assignment desk news channel

The Assignment Editor 2.0: More Collaboration, Newer Tools

Back in the late 1990s and early ’00s, when Cater Lee was a reporter for the likes of KNBC and KCAL in Los Angeles, the assignment desk was centrally located in the newsroom. Its editor likely spent extensive time across their day scrolling through police scanners, reading press releases and fielding tipster calls to identify news stories. From it emerged a dictation of Lee’s day.

Purveyors of the newsroom’s assignment desk today, however, are typically less head coach and more quarterback, fronting colorful offenses filled with audibles, option plays and other collaborative trickery that’s designed to always push the ball forward. In other words, story dispersal in a newsroom has increasingly become a team effort, with reporters and producers having more of a say in what makes it to broadcast. Digital technology has also chipped away at the relevance of many dinosaur-era tools assignment editors used to rely on so heavily.

But as the job changes, assignment editors remain a dedicated folk, dug into the frontlines of journalism’s war with mis- and disinformation, while doing their best to help generate broadcasts with wider-reaching community impact. Always, they’re relegated to behind-the-scenes grunt work, and rarely do they get their due.

Julie Wolfe

The capable assignment editor, she observes, will “know all the information”: facts to support a package’s viability, sources that a reporter can contact to round it out, and whether a story is worth any airtime to begin with.

A presence like that in a newsroom matches the significance of an engine in a car, as one assignment editor puts it. Wolfe says assignment editors are like “orchestral conductors,” while additional metaphors that float through interviews stem from human biology. One editor calls the assignment desk the newsroom’s brain; others liken the role’s import to that of the heart or central nervous system, for it’s the assignment editor who pumps data to the farthest reaches of the newsroom, which of course now stretches well beyond the walls of an office building.

Social’s Key Role

Along with an innate sense of what makes for a quality newscast, to effectively manage the assignment desk, editors need top-flight organizational and communication skills, just as they have for decades. These days, familiarity with the social media universe is of equal consequence.

“Twitter’s huge,” he says. “When it comes to breaking news, often we’ll see it on Twitter now before we hear it on police scanners, which is just incredible.”

Darren Whitehead, digital desk lead at another Tegna NBC affiliate, KUSA Denver, says Colorado police scanners are encrypted, but monitoring Twitter helps him pick up the slack.

“Most of the ways that the police departments and fire departments are communicating with us is they’re putting out [updates] on social media, and usually it’s not immediate, it’s well after something has happened,” Whitehead says. “We get calls from people in the community being, like, ‘What the hell is going on down the block from me?’ Then we have to call [the responsible agency], and then they tweet out to everyone — without calling us back — all the information.”

Assignment editors set up Tweet Deck channels, or Social News Desk dashboards, where they follow various government agencies, other news sources like the Associated Press and additional relevant accounts where prospective stories may pop up. Dataminr alerts help inform assignment editors, too; neighborhood-focused Reddit forums and community-based apps like Nextdoor can sometimes supply story ideas as well.

Then, there are community-related Facebook groups, which one assignment editor says she joins using a public profile associated with their news team position. Another longtime story assigner says she taps younger newsroom colleagues to examine Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms they might be more comfortable navigating through.

Scrutiny’s Imperative

Like in the past with press releases — though assignment editors still lift stories from those on occasion — they can’t take what’s written online at face value. The same can be said for what citizen tipsters tell the assignment editor over the phone or in emails, as well as what public information officers say.

“People ask me what the hell I do, and I always tell them, ‘Well, the assignment desk is usually ‘first response,’” Whitehead says. “You gotta sift through the bullshit.”

While they may have always prioritized backing up facts, with sources, data and other means, assignment editors in 2022 say there is an added emphasis on getting story facts unquestionably correct.

Jamila Elder

“There are some stations that report solely off of what they hear on the scanners. We are not that station,” says Jamila Elder, assignment editor at WRAL, Capitol Broadcasting’s NBC affiliate in Raleigh, N.C. “You dig deep, you reach out to your contacts and you wait until you get [your information] confirmed, even though your competition station may be reporting it. As an assignment editor that’s very frustrating because we’re very competitive; you want to get the information and you want to get it first, [but] we would rather wait and get it right, than to report it first and get it wrong.”

Experience Matters

In many cases, as one assignment editor puts it, newsies “fall into” their positions at the assignment desk. The experience they bring with them, often as a reporter or anchor, serves them well in the role.

WXIN-WTTV Indianapolis assignment desk personnel (l-r): Adam Bartels, Ruthanne Gordon, Tim O’Brien and Sabrina Adams. (Greg Wilkerson photo)

Prior to Ruthanne Gordon becoming senior planning manager for Nexstar’s WXIN (Fox)-WTTV (CBS) Indianapolis, she was an assignment editor for 33 years. Before that, she was a reporter and anchor for more than five years, bringing with her to the assignment desk an assortment of connections from her front-of-the-camera days that she continues to call upon. Her phone book has only ballooned bigger throughout her 45 years in news.

“I have quite a Rolodex,” Gordon says, “I think that’s what they wanted when I came to this position as senior planning manager.” Cops she first met doing stand-ups, she says, “are now the commanders here in town, so I’ve kept those cell numbers, and that’s where I have an advantage.”

Working as a journalist before manning the assignment desk also helps cultivate that vital instinct of what makes for a compelling newscast. However, the assignment desk is also a prime location for industry newbies to break in and learn — a lot — on the fly.

“You gotta pay your dues by working the weekends,” Elder says. “That was where I learned the most because you don’t have a lot of managers, so you have to make those on-the-spot decisions. So, I was able to make those mistakes on that weekend shift, but I was also able to learn from those mistakes and learn how to make good news decisions.”

“This is a great way of starting and learning,” Gordon says of the assignment desk gig. Calling it a way to “fast-track” those new to the industry, she adds: “You can jump off of this and go produce a show [or] jump in a truck and go do an interview.”

Kendra Gilbert, senior assignment editor at KING, had no experience in a TV newsroom before hopping into the assignment desk chair at a station in her home market of Fresno, Calif. Fresh out of college, she struggled to find work in print journalism, her focus of study in school. But that degree still meant she could sniff out a good story and, combining that sense with strong organizational and communication skills, she was confident she could fill the seat just fine.

Kendra Gilbert

She’s held an assignment editor position at one West Coast station or another for nine years running. She says to excel in the role one has to be comfortable working in “a fast-paced environment,” and have the ability to “turn on a dime” and “focus on one thing and switch to another.”

Collaboration Grows

Elder statesman Gordon says of the assignment editor job demands: “It keeps me young.” Both she and the more youthful Gilbert say the position has also become more collaborative in recent years.

“We do sort of have that gatekeeper role,” Gilbert says. Still, she continues, “there’s always this two-way exchange of information between the desk and the reporters.”

Assignment editors consider reporter strengths, areas of interest and experience when deciding in whose hands a story will be entrusted. But they also field pitches from reporters and engage in broad conversations about the day’s items of interest with various members of the team.

“Nobody runs on their own in here; we have a tight-knit group [and] we back each other up,” Gordon says of the group at her Nexstar stations. “If we have spot news … we all jump in, and that’s the key to a really good assignment desk. You give and take, and you have that flexibility that at the end of the day, we’ve covered it, we’ve got it, we’ve got angles that nobody else has thought of.”

Not only does the team effort behind story assignment potentially add layers and depth to an eventual package, but it reinforces the integrity of the news it delivers across an entire broadcast, day in, day out.

In the constant struggle to identify mis- and disinformation, while also presenting stories in appropriate context, “that is where a collective, collaborative culture of a newsroom saves you,” KING’s Wolfe says. “If you are, as a team, having editorial checks, conversations, diverse viewpoints, bringing different people in, then you can catch those things and catch yourself and find the right story.

“That’s why I think having a diverse newsroom is so key, because different people are going to see different things and think about different questions and weigh that story against their own experience …. Whether it’s a big newsroom or a small newsroom, getting people together to talk about stories is just really, really important.” she says.

Decentralized Approach

One would be hard-pressed to find a more profound example of the increasingly collaborative nature the assignment editor’s job has assumed over the past handful of years than the organizational structure at Lee’s Southern California Spectrum News channel.

In an effort to cover the market’s five counties, across a sprawling megalopolis, her channel employs an assignment editor manager and four individual assignment editors, each of whom are primarily stationed in different parts of the region: north, south, east and west. They report to the station’s office in El Segundo once per week on a rotating basis, but otherwise they’re out in the field, working closely with reporters as they scour for stories and continually develop relationships with sources.

Lee says the more decentralized arrangement allows for her newsroom to be less “reactive” — as others have been historically — and more “proactive,” engaging in “enterprise storytelling.”

“Of course, we still react, because there’s breaking news,” Lee says, “but when there is real enterprise storytelling, you’re working in advance, working your sources and your community and really becoming experts on the ground, and it’s been an amazing collaboration.

“That’s what has gotten lost, is the idea that, really, journalists should have their ears on the ground, they should be developing beats and sources, and they should be working with assignment editors — story planners — to figure out the best way to tell those stories together,” she says. “It’s been a really exciting team approach to newsgathering.”

Seeking Deeper Impact

Whether they’ve been part of an experiment in cutting-edge structural invention or traditionally clock into the newsroom and sit at a stationary desk throughout their shift, assignment editors bear the brunt of the responsibility to shuttle broadcasts away from coverage of police blotter-discovered stories, such as shootings, robberies, and fires. Today’s consumers are craving more from their TV news, and stories with farther-reaching impact have to be sought out by those tasked with assigning them to reporters.

“We definitely are trying to be mindful of stories that are affecting more people in our community,” says WRAL’s Elder. “Gone are the days of ‘If it bleeds, it leads.’ That was old school.”

Still, it’s not entirely true that crime and property destruction should completely be dismissed. “When it comes to your family’s safety, the safety of your business, being able to walk down the sidewalk in your city, that is super-relevant to our viewers,” Wolfe says. “The idea that crime is not relevant is the wrong approach. The right approach is: How do we add information and context? How do we stand for truth and hold people accountable? What does the data tell us about that crime? That’s where the impactful stories are.”

Weighing all these factors in choosing stories, maintaining a constantly updated contact database with identifying tags, ensuring that reports are factually concrete and so many other responsibilities, the assignment editor job is certainly not for everybody. But those who do it well can honorably take tremendous pride in their work, which, if nothing else, is undeniably relentless.

“You should never be bored on the assignment desk,” KING’s Gilbert says. “It’s not a place where you can complete one task and then kick back and say, ‘I’ve done it for the day.’ You should always be busy.”

Comments (2)

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Corrie Harding says:

March 8, 2022 at 9:11 am

Great write up. I would add one piece of perspective on the ‘parts of the body’ metaphor. In my experience, the Assignment Desk can be the hands reaching out in the dark, or the ears listening for the important ‘sounds’ or the ‘eyes’ looking toward the horizon. All in addition to being part of ‘the brain.’ Ruthanne nailed it. The key is that a video based, broadcast/digital newsroom must have a desk, producers, reporters, and managers that act in a symbiotic relationship. Each must be able to quickly shift based on the news department’s overall vision, and always support each other.

LeCouteur says:

June 13, 2022 at 9:24 am

I never knew how to write beautifully when I needed it, I spent Sleepless nights to write At least a more or less beautiful text, but as a result, I began to turn to similar writing services and my life became much easier and the texts are much better, because on such services the text professionals write, you just have to learn the text

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Career Spotlight: Assignment Editor

By NBCU Academy

What does an assignment editor do? A longtime assignment manager for NBC4 Washington shares how his team covers breaking news.

At the heart of every newsroom is an assignment desk, where assignment editors figure out what news stories to cover around the clock. They make constant phone calls, listen to police radios and sift through emails to get news tips and background information from officials and the public. They contribute to editorial meetings with reporters, editors and producers. But breaking news can rewrite coverage plans at any point of the day.  

Charlie Bragale, an assignment manager who has worked at WRC-TV in Washington since 1988, has seen many changes in technology , but his assignment desk has always been crucial to newsgathering. He calls his assignment editors “off-air reporters,” talking to sources and conveying updates to news crews and production staff.  

“I compare the assignment editor to a flight controller. I’m trying to land five 747s, a couple of A380s and a couple 737s in a blinding rainstorm,” Bragale said. “100% of my day is talking on the phone, networking with people, trying to get people to talk to me and check in.” 

Bragale talks about the work of an assignment editor in the video above and shares more remarks below.  

What are some tips to being a good assignment editor?

Be curious, be a risk taker and instinctively know what you’re doing right. You see something, go chase after it. We don’t run away from bad news or good news — we run towards everything. 

Success is collaborating with everybody.  We’re just a cog in the wheels of what we do every day. Collaboration is key.  

Your workspace is surrounded by walkie-talkies tuned in to a bunch of police and emergency medical scanners. Isn’t it confusing to listen to all that at once?

Don’t be intimidated by this. This is just white noise. Just listen for keywords, the intensity in the voice, the impact of the event. 

What are some memorable stories you worked on?

I covered a guy who pulled out an AR-15 and shot up the front of the White House [in October 1994] — that was a [Saturday] afternoon, we were running AFC football.  

The phone rings, a guy with a heavy accent says, “Do you speak Portuguese?” And I was like, “Yes, I’m from Brazil.” A Brazilian tourist, videotaping the White House with his family, captured the moment that guy shot at the White House. Back then, we had no cellphones, so I sent a courier to pick him up and look at the video. One of my colleagues ran over, grabbed the video and took it downstairs. They broke into AFC football to show the guy shooting the White House — that’s how important it was.  

[On 9/11,] we knew about the planes that struck the World Trade Center. But then I heard a plane hit the Pentagon. I heard that officer, the chill in his voice — we knew it was [a related attack]. We were ready, directing people everywhere, because we knew Washington.

You’ve worked at the same assignment desk for 36 years. What keeps you going?

This is gonna sound mushy, but I grew up here in Washington, two blocks from the TV station. As a child riding my bike through this park, past Channel 4 to the Catholic school on Massachusetts Avenue, I would always tell my brothers, “One day, I’m going to work at that place.” To represent the community and work at this incredible organization, in my job which I love, is an honor. 

Gallery: Scenes from Charlie Bragale’s Career

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What Does an Assignment Editor Do?

Learn About the Salary, Required Skills, & More

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An assignment editor works at the assignment desk, which is the nerve center of any newsroom. This is where newsroom staff members monitor multiple sources for breaking news, including police and fire scanners. When possible news arises, the assignment editor works with reporters, photographers, producers, and other staff members to assign and develop story ideas.

Small companies sometimes have one assignment editor who is responsible for organizing the assignment desk to operate around the clock. In larger newsrooms, there may be a team of assignment editors that take turns staffing the desk.

Assignment Editor Duties & Responsibilities

The job generally requires the ability to perform the following duties:

• Monitor multiple sources for possible news stories
• Develop and propose a daily news coverage plan
• Lead newsroom staff meetings to review possible stories and assignments
• Help choose which journalists, photographers, and other staff members are assigned to cover stories
• Stay on top of all stories to ensure they're developing as planned and determine which ones are not coming together
• Be the main point of communication between reporters, production teams, and executive staff on developing stories

It's up to the assignment editor to assign people to investigate and report on news stories. The assignment editor's day is sometimes spent shifting people and equipment around so that as many stories get covered as possible, with an eye out on how to handle breaking news coverage at any moment.

When working in television, an assignment editor may also work with the tv producer to decide which crews will take live trucks or a helicopter to broadcast live during a newscast. Also, a TV news anchor who is reviewing scripts just before airtime will often turn to the assignment editor to confirm facts.

An assignment editor's salary can vary depending on location, experience, and employer. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics offers salary data for the broader editor category, but it doesn't offer separate data on the assignment editor subcategory:

• Median Annual Salary: $59,480 
• Top 10% Annual Salary: $114,460 
• Bottom 10% Annual Salary: $30,830  

Education, Training, & Certification

Most assignment editors have the same types of degrees as other editors and journalists in a newsroom.

• Education: Most employers prefer candidates that have at least a bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, or English. 
• Experience: This is often key to getting this type of job, because experience is key to building a list of contacts and learning how to operate smoothly. Employers usually prefer candidates with a background in the type of media in which they specialize, whether it's television, digital, or print news.
• Training: Most training happens on the job. Aspiring assignment editors may want to find an internship position at a newsroom assignment desk.

Assignment Editor Skills & Competencies

To be successful in this role, you’ll generally need the following skills and qualities: 

• Editorial judgment: Assignment editors need to be able to quickly decide whether a story is newsworthy. And although they aren't usually writing the stories themselves, they need to know all of the components of a good news story to guide reporters on coverage.
• Interpersonal skills: Successful assignment editors form relationships with many contacts that can help bring a story together. For example, someone in this role at a local TV news station may have all the county sheriffs' home telephone numbers on speed-dial and be on a first-name basis with the current and previous mayors.
• Organizational skills: An assignment editor must be able to organize the logistics and track the details of several stories at a time and keep everything on schedule.
• Communication skills: An assignment editor must skillfully communicate with all of the staff involved in making news stories come together, including reporters, photographers, production teams, and executive staff.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that employment in this field will grow 6 percent through 2026, which is slightly slower than the overall employment growth of 7 percent for all occupations in the country. The BLS it doesn't offer separate data on the assignment editor subcategory.

Most of this job is done in an office working under several tight deadlines at once. Those who thrive on pressure and get an adrenaline rush when something unexpected happens may be best suited for this occupation.

An assignment editor usually arrives in the newsroom earlier than the other managers to get a handle on what's happening that day to brief the newsroom. Most assignment editors work full time, and many work long hours, which include evenings and weekends.

People who are interested in becoming assignment editors may also consider other careers with these median salaries: 

• Writers and authors: $61,820
• Reporters, correspondents, and broadcast news analysts: $40,910
• Desktop publishers: $42,350

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics , 2017

How to Get the Job

Build a Contact List

Making a list of contacts is the best place to start for a budding assignment editor. That involves making personal connections with people so that you can turn to them when you need information.

Join a Professional Association

The American Media Institute offers  a list of professional associations you can join. Which one you choose may depend on your specialty or medium (websites or television, for instance). This will help you build your contact list and stay up to date on the latest tools and techniques in the industry.

Search job sites that specialize in media careers, such as MediaBistro and iHire Broadcasting .

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Assignment Desk Editor

Full Time Job Assignment Desk Editor, NBC News Channel Responsibilities The Assignment Desk Editor will find, follow, and cover the news of the day and gather stories and elements for dissemination to NBC and News Channel affiliates and clients. This is a fulltime staff job. Job Duties: • Respond quickly to breaking news • Work with all NBC entities and News Channel clients to gather the day's news • Use all available editorial, social media, and desktop tools to gather, view, and share stories • Work closely with feed producer regarding story details and restrictions • Communicate story developments with network, NBC News Channel clients and internally within NBC News Channel • Represent NBC News Channel on network conference calls • Book transmission facilities and satellite space for live/tape feeds • Utilize various file sharing platforms to gather video • Find compelling user generated stories • Clear, with the proper language, any user generated content for the feed • Follow and communicate Rights and Clearances restrictions Qualifications /Requirements • Bachelor's degree preferred • Minimum 3 years in a newsroom environment • Must be able to work weekends, nights and holidays • Must be able to work flexible hours during major breaking news • Must be able to work in Charlotte, NC Desired Characteristics • Demonstrated knowledge and interest in news and current events • Strong written and verbal communication skills • Strong editorial judgment and customer service skills • Ability to work calmly in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment • Ability to multitask and prioritize assignments • Strong work ethic and organizational skills • Familiarity with iNews and AVID Media Central • Previous work at NBC News or NBC affiliate

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Fox News Channel Streamlines Assignment Desk

By Molly Stark Dean   on Oct. 20, 2010 - 3:58 PM

In a move meant to streamline the assignment desk, Fox News Channel is re-assigning field producer Ian Rafferty, and has named him to lead the Fox News Channel international desk, reporting to Senior News Director Mike Shapiro. More on this move, and others, in an internal memo obtained by TVNewser, after the jump.

Rafferty is the husband of Fox News overnight anchor Marianne Rafferty.

I am pleased to announce the following regarding the FNC Assignment Desk.

The Fox News Channel is updating its Assignment Desk structure. It will be streamlined and better able to provide content and direction to the many platforms of the Fox News brand.

This change comes with new managerial appointments:

National News Manager, Kristine Rosa; Affiliate Manager, William D’Elia; O & O Manager, Michael Morrison; and International Manager, Ian Rafferty.

This Team will report to Senior News Director, Mike Shapiro, a twelve year veteran of Fox News.

This new set-up will enable the Fox News Desk to further its stellar reputation as the most aggressive, responsive, and accurate newsgathering operation of its kind.

It will continue to play a pivotal role in FNC’s continued growth and success!

John Stack VP, Newsgathering The Fox News Channel

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Crew that manipulates and rearranges video footage to create a new work. Can be done live or post-production.

Assignment Desk Works is a Media Content Services Company

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Moorpark man set to face charges in connection with November 2023 death of Paul Kessler

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. – On Wednesday, Ventura County Superior Judge Ryan Wright decided that there was sufficient evidence for charges to be brought against Abdel Fattah Alnaji of Moorpark in connection with the death of Paul Kessler during dueling protests in November of 2023.

The county superior court judge came to the conclusion following a two-day preliminary hearing where evidence was presented and 18 witnesses testified detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Alnaji is charged with involuntary manslaughter and battery causing serious bodily injury as well as a special allegation that he personally inflicted great bodily injury.

According to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office, Alnaji is accused of engaging in a physical confrontation with Kessler while both were protesting on the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks on November 5, 2023.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Courtney Lewis presented evidence during the preliminary hearing including a megaphone that had Kessler's blood on the front end as well as video and audio from Kessler's cell phone just before he was struck explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Ventura County Medical Examiner Dr. Othon Mena testified that Kessler died from blunt force trauma caused by the flow from the megaphone and fall to the pavement after stated the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

The investigation into this case is still ongoing, but evidence has not revealed sufficient evidence to support a hate crime explained the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Alnaji remains out of custody on a $50,000 bail and faces a maximum of four years in prison if found guilty on both felony counts detailed the Ventura County District Attorney's Office.

Alnaji entered a plea of not guilty during his initial arraignment on November 17, 2023, and notably called 9-1-1 on behalf of Kessler as well as remained on the scene until law enforcement arrived.

An arraignment on information is currently scheduled for Jun. 10, 2024, in courtroom 22 of the Ventura County Superior Court.

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Fuel barge crashes into galveston bridge, spilling oil and causing ‘major disruption’ in road, water traffic, the only way off pelican island right now is by boat. galveston county judge says fuel is still leaking and shipping is shut down for 6.5 miles getting in and out of the port of galveston.

Ahmed Humble , Digital Content Producer

Robert Arnold , Investigative Reporter

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Karen Araiza , Digital Content Lead , Houston

GALVESTON, Texas – A barge hit the Pelican Island Bridge Causeway in Galveston this morning, damaging the bridge, causing an oil spill and shutting off the only access on and off the island by car. It also shut down maritime traffic along the Intracoastal Waterway in and out of the Port of Galveston for more than 6 miles.

• LATEST UPDATE: Evacuations halted on Pelican Island Causeway following barge strike

Structural engineers from the Texas Department of Transportation in Houston are assessing damage to help determine if the bridge is safe enough to open up any part to traffic.

• LISTEN: Dispatch audio reveals response after barge strikes Pelican Island Causeway

Just before 10 Wednesday morning, the fuel barge lost control in the outgoing high tide and hit the bridge, according to David Flores, supervisor with Galveston Navigation District 1.

Steel iron beams and tons of cement was being fixed, according to Flores.

BALTIMORE BRIDGE LATEST: Investigation continues into 4 electrical blackouts on ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse

No one was hurt.

About 200 people are stuck on Pelican Island, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry told KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun.

“If we can get everyone off, I do not anticipate an opportunity to return anytime soon,” Henry said. “We don’t anticipate anyone being stranded on Pelican Island for even overnight, much less an extended period of time.”

Between 20 and 25 vehicles are waiting at Pelican Bay to get off the island, and authorities are hoping to open the bridge up to let those folks out this evening.

Galveston officials also tell KPRC 2′s Assignments Editor Terrence Kelly the U.S. Coast Guard has been called to help with the oil spill. The barge holds 30,000 barrels, according to Judge Henry, but he said they don’t know how much fuel was on it, but it was still leaking Wednesday afternoon.

The barge is owned by Martin Petroleum and when it hit the bridge, it knocked out power temporarily. That has since been restored.

No cars are being allowed across the bridge and no boats or barges in the channel.

The Intracoastal Waterway from Mile Marker 350.5 to Mile Marker 357, approximately 6.5 miles, is shut off and a dozen different agencies are onsite.

“It is a significant impact and I can understand their [people’s] concerns. This will be a major disruption to commercial maritime traffic and pleasure,” Judge Henry said.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: ‘Couldn’t happen here:’ In light of Baltimore bridge collapse, ship leader says same event wouldn’t happen in Houston

Additionally, Texas A&M has canceled classes for the day, which roughly affected only 30 students because it’s the end of the semester. They’re opening their cafeteria for any students stuck there.

6:30 pm Update: TxDot continues to assess the damage to Pelican Island Bridge. Traffic is no longer exiting Pelican... Posted by Texas A&M University Galveston Campus on  Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Judge Henry characterized this crash as significantly different from the Baltimore crash where a cargo ship took down the Key Bridge.

• Cargo ship that caused Baltimore bridge collapse had power blackouts hours before leaving port

“The bridge did not structurally fail. While portions of the bridge did structurally fail, the entire bridge did not,” Henry said. “We did see pieces of the bridge laying on the bow of the barge, but the size and scope is dramatically different. It’s much, much smaller.”

The Pelican Island Causeway Bridge is a critical part of the one road leading to and from Pelican Island.

Over 2,000 people including faculty, staff and students at Texas A&M in Galveston depend on the bridge, according to the student newspaper.

It’s the last drawbridge of its kind in Texas, called a bascule bridge.

A worker operates the lift so boats and barges can pass through to get in and out of the Port of Galveston.

Stay informed with KPRC 2's Breaking News Alerts

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About the Authors

Ahmed humble.

Historian, educator, writer, expert on "The Simpsons," amateur photographer, essayist, film & tv reviewer and race/religious identity scholar. Joined KPRC 2 in Spring 2024 but has been featured in various online newspapers and in the Journal of South Texas' Fall 2019 issue.

Robert Arnold

Award winning investigative journalist who joined KPRC 2 in July 2000. Husband and father of the Master of Disaster and Chaos Gremlin. “I don’t drink coffee to wake up, I wake up to drink coffee.”

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WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - KAUZ, News Channel 6 in Wichita Falls, Texas is seeking an Anchor/Report to join our team.

Duties will include, but not limited to:

• Anchor live television broadcasts for newscasts (morning). Monday-Friday, and fill in on other newscasts as needed.
• Ability to engage with the audience from the anchor desk, not just read a teleprompter. Deliver on-air news events in an engaging, exciting, and accurate manner.
• Use editorial judgment to help determine the content of the newscasts.
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• Develop story ideas to assist news-gathering efforts.
• Develop contacts and sources in the community.
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• Bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism or a related field and a minimum of two years of experience.
• Ability to meet deadlines, prioritize assignments, and handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
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• Be a quick thinker ready for anything and have strong ad-lib abilities.

We offer a competitive benefits package: Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance and company match 401K. Qualified applicants, please send your resume and link to your work to [email protected] . No phone calls, please. EOE-M/F/D/V

Copyright 2022 KAUZ. All rights reserved.

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Watch: sacramento’s the philharmonik won npr’s tiny desk contest with this music video.

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A Sacramento-based producer and musician who performs as The Philharmonik was chosen as the winner of NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest out of nearly 7,000 submissions across the country.

Singer Christian Gates performs as The Philharmonik with fellow musicians Moriah Wenzel, Alicia Huff, Courtney Miller, Samuel Phelps, Darius Upshaw, Connor Chavez, Jimmy Toor and Jeffery Archie, NPR said.

A YouTube video for the winning “soul-fueled” performance of the song “What’s It All Mean” shows Gates singing and playing keyboards in an office setting with other members of the band, who are all dressed in business attire.

As a result of the win, the band will perform on the hit Tiny Desk series at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C., and then join a Tiny Desk Contest On the Road tour.

In California, the tour will stop at the Lodge Room in Los Angeles on June 11 and Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma on June 13.

The Philharmonik’s submission beat out others from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, NPR said.

The judges for this year’s contest included Tiny Desk host and series producer Bobby Carter and “All Songs Considered” host Robin Hilton, among others.

According to The Philharmonik’s website, the group released its first self-produced album in 2018 and has performed at Harlow’s in Sacramento and other venues.

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Chicago White Sox Get Excellent News on Health Front with Regards to Luis Robert Jr.

Brady farkas | may 13, 2024.

• Chicago White Sox

The Chicago White Sox , rained out on Monday against the Washington Nationals, got some good news on the health front with regards to Luis Robert Jr., who has been out most of the season with a hip issue.

Per Sox reporter James Fegan on social media:

Pedro Grifol said Luis Robert will hopefully start playing games in Arizona by the end of the week. Danny Mendick was packing his bags for a rehab assignment in Charlotte this afternoon. Dominic Leone will be throwing live BPs soon and probably won’t need a rehab assignment.

Pedro Grifol said Luis Robert will hopefully start playing games in Arizona by the end of the week. Danny Mendick was packing his bags for a rehab assignment in Charlotte this afternoon. Dominic Leone will be throwing live BPs soon and probably won’t need a rehab assignment. — James Fegan (@JRFegan) May 13, 2024

After a dreadful 3-22 start, the White Sox have won nine of their last 16 games, and getting Robert back would be a further boon to the team's lineup, outfield defense and general confidence.

An All-Star and a Silver Slugger winner last season, Robert Jr. is one of the most talented players in baseball. The 26-year-old hit 38 homers and drove in 80 runs in 2023 while stealing 20 bases a season ago. He's a lifetime .278 hitter who made his Major League debut in 2020.

Robert Jr. also won a Gold Glove in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and earned MVP votes last year.

The White Sox are widely expected to trade a slew of veterans and expiring contracts at the trade deadline this year, but they are expected to hold onto Robert Jr.

The Sox will take on the Nationals again on Tuesday, with a doubleheader beginning at 4:40 p.m. ET. The next game will follow at 8:10 p.m. ET.

Follow Fastball on FanNation on social media

Continue to follow our Fastball on FanNation coverage on social media by liking us on  Facebook  and by following us on Twitter  @FastballFN .

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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Alaska Legislature set to approve a $1,650 combined PFD and energy relief payment

Sens. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, sign the final conference committee report, which advances the budget to a final vote. Reps. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, and Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, watch on in Juneau on May 14, 2024. (Sean Maguire/ADN) (edited)

JUNEAU — The Alaska Legislature is set to approve a combined Permanent Fund dividend and energy relief check of roughly $1,650 for eligible Alaskans this year.

Fights over the size of the annual dividend have paralyzed the Legislature in recent years. The dividend and budget debates have been much less contentious this year, with legislators instead grappling with major policy items related to energy, education and criminal justice reform.

The $1,650 dividend was agreed to on Tuesday by members of House and Senate leadership who sit on the operating budget conference committee. That committee is tasked with reconciling differences between the House and Senate budgets so a single budget bill can pass through both chambers and onto the governor’s desk.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy in December proposed a $3,500 dividend following the 1982 statutory formula that was projected to create a $1 billion deficit. The House approved a check in April close to $2,300, which was expected to leave the state roughly $270 million in deficit.

Legislators were broadly opposed to using state savings to pay for a dividend.

On the penultimate day of the regular legislative session, members of House and Senate leadership settled on a dividend close to the Senate’s approved figure of $1,580.

The Senate had followed the 75-25 formula, where three-quarters of an annual draw from the Permanent Fund goes to state services and one quarter goes to the dividend. Following that formula, the PFD would be roughly $1,360 per person.

Using additional oil revenue, the conference committee agreed to a roughly $295 energy relief check on top of the Senate’s PFD for a combined check of around $1,650. The check is typically paid to Alaskans in October.

Legislators agreed to clearly delineate which part of the check is related to “energy relief” because that portion would likely not be subject to federal taxes.

The conference committee concluded its work on Tuesday morning, allowing the budget to advance to a final vote on the House and Senate floors before the legislative session ends on Wednesday.

Sitka Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, who manages the operating budget in the Senate, said the state was expected to be roughly $100 million in surplus for the fiscal year that ends June 30. If those funds are not spent before then, they would be deposited into the state’s main $2.7 billion savings account.

For the fiscal year that starts in July, Stedman said the budget is expected to be balanced based on anticipated revenue.

If oil revenue substantially exceeds projections made in March, next year’s dividend could be boosted with another energy relief check, along with a larger deposit into savings.

The committee on Tuesday also agreed to deposit $1 billion in the non-spendable part of the Permanent Fund to inflation-proof the fund, which was half of the $2 billion transfer the Senate had wanted.

Palmer Republican Rep. DeLena Johnson, who manages the operating budget in the House, rejected the notion that her House Republican colleagues had agreed to a lower dividend. She said that the 2024 check would be substantially higher than the $1,312 check Alaskans received last year.

“There’s a lot of pieces to it,” Johnson said on Tuesday about the negotiations between the House and Senate to approve a balanced budget. “We have a solid capital budget. We have money going into savings.”

The $4 billion capital budget was approved by the Legislature on Friday. It funds infrastructure and capital projects across Alaska. This year, lawmakers decided to focus spending on school maintenance, renewable energy projects and housing.

Sean Maguire

Sean Maguire is a politics and general assignment reporter for the Anchorage Daily News based in Juneau. He previously reported from Juneau for Alaska's News Source. Contact him at [email protected].

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Geographic coordinates of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia

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Coordinates of Elektrostal in decimal degrees

Coordinates of elektrostal in degrees and decimal minutes, utm coordinates of elektrostal, geographic coordinate systems.

WGS 84 coordinate reference system is the latest revision of the World Geodetic System, which is used in mapping and navigation, including GPS satellite navigation system (the Global Positioning System).

Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) define a position on the Earth’s surface. Coordinates are angular units. The canonical form of latitude and longitude representation uses degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). GPS systems widely use coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes, or in decimal degrees.

Latitude varies from −90° to 90°. The latitude of the Equator is 0°; the latitude of the South Pole is −90°; the latitude of the North Pole is 90°. Positive latitude values correspond to the geographic locations north of the Equator (abbrev. N). Negative latitude values correspond to the geographic locations south of the Equator (abbrev. S).

Longitude is counted from the prime meridian ( IERS Reference Meridian for WGS 84) and varies from −180° to 180°. Positive longitude values correspond to the geographic locations east of the prime meridian (abbrev. E). Negative longitude values correspond to the geographic locations west of the prime meridian (abbrev. W).

UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system divides the Earth’s surface into 60 longitudinal zones. The coordinates of a location within each zone are defined as a planar coordinate pair related to the intersection of the equator and the zone’s central meridian, and measured in meters.

Elevation above sea level is a measure of a geographic location’s height. We are using the global digital elevation model GTOPO30 .

Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia