cecelia Jenkins
MMJ / Reporter
Cecelia wants to tell your stories. If you have an idea, don't hesitate to reach out.
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Ashly Richardson
MMJ / Reporter
Ashly Richardson joined the WOWT 6 News team in July 2019 as a Daybreak reporter and multimedia journalist.
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Alex McLoon
MMJ / photographer
Alex McLoon joined 6 News in November 2019 and has been reporting in Omaha since 2018.
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Gina Dvorak
Digital Director
Gina Dvorak has been a journalist for the past 25 years, moving from editing and design, and finally to digital platforms in 2011.
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Evan Hummel
Producer
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Leah Kemple
Producer
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Richard Ochoa
Executive Producer
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Kevin Westhues
Managing Editor, Drone Operations Manager - WOWT
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Chris Ahrens
Digital Sales Manager
Chris grew up in rural Nebraska but always wanted to move to the city!
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Mary Beth Keating
National Sales Manager
Mary Beth Keating is an Omaha native. Mary Beth has a wide range of experience in the broadcasting field.
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Rusty Lord
Chief Meteorologist
Chief Meteorologist Rusty Lord joined the 6 News First Alert Weather Team in June of 2008
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David Koeller
Meteorologist
David Koeller is a meteorologist for WOWT 6 News, bringing you weather updates weekdays at 4, 5, 6:30 and 10pm as well as any time severe weather threatens.
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Mallory Schnell
Meteorologist
Mallory is the Weekend Meteorologist at WOWT. She joined the First Alert Weather Team in June 2018.
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Clay Ostarly
Meteorologist/Traffic reporter
Clay Ostarly joins WOWT's First Alert Weather Team as an AP award-winning and NWA certified meteorologist and multimedia journalist.
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Jacqueline Policastro
Washington Bureau Chief
Jacqueline Policastro created the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in 2014. She’s covered Congress and the White House for more than a decade.
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Ted Fioraliso
Senior Reporter/Executive Producer
Ted Fioraliso returned to Washington, D.C. in April 2016 as a senior reporter/executive producer at the Gray Television Washington News Bureau.
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Peter Zampa
Multimedia Journalist
Peter Zampa joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in June 2015 as a multimedia journalist.
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Alana Austin
Multimedia Journalist
Alana Austin joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau team in August 2017 after spending three years covering national and state politics in Richmond, Virginia at Gray TV's WVIR-TV.
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Kyle Midura
Multimedia Journalist
Kyle Midura joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in September 2017 from Gray TV's WCAX-TV.
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Timothy Knapp
Supervisor of Videography
Timothy Knapp joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in September 2018 as Studio Manager and Photojournalist. He now serves as Supervisor of Videography.
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Jillian Angeline
Multimedia Journalist
Jillian Angeline joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in January 2019 as a multimedia journalist.
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Karen Daborowski
Producer
Karen Daborowski joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in January 2019 as a producer.
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Natalie Grim
Multimedia Journalist
Natalie Grim joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau as a multimedia journalist in June 2019.
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Kristin Kasper
Multimedia Journalist
Kristin Kasper joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in July of 2019 as a multimedia journalist.
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Tyler S. Smith
Photojournalist/Editor
Tyler Smith joined the Gray Television Washington News Bureau in July 2019 as a photojournalist/editor.