Today in L.A.

Overview

Today In L.A. is a local early-morning local newscast airing over NBC's west coast flagship, KNBC-TV, in Los Angeles. It became the first morning local newscast in Southern California when it debuted on KNBC in 1986, as a half-hour lead-in to The Today Show. Kent Shocknek and Pat DaSilva were the original anchors, with Christopher Nance handling weather duties, and Fred Roggin in a taped segment reporting sports. DaSilva, who is Mexican-American also became the first latina to do a morning weekday newscast. DaSilva sat in the anchor chair for more than a year and was replaced by Carla Aragon. Shocknek and Aragon each departed in later years; Shocknek joining rival station KCBS-TV in 2001 to anchor their early-morning and midday newscasts, and Aragon returning to her native New Mexico to anchor the evening newscasts on NBC affiliate KOB-TV in Albuquerque, from 1994 to her retirement from the news reporting business in 2007. Nance left the station under controversial circumstances in December 2002, after 18 years with the station; he later sued the station, its upper management, and KNBC's parent company due to what he believed was racial and religious discrimination. Eventually successors at the Today in L.A. anchor desk included Kathy Vara, David Cruz, Kelly Mack, Chris Schauble, and Jennifer Bjorklund. Rachel Boesing handled weather reporting duties, while Paul Johnson reported traffic news, while he also filled-in weather stories on occasion. Vara, Mack, Cruz, and Schauble eventually left the station; Vara later returned to KNBC in March 2010 after nine years at crosstown KABC-TV, and Schauble anchoring the first two and a half hours of KTLA's present five and a half-hour morning news block since early 2011. Bjorklund remained at KNBC, presently as a general assignment reporter until 2012.