Pro 8's Audra Schroeder moves to El Paso Fox affiliate;
QURE's Jay St. John gets walking papers

Adios to Pro 8 News anchor Audra Schroeder, who has moved to the El Paso Fox affiliate. The much admired native of George West was during her tenure here the consummate news gathering and news delivery professional. Her clear voice and independent perspective will be much missed by the public information officers of area school districts, colleges and universities, and public government entities. Best of luck, Audra.
New on air personalities at KGNS include Selena Hernandez and Christina Medina.
Selena Hernandez, a native of Mesquite, is a 1999 graduate in broadcast journalism from Texas Christian University. She held a post with San Antonio NBC affiliate KMOL as an associate producer, and was also a special events planner with the City of San Antonio before joining the Pro 8 News Team as a morning news anchor and general reporter.
Hernandez said she is especially drawn to consumer advocacy stories and stories concerning educational issues.
A recent graduate of Ithaca College, Christina Medina has just joined the Pro 8 News staff as a weekend and general news reporter. The San Antonio native holds a degree in broadcast journalism.
Veronica Cantu was recently selected by the Laredo Independent School District as community relations specialist for the district's Office of Communications. Cantu previously worked for Henry Cuellar during his tenures as State Representative and Texas Secretary of State, where she handled media and constituent-related activities. Prior to that, she worked as a reporter at KVTV News 13 in Laredo. Cantu will serve as an information liaison between the school system and the community. Some of her many duties will include working with internal departments to achieve the goals of the district, planning events at school campuses, publicizing school activities to local media, and building and maintaining relationships with parents, civic leaders, and other school stakeholders.

ADIOS, ST. JOHN
QURE's morning show host Jay St. John presented a befuddling scenario of being fired on the heels of having been recognized at a recent company awards banquet.
According to St. John, the reason given for his firing was for being late to a remote broadcast from Tony Roma's. "I was on time. The remote truck wasn't," St. John said.
"In radio, you live by the numbers and you die by the numbers. I should have been rewarded for making the morning program number one over the last two years for listeners 25 to 54," St. John continued. "When I started on the morning show, we were airing six commercials an hour. When I was fired on August 15, there was a two-month waiting period to get a commercial on the morning show," he said. "The problem," St. John continued, "Wasn't being late for a remote at Tony Roma's. It was that I had asked for a raise for a job that doesn't pay especially well and at which I worked from 5 a.m. until 10 a.m., supplied my own chair, and got paid for remotes with food coupons. Their business tripled during the morning hours."
St. John said he believed he brought humor, controversy, and entertainment value to the airwaves and in doing so increased the station's ratings for the morning hours. "18.2 share of AQHA ratings, to be specific," he said.
"I was always there for the kids of this community and for anyone who needed help," St. John said. "I started the fund for Angel Face, the little girl who was bound into slavery and I kept that story at the forefront so that eventually over $30,000 was raised for her. We raised more Toys for Tots than anyone has ever raised. I tried to present a forum for Laredoans to discuss issues and ideas that had bearing on their lives. About the time we came on the air, Laredoans were looking for something different. They found it on St. John in the morning. I'm like the average guy going to work who is interested in keeping up with current issues in the news that were either controversial or glaringly crooked," St. John said.
"I didn't like being fired. I thought it was unwarranted and I didn't have the opportunity to tell our listeners that I was leaving and to thank them for being loyal. That has sure bothered me, but I want them to know I can be reached at 251-0727 whether it's for windshield repair or just to say hello," St. John said.
A call to station manager Luis Villarreal yielded a cordial discussion about a variety of media topics, but he declined to discuss St. John's termination.

AT KVTV
Andrea Conklin, a Houston native and a graduate of Baylor University, is on the air at KVTV hosting the noon show and Newsnight, the station's 10:30 p.m. news roundup. Conklin completed internships in Washington and New York before coming to Laredo.
According to station manager Larry Sanchez, Conklin is but the first of the on-air personality changes on tap for KVTV.