Dolly Parton Gives Support To Wildfire Victims, 'My People'

By Kristin M. Hall
Associated Press

Country music icon Dolly Parton's home and businesses in East Tennessee were spared from deadly wildfires last month, but she's pitching in to help her neighbors recover from the devastation.

She was to headline a telethon Tuesday from Nashville, featuring performances from Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers, Hank Williams Jr., Chris Stapleton, Cyndi Lauper and more. It was scheduled for broadcast on Great American Country at 8 p.m. Eastern.

Parton is giving $1,000 to every family that has lost their primary residence through the Dollywood Foundation My People Fund. Parton said Tuesday the wildfire victims may not be kin, but they "feel like my people."

This Christmas, she'll return home to Sevier County to see the damage from the fires that spread to more than 2,500 structures and killed 14 people.

Watch tonight's telethon on Channel 3 subchannel 3.3 beginnng at 8 p.m. EST.

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For more information, visit dollywoodfoundation.org

WKYC's Tom Beres Honored By Cleveland City Council

Special to the Director's Cut Blog

wkyc.com

He didn't see it coming. Tom Beres thought he was covering Monday evening's Cleveland City Council meeting as he's done countless other times.

On this night, the council turned the tables on Tom, who is set to retire at the end of the month.

Beres received a standing ovation by the council for 44 years of reporting, 37 of them at WKYC Channel 3.

But the best was yet to come.

Mayor Frank Jackson and council members announced that the section of Lakeside Avenue outside of the WKYC Channel 3 studios will be known as, "Tom Beres Way."

"This is pretty awkward all the way around," a still-shocked Beres told Dawn Kendrick. "But thank you to all of our viewers for putting up with me all of these years."

Tom's wife Susan had the line of the night: Because Tom loses keys, cellphones, etc regularly, the street should be named "Tom Beres Lost His Way."

Beres' final day at WKYC Channel 3 will be on December 21.

Watch our video about tonight's special honor HERE: http://on.wkyc.com/2gZMDy3

Saturday Night Live Celebrates The Season With Three Back-to-Back Shows

Saturday Night Live is getting ready to ring in the holiday season.

Emma Stone returns for her third time as host on Saturday, Dec. 3 with Shawn Mendes as musical guest. Stone can next be seen in the film, “La La Land.” Mendes’ latest album, “Illuminate,” debuted atop the U.S. Billboard 200 chart.

WWE superstar John Cena will make his “SNL” debut as host on Dec. 10 with musical guest Maren Morris. Cena has appeared in numerous films and TV shows, including the comedies “Trainwreck” and “Sisters.” Morris’ major label debut album, “Hero,” debuted on two Billboard charts and her debut single, "My Church,” went platinum.

On Dec. 17, Casey Affleck will make his “SNL” debut. Affleck currently stars in the drama “Manchester By the Sea” recently winning Best Actor Awards from the Gotham Awards, New York Film Critics Circle and National Board Of Review. Chance The Rapper will return for his second time as musical guest. His latest album, “Coloring Book,” was released to critical acclaim.

WKYC VP/GM Micki Byrnes Named General Manager of the Year

Our congratulations to WKYC Vice President and General Manager Micki Byrnes who was named "General Manager of the Year Markets 1-25" for 2016.

The honor was announced recently by Broadcasting and Cable Magazine who will feature her and other honorees in the December 19th edition of the television trade magazine.

Byrnes joined Gannett Broadcasting (now TEGNA Media) in October of 1997 as Director of Marketing and Promotion for WKYC. She was named Vice President, Advertising and Promotion in 2000, responsible for the branding, graphics, media creation and placement, community engagement and sales promotion efforts of Channel 3.

In March of 2014, she was named VP and Station Manager, overseeing the daily operations of the station before becoming VP and General Manager in December 2014.

Prior to joining the company, Byrnes worked as Corporate Marketing Director for First Media based in Orlando, FL and has had promotion management positions in San Francisco, Atlanta and Boston.

Last year, WKYC's parent company TEGNA Media was named as the "Station Group of the Year."

Ohio Honorees for 2016 include:

• Station Group of the Year: Graham Media Group
• GM of the Year Markets 1-25: Micki Byrnes, WKYC Cleveland, Ohio
• GM of the Year Markets 26-50: Michael Lewis, KTBC Austin, Texas
• GM of the Year Markets 51+: Lee Meredith, WAFB Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• News Director of the Year: Kirsten Wolff, WESH Orlando, Florida
• Multiplatform Broadcaster of the Year: E.W. Scripps Company

Congratulations to all the winners.

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Follow Frank Macek on Twitter @frankmacekwkyc and on Facebook

WKYC Announces Re-Broadcast Times for Wednesday Night's Programming

Due to weather related issues that caused the WKYC-TV transmitter to go off the air Wednesday night, WKYC has announced the re-airing times for two popular Christmas shows that weren't available to many viewers.

Christmas in Rockefeller Center will air from 1:30 am until 2:30 am this Sunday morning, December 4th.

Dolly Parton's "Christmas of Many Colors" will air from 2:30 am until 4:30 am this Sunday morning, December 4th.

If you don't have a DVR, you can watch Dolly Parton's movie online by clicking here or opening the NBC app. Unfortunately it doesn't look like NBC is going to make Christmas in Rockefeller Center available online.

NBC is going to re-air Dolly's movie again on Friday, December 23rd from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m.

WKYC will need to take its transmitter off-line for additional repairs Thursday morning, December 1st, at 2 a.m. for a short period of time.

However, WKYC will be back up and ready to go in time for Channel 3 News Today with Jon Anderson, Lynna Lai, Hollie Giangreco and the entire morning show team at 4:30 a.m. Friday morning.

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Follow Frank Macek on Twitter @frankmacekwkyc and on Facebook