. His family says that after a brave battle, he died peacefully on Tuesday. We are a family and we thank you, our extended family, for your comfort as we mourn and as we seek to comfort the families of Mike and Aaron.. Mike was a regular visitor to Spartanburg Two and always brought lots of excitement and smiles to our schools when he came out to do a story. HIS FIRST STORY AND HIS LAST IN POLK COUNTY. High School Football. RAIN FALLING, SOAKING THE GROUND, AND OF LOOTING A TREE. All of us at WYFF News 4 are grieving. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. He was 75."Jim was an outstanding journalist, and he was also known for his laugh," "Special Report" anchor . The life behind Brick Street Caf: Miss Sue, Watch: Alex Murdaugh's attorneys speak following verdict, sentence, Increased threat for severe weather this afternoon, evening, Watch the moment Alex Murdaugh was sentenced to life in prison, Video: Alex Murdaugh arrives to court in prison uniform for sentencing hearing. While there, he became known as the station's resident "dumpster diver" and his work on identity theft won two first place awards for investigative reporting from the Associated Press. It also declined to carry Saturday Night Live (then known as NBC's Saturday Night) from its debut in 1975 to early 1978, NBC's daytime reruns of The Facts of Life from during the 19841985 season (which aired on WAXA-TV), game shows The Who, What, or Where Game (in favor of the local talk show Today in The Piedmont), Super Password and Time Machine (both of which aired throughout their runs on WAXA-TV) and the soap opera Santa Barbara (which was initially cleared by the station during its first few years on January 6, 1986, after the low-rated syndicated TV show America aired its final episode on January 3, 1986). He was an avid baseball fan. It is with a heavy heart that I share my sister-in-law, Brianna Justus went home to be with Jesus this evening. Clemson Tigers. McCormick had been a reporter at WYFF since 2007 and became an anchor in 2014 on Sundays. WYFF (channel 4) is a television station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States, serving Upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina as an affiliate of NBC. Would love your thoughts, please comment. >> IT IS A FREAK OF NATURE. NBCs Kerry Sanders, covering Alberto from Florida, reported on the death of the WYFF news crew during his story on Nightly News this evening. 2023 www.greenvilleonline.com. FORGET THE RECOGNITION. THEIR LIVES IN SERVICE TOUCHED MANY. And we had talked a little bit about how he wanted us to stay safe and I wanted him to stay safe and of course 10 or 15 minutes later we got the call and it was him and his photographer," Tennant said. Before joining NBCUniversal, she worked for WYFF News 4 Today in Greenville, South Carolina as a weekend morning anchor and covers breaking/trending news in-studio weekday mornings. Cory and Chris Justus are known in the Carolinas for their ties to Justus Orchard, about 20 miles south of Asheville. An earlier version of the program, Kids Korral, was hosted by Johnny Wright. In recent years, WYFF has been carried on cable in multiple areas outside of the GreenvilleSpartanburgAsheville media market, including cable systems within the Aiken and Columbia markets in South Carolina, areas of North Carolina within the Charlotte and Chattanooga, Tennessee markets, the Tri-Cities market in Tennessee and Virginia, and the Atlanta market in Georgia. WYFF presently broadcasts 38 hours of locally produced newscasts each week (with six hours on weekdays, four hours on Saturdays and 4 hours on Sundays). WYFF news anchor Mike McCormick (right) and photojournalist Aaron Smeltzer (left) were covering "rain impact" in Polk County when a tree fell on their SUV, killing both men. >> TRAGEDY HIT A LITTLE HARDER WHEN IT HIT A LITTLE CLOSER TO HOME. In the 1980s, she worked at WSPA-TV in Spartanburg, South Carolina, then at then-CBS-owned WCAU TV Philadelphia before moving to CBS. The ground up there is unstable. The rescue worker said he had never seen an event like this one. Tennant added that he had done an interview with McCormick about 10 minutes before and they had each expressed that they hoped the other would stay safe., It personally affected me a little bit because I had done an interview with Mr. McCormick about 10 minutes before we got the call. Her career started at CBC where she served as a production assistant after college. Geoff went to all-boys schools, where the student wore a jacket and tie. "Jovita died overnight, seven months after . Meet my husband, Arlen. Today, at 31 years old her heart gave out. Greenville Triumph. Her husband David G. Landquist died with his family by his side on Tuesday, May 21, 2019. According to WSPA-TV, the two WYFF employees were hit by a tree while driving southbound. The television station reported that they were in Polk County covering the dangerous weather conditions there., WSPA-TV reported that the two men were traveling south on Highway 176 when a tree fell and hit the vehicle. Tennant said in a news conference: What has happened is that some time around 2:30 this afternoon, we were dispatched for a tree down on a motor vehicle with people trapped.. Later, when Geoff was a teenager, his family relocated to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He had two dogs, both adopted from the Spartanburg Humane Society. Julia Morris is an American anchor and reporter. Jane Robelot (born October 9, 1960) is an American television host, who served as a co-anchor of CBS television's This Morning from 1996 to 1999. Olivia Wile joined the WJCL 22 News team as a Weekend Morning Anchor/Weekday Reporter in July of 2022. She joined WYFF News 4 as a contributing reporter and anchor for the news magazine Chronicle. 28, 2018 - 6:36 PM. Connect. OUR PRAYERS ARE WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND ALL AT WYFF NEWS 4. ?? However, we will keep you updated once we get a glimpse of the information. Syndicated programs broadcast on WYFF (as of September 2022) includes Live with Kelly and Ryan, Access Hollywood, The Jennifer Hudson Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, Entertainment Tonight and Inside Edition. Geoff served as a Sports Director for eighteen years prior to becoming the co-anchor of WYFF News 4 Today every weekday morning. WYFF meteorologist Chris Justus shared the news on Facebook. Chris and Cory are the fifth generation to work this land between their full-time jobs, according to the operations website. "Mike and Aaron were beloved members of. FOR HIM, IT WAS ABOUT BEING A JOURNALIST WHO CAME OUT THERE AND DID THEIR JOB. WYFF News 4 anchor Mike McCormick and WYFF News 4 photojournalist Aaron Smeltzer died Monday when a tree fell on their SUV. ? 0:04. 2.9K views, 166 likes, 51 loves, 59 comments, 4 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Amanda Crawford: This is it. WFBC-TV and sister station WXII-TV in Winston-Salem, North Carolina were traded to the Pulitzer Publishing Company in exchange for KSDK in St. Louis. She had the opportunity to cover many significant stories, including Roy Moore's contentious Alabama Senate race, the Lee County tornado that killed 23 people, and the Category 5 hurricane that struck . Before working at WYFF, she served as a reporter in Orlando. Geoff is a well-known journalist to his viewers who have watched his 28-year career in Upstate. Mike McCormick joined WYFF News 4 in April 2007 as a reporter in the Spartanburg Newsroom. He is a married man. I love Heather. He was originally from Tazewell, Virginia. In addition, she has always loved being active in her community and has served on the advisory board for King County Search as well as Rescue while in Seattle. Geoff took his early retirement from the media industry on May 20, 2021 after he was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimers disease. I never had the pleasure of meeting Aaron Smeltzer but I worked alongside Mike McCormick in the field many times., Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of WYFFs Mike McCormick and Aaron Smeltzer. He was born to his late father Charlie and mother Barbara in Canada. Chris Justus, chief meteorologist for WYFF in Greenville, reported the development in a Facebook post. In 2011, Geoff shifted his focus to the news desk where he worked as a weekday morning anchor. Charlie Gertz retired as evening meteorologist in 1991. Tennant said the ground was saturated and the tree's root system failed. It is currently operated by their parents, Don and Margo Justus, according to the orchards website. The funeral service was held at Holden Chapel on May 28, 2019, at 12:00 p.m. He was previously a reporter and anchor in Arkansas for KHBS/KHOG. For its first two years on the air, the station operated from studio facilities located on Paris Mountain before moving to its current location on Rutherford Street in 1955. While in Rochester, a brush with frostbite made Caro realize that living in a warmer climate might suit her . The change was made due to an FCC rule in effect at the time that stated that two stations in the same market, but with different owners needed to have different call letters. As part of the SAFER Act,[10] WYFF kept its analog signal on the air until July 12 to inform viewers of the digital television transition through a loop of public service announcements from the National Association of Broadcasters. Following the Pulitzer purchase, new arrivals at WYFF included Carl Clark, Kim Brattain and Carol Anderson now Carol Clarke and co-anchor of the 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00p.m. newscasts. Geoff was hired for the first time as a Sportscaster at WECT-TV6 based in Wilmington, NC after grad school at Emerson College. There, Geoff co-hosted the Today show every weekday morning hours. Over the past two decades he has been promoted to weekend anchor, morning. Their television station confirmed the news, writing on May 28, 2018, WYFF News 4 anchor Mike McCormick and WYFF News 4 photojournalist Aaron Smeltzer died Monday when a tree fell on their SUV. According to NPR, the two men were out covering Subtropical Storm Alberto., Their station revealed that the accident happened on Highway 176 in Polk County while they were covering the rain impact in that area., Tryon Fire Chief Geoffrey Tennant described the accident in detail, saying that the tree collapsed on the mens vehicle as it was still moving. He had two dogs, both adopted from the Spartanburg Humane Society. pic.twitter.com/IQmZ6prUIH, Aaron Smeltzer was a Virginia native who was a veteran photojournalist. Suiters worked at News 4 in the mid to late 1990s, before making the transition to. A TV meteorologist in Upstate South Carolina says his family is seeing the worst of the ongoing pandemic, after his sister-in-law died of COVID symptoms days after giving birth in an emergency C-section. Sydney Sullivan WYFF News 4 After commencing work at WYFF News 4 Today in June of 2021, Sydney took on the responsibility of being the weekend morning meteorologist on the program. The show was moved to Saturday mornings in 1970, to accommodate the soap opera Bright Promise. His first TV gig actually came in high school when he was an anchor for PCS Journal - a show airing on a community access television station run by his school district.