KVOA has reached across the country to choose its replacement for Jimmy Stewart, who is retiring next month.
Rob Guarino, a graduate of the University of Delaware, is the station's next chief meteorologist. Guarino, 47, has served meteorologist stints in Syracuse, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Albuquerque. For the past three years, he's run the weather site Liveweatherblogs.com.
"I am very excited to come back to the Southwest and Southern Arizona," Guarino said via email. "I have family here, know the weather here and can't wait to get started with the best news team in town."
Guarino will start at KVOA Tuesday. After 50 years in broadcasting, Stewart is retiring May 28.
Game-developing brothers fill up App Store
Brothers Jacob and Paul Stevens, who run the Tucson-based game-developing company RiverMan Media, have been on a roll lately making 99-cent games for iPhones.
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Since November, RiverMan has cranked out four games.
The two biggest hits were old-school space shooter "Space Frak," which was released in November and has sold more than 80,000 downloads; and "Deathfall," in which you use motion controls to guide a skull through dark passageways, has raked in 73,000 sales since it debuted in January.
December's "Fat Roll Santa," in which you guide a rotund Santa Claus down slopes, has moved more than 1,000 units and the flying game "Ikaros," released in March, has sold more than 4,000 copies so far.
"My brother and I entered the games business knowing it would be challenging, but I don't think anything could have prepared us for the countless obstacles that independent developers have to overcome in order to achieve success," Jacob Stevens said via email.
"We've had to deal with everything from lying publishers to employees who disappeared - with their paycheck -when we asked to see their work. Luckily, we love making games more than we dislike the problematic aspects of the industry, and we are finally starting to see our efforts pay off financially. It has taken us over five years, but we've reached the point where our games earn enough to sustain us."
Clear Channel tabs Pickett
Clear Channel Radio Tucson hired Chris Pickett as its new operations manager for its seven-station cluster (KRQQ, KNST, KOHT, KTZR, KWMT, KWFM and KXEW).
Pickett is replacing Tim Richards, who moved to Phoenix to produce "Johnjay and Rich."
Pickett, who is currently wrapping up duties as operations manager for Clear Channel in Colorado Springs, Colo., has worked in Denver, Indianapolis and Cleveland. He starts in Tucson May 2.
"I am thrilled about the opportunity," Pickett said via email. "The group of people that is already assembled at Clear Channel in Tucson are some of the best in the industry and I can't wait to join the team. Tucson is an important market to our company and I am looking forward to keeping the group on top."
Contact reporter Phil Villarreal, who covers local media for the Star, at 573-4130 or pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
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