https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
st-wendy-rieger-dead/

Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65

By Travis M. Andrews
Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT

Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
was 65.

The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.

A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
December after 33 years at WRC.

Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
"sound" like a news person — "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
Walter Cronkite."

After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career — "There's no
closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
she joked — she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
hard news and community features.

She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.

Four years later, Ms. Rieger reported on a woman who had discovered she
was allergic to chemicals in her house and found environmentally
friendly ways to remedy the problem. The episode led Ms. Rieger to
launch a weekly segment and accompanying blog called Going Green.

"It's easy to change a couple of things — change a few lightbulbs, wash
clothes in cold water," she told Washingtonian in 2008, when the
magazine awarded her a prize for her commitment to environmental safety
and preservation. "We want people to do this joyfully."

Going Green, with tutorials on ways to save energy and commit to
healthier lifestyles for people and pets, proved so popular that many
stations in the NBC network began airing her segments, and NBC Nightly
News launched a similar feature.

On the air, Ms. Rieger was inclined to show a personally revealing,
self-deprecating side when the mood felt right. Lashed by wind and rain
while covering a hurricane, she quipped to the audience, "Note to self:
waterproof mascara!" She followed with her observation after that
maelstrom had tempered down and was only producing tiny waves in the
Atlantic Ocean: The wondrous storm "goes all flat," she said, "kinda
like my dating life."

Wendy Bell Rieger was born in Norfolk on April 18, 1956. Her father was
an airline pilot, and her mother was an English teacher and later a
polygraph examiner. Ms. Rieger was 8 when they divorced.

She graduated from American University in 1980 with a bachelor's degree
in journalism. Her first marriage, to Sol Levine, a CNN producer, ended
in divorce. In 2021 she married retired WRC-TV news photographer Dan
Buckley. In addition to her husband, survivors include three brothers.

As a flaxen-haired former actress, Ms. Rieger often appeared on lists
of Washington's most attractive local celebrities. She grew weary of
the flattery as her career progressed, saying she wished to keep
attention on her work. She was proud of having found a personal style
of delivering the news, which The Post once described as
"self-effacing, opinionated and humorous by turns."

She called it merely a reflection of herself.

"You have to be yourself on the air, you can't go in there and project
some fake personality, some front and expect people to believe it," she
said. "Eventually the real you comes through and it better be
comfortable for you, since that's what people see on the other side of
the camera."

A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
> st-wendy-rieger-dead/
>
>
> Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65
>
> By Travis M. Andrews
> Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT
>
> Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
> Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
> winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
> reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
> was 65.
>
> The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
>
> A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
> Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
> years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
> surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
> and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
> brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
> December after 33 years at WRC.
>
> Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
> in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
> Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
> "sound" like a news person ? "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
> Walter Cronkite."
>
> After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career ? "There's no
> closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
> she joked ? she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
> public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
> earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
> hard news and community features.
>
> She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
> in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
> epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
> moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
> with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.

So she did not overlap with Jim Hartz,who I remember from WNBC's news
before he left for the Washington affiliate.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

In article <t3f71j$6pb$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
<le@top.put.com> wrote:

> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
> > st-wendy-rieger-dead/
> >
> >
> > Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65
> >
> > By Travis M. Andrews
> > Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT
> >
> > Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
> > Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
> > winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
> > reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
> > was 65.
> >
> > The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
> >
> > A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
> > Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
> > years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
> > surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
> > and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
> > brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
> > December after 33 years at WRC.
> >
> > Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
> > in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
> > Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
> > "sound" like a news person ? "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
> > Walter Cronkite."
> >
> > After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career ? "There's no
> > closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
> > she joked ? she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
> > public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
> > earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
> > hard news and community features.
> >
> > She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
> > in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
> > epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
> > moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
> > with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.
>
> So she did not overlap with Jim Hartz,who I remember from WNBC's news
> before he left for the Washington affiliate.

Jim Handly is still anchoring. Susan Kidd was let go in 2006, part of
an economy wave.

A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> In article <t3f71j$6pb$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
> <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>
>> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
>> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
>> > st-wendy-rieger-dead/
>> >
>> >
>> > Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65
>> >
>> > By Travis M. Andrews
>> > Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT
>> >
>> > Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
>> > Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
>> > winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
>> > reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
>> > was 65.
>> >
>> > The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
>> >
>> > A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
>> > Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
>> > years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
>> > surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
>> > and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
>> > brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
>> > December after 33 years at WRC.
>> >
>> > Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
>> > in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
>> > Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
>> > "sound" like a news person ? "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
>> > Walter Cronkite."
>> >
>> > After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career ? "There's no
>> > closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
>> > she joked ? she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
>> > public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
>> > earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
>> > hard news and community features.
>> >
>> > She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
>> > in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
>> > epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
>> > moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
>> > with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.
>>
>> So she did not overlap with Jim Hartz,who I remember from WNBC's news
>> before he left for the Washington affiliate.
>
>
> Jim Handly is still anchoring. Susan Kidd was let go in 2006, part of
> an economy wave.

Jim Hartz is still alive,though he left WRC in 1979 apparently...I
remember him from WNBC's "Sixth Hour News" and space launch coverage
when I was a child,and he was briefly a "Today" co-host.

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

In article <t3fjqr$j7l$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
<le@top.put.com> wrote:

> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> > In article <t3f71j$6pb$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
> > <le@top.put.com> wrote:
> >
> >> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> >> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
> >> > st-wendy-rieger-dead/
> >> >
> >> >
> >> > Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65
> >> >
> >> > By Travis M. Andrews
> >> > Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT
> >> >
> >> > Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
> >> > Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
> >> > winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
> >> > reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
> >> > was 65.
> >> >
> >> > The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
> >> >
> >> > A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
> >> > Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
> >> > years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
> >> > surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
> >> > and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
> >> > brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
> >> > December after 33 years at WRC.
> >> >
> >> > Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
> >> > in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
> >> > Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
> >> > "sound" like a news person ? "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
> >> > Walter Cronkite."
> >> >
> >> > After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career ? "There's no
> >> > closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
> >> > she joked ? she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
> >> > public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
> >> > earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
> >> > hard news and community features.
> >> >
> >> > She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
> >> > in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
> >> > epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
> >> > moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
> >> > with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.
> >>
> >> So she did not overlap with Jim Hartz,who I remember from WNBC's news
> >> before he left for the Washington affiliate.
> >
> >
> > Jim Handly is still anchoring. Susan Kidd was let go in 2006, part of
> > an economy wave.
>
> Jim Hartz is still alive,though he left WRC in 1979 apparently...I
> remember him from WNBC's "Sixth Hour News" and space launch coverage
> when I was a child,and he was briefly a "Today" co-host.

He also owned a hardware store on Third Avenue around 82nd St. Google
Street View says it's gone.

A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
> In article <t3fjqr$j7l$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
> <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>
>> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
>> > In article <t3f71j$6pb$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
>> > <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
>> >> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
>> >> > st-wendy-rieger-dead/
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65
>> >> >
>> >> > By Travis M. Andrews
>> >> > Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT
>> >> >
>> >> > Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
>> >> > Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
>> >> > winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
>> >> > reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
>> >> > was 65.
>> >> >
>> >> > The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
>> >> >
>> >> > A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
>> >> > Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
>> >> > years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
>> >> > surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
>> >> > and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
>> >> > brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
>> >> > December after 33 years at WRC.
>> >> >
>> >> > Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
>> >> > in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
>> >> > Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
>> >> > "sound" like a news person ? "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
>> >> > Walter Cronkite."
>> >> >
>> >> > After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career ? "There's no
>> >> > closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
>> >> > she joked ? she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
>> >> > public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
>> >> > earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
>> >> > hard news and community features.
>> >> >
>> >> > She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
>> >> > in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
>> >> > epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
>> >> > moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
>> >> > with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.
>> >>
>> >> So she did not overlap with Jim Hartz,who I remember from WNBC's news
>> >> before he left for the Washington affiliate.
>> >
>> >
>> > Jim Handly is still anchoring. Susan Kidd was let go in 2006, part of
>> > an economy wave.
>>
>> Jim Hartz is still alive,though he left WRC in 1979 apparently...I
>> remember him from WNBC's "Sixth Hour News" and space launch coverage
>> when I was a child,and he was briefly a "Today" co-host.
>
>
> He also owned a hardware store on Third Avenue around 82nd St. Google
> Street View says it's gone.

So did the Handly-man use Hartzware?

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

Louis Epstein <le@top.put.com> wrote:
> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
>> In article <t3f71j$6pb$1@reader1.panix.com>, Louis Epstein
>> <le@top.put.com> wrote:
>>
>>> A Friend <nope@noway.com> wrote:
>>> > https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/04/16/washington-journali
>>> > st-wendy-rieger-dead/
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > Wendy Rieger, longtime Channel 4 anchor in Washington, dies at 65
>>> >
>>> > By Travis M. Andrews
>>> > Today [Apr 16 2022] at 12:52 p.m. EDT
>>> >
>>> > Wendy Rieger, who co-anchored the popular 5 p.m. newscast on
>>> > Washington's NBC station WRC-TV (Channel 4) for more than 30 years,
>>> > winning a loyal audience with her good-humored and well-crafted
>>> > reports, died April 16 at a hospice facility in Montgomery County. She
>>> > was 65.
>>> >
>>> > The cause was glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer.
>>> >
>>> > A fixture of broadcast journalism for more than four decades, Ms.
>>> > Rieger won local Emmy Awards, including one for a report on Vietnam 20
>>> > years after the war. She made news herself when she had open-heart
>>> > surgery in fall 2020 to address a rapid heartbeat (atrial fibrillation)
>>> > and a defect in a mitral valve. In May 2021, she was diagnosed with a
>>> > brain tumor and had most of it surgically removed, and she retired in
>>> > December after 33 years at WRC.
>>> >
>>> > Ms. Rieger was an actress in Norfolk when she made her journalism debut
>>> > in the late 1970s, earning extra money as a news reader for a
>>> > Tidewater-area radio station. She was advised by a station colleague to
>>> > "sound" like a news person ? "You know, serious," she was told. "Like
>>> > Walter Cronkite."
>>> >
>>> > After assessing her less-than-flourishing stage career ? "There's no
>>> > closer way to get to Broadway than to do dinner theater in Norfolk,"
>>> > she joked ? she changed paths. Ms. Rieger spent much of the 1980s in
>>> > public and commercial radio, with stints at WAMU, WLTT-FM and WTOP, and
>>> > earned acclaim for her engaging personality and thoughtful handling of
>>> > hard news and community features.
>>> >
>>> > She also worked as a weekend reporter at CNN's Washington bureau and,
>>> > in 1988, joined WRC-TV as a nighttime street reporter during the crack
>>> > epidemic. She began anchoring weekend evening newscasts in 1996 and
>>> > moved to the 5 p.m. weekday slot in 2001, sharing the table initially
>>> > with Susan Kidd and later with Jim Handly.
>>>
>>> So she did not overlap with Jim Hartz,who I remember from WNBC's news
>>> before he left for the Washington affiliate.
>>
>>
>> Jim Handly is still anchoring. Susan Kidd was let go in 2006, part of
>> an economy wave.
>
> Jim Hartz is still alive,though he left WRC in 1979 apparently...I
> remember him from WNBC's "Sixth Hour News" and space launch coverage
> when I was a child,and he was briefly a "Today" co-host.

But the NY Times now reports that Hartz died at 82 on April 17th.
> -=-=-
> The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
> at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.