Thanks to all who've supported the Akron-Canton News

I had hoped today wouldn't come, but after several days of rumors the bad news came right to our newsroom today -- the Akron-Canton News is ending May 30.

Tough economic times have limited the advertising support for the newscasts for quite a while, and WKYC General Manager Brooke Spectorsky informed out staff today that the station could no longer continue the broadcasts. Brooke was genuinely upset that it came to this. He was here to launch this project, and he knows of its value in the Akron-Canton area.

I'm just numb tonight. I received the news along with the rest of our staff a few hours ago, and I'm having a hard time putting my thoughts into words. My heart just breaks for my co-workers and for the Akron community, which will revert to having only Cleveland broadcasts for traditional evening news.

One of my first thoughts was how lousy it will be on election night when there's no evening news source for results and analysis. Maybe the Internet has already made that obsolete anyway. I'm thinking about the smaller stories -- kids getting art awards, major community events at lock 3, highlights from games at Canal Park -- that won't get the coverage that we gave them.

After WAKC stopped doing Akron news in 1996, many Akron and Canton residents complained that we'd lost some of our identity. Regaining an evening broadcast became one of the community's listed goals and was also the feature of an entire Beacon Magazine.

I was so glad that we were able to help return the broadcast in 2001 via a relationship between NBC and the PAX network. Still, it took the vision of our GM and the support of community leaders to give this crazy idea a chance.

Then a few years ago, we were on the ropes again when PAX hit the skids, but thankfully Time Warner Cable stepped up to give us a shot. My thanks to Steve Fry and everyone at TWC for all of their support as well.

Still, seven years later, we're about to lose our newscast again. It just doesn't seem possible.

Tonight I read a short copy story announcing the end of the newscast. There's nothing more awkward than reading your newscast's obituary on the air.

For what it's worth, I've never had anyone tell me they didn't like our newscast. I've had folks say they don't watch because it's on at a bad time or because they don't get cable and a host of other reasons. Still, I've never had a viewer tell me that they could watch but wouldn't because they didn't like it.

I'm fortunate that I'll be able to continue reporting on news in the Akron-Canton area for WKYC in a tradition bureau role again, and I know our managers and producers will work hard to include as much A-C news as they can in Channel 3's broadcasts. Still, it won't be the same. I'm glad to have kept my job and to get paid to do something I love, but it hurts to know that we could provide more to the viewers.

Over the next six weeks, I'll do my best to keep delivering a quality newscast .. but tonight, I'm just numb. After seven years of racing to beat the clock each night, I just feel like it can't be over .. but I know it is.