Lasalle Blanks 13NEWS ANCHOR lblanks@wvec.com

ANCHOR: 13NEWS DAYBREAK AND 13NEWS AT NOON
Graduate of NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
Undergraduate degree: RADIO/TV/FILM, 1992
Graduate degree: BROADCAST JOURNALISM, 1993

Professional Experience
WINS-TV, Lansing, MI
Reporter, 1993 - 1994

WOKR-TV, Rochester, NY
Reporter, 1994-1995
Weekend Co-anchor/Reporter, 1994-1997

WVEC-TV, LNC, Norfolk, VA.
Daybreak and 13News at Noon Anchor

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
Winning an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reporting for Regional Heritage with his series "13NEWS in England: The Beginning of Jamestown." The series took LaSalle to England where he reported from the birthplace of America, the site in London where the 3 original boats of Jamestown settlers left to establish the first permanent English settlement in North America, the birthplace and childhood home of Captain John Smith, and the burial place of Pocahontas. His trip also included special reports from London landmarks like Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey, and landmarks throughout England like Lincoln Cathedral. He won a Virginia Associated Press Award for his series dealing with race.

Other highlights include fun features that have taken 13News viewers behind the scenes of some of their favorite game shows like "Jeopardy!," "Wheel of Fortune," and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Also, reporting from Washington, DC and the White House and Congress; covering the Oklahoma City bombing; a week-long series with Hampton Roads military in Spain; arriving home with Hampton Roads military forces on the USS Harry S. Truman at the end of their deployment to Operation Iraqi Freedom; being able to be a Norfolk Tides player for a day, and actually getting the opportunity to have a role on ABC'S "ALL MY CHILDREN" during a behind-the-scenes special report. (I'm sure that's something that will never ever happen again)

Lasalle says he enjoys interviewing celebrities on 13News at Noon - it gives local viewers the chance to see their favorite stars in a different way.

"Working at WVEC is a fantastic experience for me. I have met interesting people, we have a great deal of fun."

Lasalle is also very involved in community sports. His adult kickball team won the 2008 World Adult Kickball Championship in Las Vegas, beating 50 other teams across the country. "We have an excellent station softball team which I coach (we won the 2001 media summer league championship!), and it provides me the opportunity to inform our viewers on key issues in our community - that is extremely important to me.

"My dream as a child was to be a TV announcer for New York Yankees games. I still ended up on TV, but in News ....goals change a little as you get older. But I work with excellent people on 13News Daybreak and on 13News at Noon - I am very proud of how everything turned out."