Somerville, now 64, was arrested at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30 in the 2200 block of Broadway following a collision between his 2014 Porsche 911 and a silver Audi, according to a probable cause statement by Officer Natalie Windham. Somervilles next hearing will take place May 6. Alameda County DA charges former TV anchor, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Alameda County DA charges former TV anchor Frank Somerville with DUIs, Info stolen in Oakland ransomware attack set to be released, Woman suspected of making threats toward Christian schools campus in Walnut Creek arrested, Federal jury finds Bay Area man guilty in string of East Bay bank robberies, Jurors hopelessly deadlocked in Bay Point murder trial, mistrial declared, In wake of scandal, East Bay school district keeps a close eye on staff behavior. 42 Portfolio, Somerville, MA 02143 is a 9 bedroom, 18 bathroom, 15,789 sqft multi-family built in 1900. In a May broadcast of KTVUs 10 p.m. news program, Somerville was recorded slurring his words and abruptly left midbroadcast with no explanation. They had told me long before that.. Somerville takes these charges very seriously. This property is currently available for sale and was listed by MLS PIN on Mar . What Somerville did that was so wrong is less clear. 53-127 m (174-417 ft) (avg. Venerated KTVU anchor Frank Somerville, days after an odd Sunday broadcast in which he can be seen on-air slurring his speech while reading a teleprompter, will be on indefinite leave starting . George Galvis, executive director of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, which helped organize the Oct. 12 rally, said KTVUs silence is a response.. [5] He then attended San Francisco State University. Somerville has had a tumultuous year. Mini Bio (1) Frank Somerville co-anchors the weekday editions of "KTVU Channel 2 News at 5," "KTVU Channel 2 News at 6" and "The Ten O'Clock News on KTVU Channel 2." Somerville joined San Francisco's KTVU Channel 2's Mornings on 2 and The Noon News in January 1992. [6] According to two KTVU newsroom sources, who declined to give their names because they were not authorized to speak on the record, Somerville wanted to add a 46-second tag to an update on the Petito case, which aired Sept. 21. The Berkeley native had been an intern at KTVU many years before. He was named after his father's childhood friend, Frank Patty, and his paternal grandfather, William Somerville. The California native first started at KTVU as an intern in 1981 while attending San Francisco State University. After graduation he worked at local stations in Santa Rosa, California; Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Providence, Rhode Island, before returning to the San Francisco Bay Area. But if Petitos story needs to be told, so do the stories of thousands of overlooked women of color, they said. The public silence from Channel 2 and Fox, its parent network, has fueled community frustration over the ostensible reason he was suspended a reported dispute over his push to add a brief commentary on racial inequity to the end of a straight-news story about the disappearance of social media influencer Gabby Petito, whose case had attracted a firestorm of media coverage. The FBI has issued an arrest warrant for Brian Laundrie, Petitos 23-year-old fianc. But even with such declarations, community activists say they have yet to hear from the station managers or Fox about their concerns. Why is 'Gabriel Salazar car accident' trending? Frank Somerville says KTVU wouldnt re-sign, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Los Gatos: Hundreds still without power as Black Road repair project finishes early, Frank Somerville says KTVU wouldnt re-sign him: I am done at Channel 2, Bay Area TV anchor Frank Somerville arrested on suspicion of DUI after crash in Oakland, Frank Somerville says hes done at KTVU, apologizes to newsroom for drama, Wheres Frank Somerville? He noted that his contract is up in January, so it seems like the management is just waiting that out. So I am done at Channel 2, Somerville said in a brief phone interview this week with the Bay Area News Group. Somerville spoke this morning to local media hound Rich Lieberman who said Somerville was speaking to him exclusively but very quickly Somerville gave quotes to the Mercury News and the Chronicle saying that he's all but certain he won't ever be at the anchor desk again at KTVU. KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville again has been removed from the air, but this time a newsroom spat not an on-air meltdown appears to be the reason. NEW - 21 HRS AGO. He is also survived by many uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, extended family and friends. [5] He then attended San Francisco State University. Stay up to date! So, I'm assuming I've done my last newscast," Somerville said. Following a car crash late last December, embattled Bay Areareporter Frank Somerville now faces two DUI charges. [1] During his three decades at KTVU in Oakland, California, Somerville received three Emmy Awards, including one for best on-camera news anchor. The multiple Emmy winner lives in Oakland, grew up in Berkeley and graduated from Berkeley High and San Francisco State University. 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The longtime news anchor faced a rocky 2021. Update: A spokesperson for Fox tells the Mercury News, "We can confirm Frank is taking time away from the desk to focus on his health and we welcome his return when he is ready.". DSW is closing on Powell Street, Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen says the metaverse scares her, and SF Mayor London Breed has come out vocally in support of the recall of three school board members. 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She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree in German studies and from Mills College with a MFA degree in creative writing and English. For whatever reason, they decided not to re-sign me.. During a now-infamous May 30 newscast, he repeatedly slurred and stumbled over his words and appeared to have trouble reading off the teleprompter. She has previously reported or edited for Bay Area news and lifestyle publications, including Walnut Creek Patch, and Diablo, Oakland and Alameda magazines, as well as The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand and The Economist. On Tuesday, the district attorneys office charged Somerville with driving under the influence of alcohol, as well as driving with a blood-alcohol level over .08, with an added clause for having a level over .15. In November, Somerville told this news organization that management had not contacted him since September, when he was suspended from his anchoring duties for an off-air dispute about coverage of the Gabby Petito case. He added that the decision was made long before December, when the alleged DUI took place. ", Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. He said the couple spend their "together time" at the gym and that the pair "encourage each otherto keep pushing.". KTVU News Director Amber Eikel has allegedly taken Somerville off the air until further notice, as Liberman reports. Jay C. Barmann is a fiction writer and web editor who's lived in San Francisco for 20+ years. In a statement Thursday afternoon, Somervilles attorney Shannan Dugan acknowledged the charges. Info stolen in Oakland ransomware attack set to be released Frank Somerville's 31-year career at KTVU, where his nightly anchoring duties made him one of the Bay Area's most beloved TV news personalities, officially came to an end Friday, as his. Somerville did reply to local media commentator Rich Lieberman on Monday saying he'd be back on the air that night and that the incident was simply a mistake regarding his prescription medication. In 2008, he was named co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing 40-year veteran Dennis Richmond. Former KTVU news anchor Frank Somerville was charged earlier this week with driving under the influence following an arrest in late December in Oakland, Alameda County prosecutors and police said. Its really, really sad, because Ive given 31 years to the station, he said. Its another strange twist in a turbulent year for Somerville. Joshua Bote is the tech editor at SFGATE. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! Born Frank William Somerville on 19th March 1958 in San Luis Obispo, California, Frank Somerville is a journalist. All this drama isnt good, Somerville said. But if Somerville thought the issue was so important, then he should have used his journalistic gravitas to push for a second story to run after the segment or a series of stories to run over the next couple days, Reynolds said. MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized her own industry on her prime-time program, calling the Petito coverage an example of missing White woman syndrome, a term coined by the late PBS anchor Gwen Ifill to describe the medias often lopsided focus on white women and girls when they go missing. This was Somervilles second suspension in a tumultuous year. Reynolds said Somerville may have been well-intentioned, and that he certainly seems passionate about fairness in coverage. The longtime news anchor faced a rocky 2021. More than a month after Frank Somerville was suspended from KTVU, the popular anchor remains off the air with no word from either him or the station about if or when he might return. Mr. Somerville was hospitalized shortly after the incident and was booked at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. In further comments to Lieberman over the phone, reported on his 415 Media blog, Somerville allegedly insisted he had not been drinking, and had just mistakenly taken Ambien before going on the air. She graduated from Northwestern University with a BA degree in German studies and from Mills College with a MFA degree in creative writing and English. Martha Ross is a Bay Area News Group features writer for The Mercury News and East Bay Times who covers everything and anything related to popular culture, society, health, womens issues and families. But I have no reason to think otherwise.". Somerville was not involved in that flub. [5], In 2013, Somerville apologized on behalf of KTVU for an incident in which racist pilot names were read out in a broadcast on Asiana Airlines Flight 214. About Frank; Contact Information; Court Records; Frank Bacci is 50 years old today because Frank's birthday is on 09/10/1972. 69 m or 226 ft) 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km 2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Somerville is expected to appear in court Feb. 28, the Bay Area News Group reports. Somerville was pulled off the air over his coverage of Gabby's case, MSNBC host Joy Reiddiscussed the Gabby Petito case. KTVU anchor Frank Somerville, one of the most recognizable of the Bay Area's news personalities having been on the air at KTVU since 1991, was pulled from a Sunday broadcast and has not returned since after slurring his speech on air. On Wednesday night's 6 o'clock broadcast, Heather Holmes anchored the show with Andre Senior, saying at the top of the hour, "Frank and Julie are off tonight.". I would give anything to work there. [2][3][4], Somerville was born on March 19, 1958, in San Luis Obispo, California, but was raised in Berkeley. Somerville pushed back, but was overruled, a newsroom source said. The case of Gabby has sparked a national outcry as her fianc Brian Laundrie continues to evade authorities. I think its probably time to (let them know) were still listening and waiting, Holland said. Somerville's attorney said that he is "attending meetings and working on himself. The Alameda County District Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from SFGATE. In 2008, he was elevated to one of the stations marquee positions when he was anointed co-anchor of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts, replacing 40-year veteran Dennis Richmond. Related Articles Somerville, a white male, is being lionized and becoming the topic of the story and not the women who have been ignored, Reynolds said. In interviews this week, Somerville declined to say anything more about his departure from KTVU, his arrest or his plans. She has previously reported or edited for Bay Area news and lifestyle publications, including Walnut Creek Patch, and Diablo, Oakland and Alameda magazines, as well as The Nation in Bangkok, Thailand and The Economist. He said it was deeply concerning that KTVU wasnt even willing to have a conversation about media coverage when it serves the Bay Areas diverse viewers. Seven weeks later, he was off the air again. On March 19, 1958, Frank Somerville was born in San Luis Obispo, California, US. Who is Frank Somerville? [13], In December 2022, Somerville went public about his dismissal from the station on a Facebook post. The New York-born Petito was slain during a cross-country van trip with her fiance, Brian Laundrie. As Somerville has pointed out on social media, he is the father of an adopted Black daughter. [9] In September 2021, he was suspended for disobedience after seeking to keep a "tag" concerning domestic violence and "missing white woman syndrome" in a story on the Gabby Petito case. Ive given my heart and soul to Channel 2, he told the Bay Area News Group. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Off work, he enjoys playing in bands, busking and karaoke. frank somerville house. In a May broadcast of KTVU's 10 p.m. news program,. KTVU anchor Frank Somerville anchors the five o'clock news at the KTVU studio on Tuesday, May 5, 2009, in Oakland, Calif. It's been one year since Somerville replaced longtime anchor Dennis . Now, the tagline controversy has put Somerville in a position that journalists usually find uncomfortable: instead of reporting on the story, he is the story. A KTVU spokesperson later explained that he left the air to focus on his health.. Stay up to date! By the end of the broadcast, co-anchor Julie Haener had taken over solo, and did the signoff for the show. Officers who spoke with Somerville said he exhibited symptoms of being under the influence of an alcoholic beverage: bloodshot/watery eyes, thick/slurred speech, and odor of an alcoholic beverage emanating from his person.. The collision took place near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Broadway Street just after 7:45 p.m. Dec. 31, 2021, Oakland police said at the time. Frank Somerville finally returns to KTVU: Are viewers owed an explanation? Among them, whether the anchor was offering an effective or appropriate way to challenge the medias often lopsided obsession with stories about White women in jeopardy. His suspension came just six weeks after a previous leave of absence for health issues when he struggled to read his teleprompter and slurred his words during a broadcast in May. His first newspaper job was as a Washington Post paperboy. Frank Somerville, the anchor for KTVU, has been 'suspended indefinitely' by the network Credit: Facebook/Frank Somerville. There was no word on how heated the discussion got. And the photo has since gone. 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A station spokesperson could not be reached as of Friday evening, and Eikel declined to comment. The ABC News report also said that onlyabout one-fifth of missing person cases involving minorities are covered by the news, according to a 2016 analysis published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology. His parents raised him in Berkeley, California. According to station sources, Somerville, 63, has been suspended indefinitely by Channel 2 management after a disagreement with news director Amber Eikel over coverage of the Gabby Petito homicide case. According to station sources, Somerville, 63, has been "suspended indefinitely" by Channel 2 management after a disagreement with news director Amber Eikel over coverage of the Gabby Petito. KTVU suspended veteran anchor Frank Somerville after the station news director nixed his proposal to add commentary about racial justice to coverage of the Gabrielle "Gabby" Petito homicide . Following Somervilles suspension, two rallies were held outside the KTVU studios in Jack London Square in October, both sparked by his reported desire to address disparities in media coverage of White crime victims like Petito versus women of color. 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", He adds, "It makes me really sad, because Ive given 31 years to the station.