Kevin Doellman
WGN TV News
Chicago, IL, United States
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Past articles by Kevin:
The Master at Work: Tracking a storm with Tom Skilling
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories CHICAGO — Tom Skilling has reported the weather from the peaks of Alaska to the valleys of Southern Nevada. He has chased tornados and testified before Congress. He’s been awarded three honorary doctorate degrees and […] → Read More
Donahue Dominated Daytime: How WGN ‘launched’ a new genre of talk show
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories The talk show is one of television’s most enduring and ubiquitous genres. It has become a culturally significant stage for comedy, sports, entertainment, and politics. WGN-TV played an outsize role in the development of the audience […] → Read More
‘Chicago’s Very Own’ goes national: The rise and fall of the superstation
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories By the 1970s, the era of total dominance by the big three national networks – CBS, ABC, and NBC — was coming to an end, and TV audiences would soon have more choices. In […] → Read More
Chicago’s Millennium Park: From parking lot to park
Millennium Park is Chicago’s most visited location. → Read More
Chicago’s ‘Jack of all Trades’ Brickhouse was the face of WGN-TV for five decades
As WGN TV celebrates 75 years, we’re looking back with a series of stories on the history and the memories Jack Brickhouse was a jack of all trades. From car shows to conventions, and from Popes to presidents, Brickhouse interviewed just about everyone and covered just about every kind of story. “A lot of times […] → Read More
WGN at 75: Jerry Garcia & Grateful Dead’s last concert
The coverage by Channel 9 on that event was featured on Tuesday's show along with a look back at a forgettable moment for a popular member of the Bulls, Crocs replacing Yeezys, and headshot fails in this segment from the WGN Morning News on January 17th. → Read More
‘Our adventure into television’: WGN-TV at the dawn of a new era
The year was 1948. Harry Truman won the presidency, despite what the front page of the Chicago Tribune had mistakenly declared that year. Gas cost 26 cents a gallon. Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra ruled the radio. In Chicago, at Tribune Tower, the newspaper’s colorful editor and publisher Colonel Robert McCormick, was […] → Read More
Illinois is poised to pass an assault weapons ban. Will it withstand court challenges?
This week, the Illinois General Assembly begins its lame duck session and lawmakers will likely use the final days before a new legislature is sworn in to vote on one of the nation’s most hotly debated topics: banning semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines. Casting a shadow over the debate in Illinois are the horrific […] → Read More
‘Barbecue is in our blood:’ Legendary rib joint Twin Anchors celebrates 90 years in business
CHICAGO — A neighborhood anchor is an institution that enhances the quality of life and strengthens the cultural connections of a community. In Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood, you could say there are twin anchors. Gina Manrique is one of three siblings who co-own the restaurant and tavern, which is celebrating 90 years in business. […] → Read More
Chicago Treasure Hunter Returns Lost Ring 30 years later
CHICAGO — It’s been said that what’s lost, is nothing compared to what’s found. Adam Rosa, an urban planner who picked up metal detecting as a hobby during the pandemic, was searching for buried treasure in a Chicago Park when he stumbled across a peculiar patch of dirt that — for some reason — caught […] → Read More
Lakeview dress shop, restaurant honors family matriarch, others with beautiful ofrenda
There’s similar imagery, skeltons, spirits, and sweets, but for many Chicagoans with Mexican heritage, the day after Halloween is a holiday that is more spiritual than spooky. And for a family with deep roots in Lake View, this year the Day of the Dead is all about remembering a very special life. If “memory serves” […] → Read More
With politics, protest and passion, the city’s first marathon is ‘a uniquely Chicago story’
CHICAGO — On September 25, 1977, 4,200 runners gathered at the foot of the Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza for the Chicago’s first modern marathon. That was the starting line for the race itself, but the origins of the city’s first marathon took many twists and turns through the side alleys of Chicago politics, business […] → Read More
Evanston teen born with his intestines outside of his stomach now a star high school football player
EVANSTON, Ill. — Shannique Shelton recalls a moment from 15 years ago as if it happened 15 seconds ago. The Chicago teaching assistant was pregnant and had just completed her first ultrasound when the doctor abruptly left the room. When he returned, he had the image, and several concerns. “He goes, ‘Ms. Shelton?’ I said, […] → Read More
West suburban man loses 225 pounds, set to run the Chicago Half Marathon
FOREST PARK, Ill. — Jough Dempsey lost track of his weight when the indicator on his scale went beyond the maximum — 450 pounds. “I don’t know what my upper weight limit was,” Dempsey said. “Because when I bought a scale that went up to 450, I pinned it. I went over it.” Dempsey, […] → Read More
‘We are a bunch of Bozos:’ A night at the circus with the WGN softball team
CHICAGO — WGN-TV hasn’t broadcast a baseball game since 2019, and the beloved Bozo Show has been off the air for more than two decades. But the legacies of both live on at Channel 9, sort of. WGN-TV fields a 16-inch softball team, nicknamed “The Bozos” in the Chicago Media League. “I think the […] → Read More
The ice machine that chills Chicago’s skyscrapers: Inside downtown’s district cooling systems
CHICAGO — If you drive under the Old Main Post Office on the Eisenhower Expressway, just over the river you’ll see a nondescript building that’s easy to miss. The building appears to have a windowless concrete pedestal, and power equipment on the roof. Most people “just don’t know exactly what it is that they’re looking […] → Read More
Sculpture, garden to honor Obama’s late mother at presidential center
CHICAGO — Thursday is former President Barack Obama’s 61st birthday. He used the occasion to announce a gift that will honor his late mother. A garden is a place where seeds are planted and nurtured. Then they grow, and blossom to fill the world with color and beauty. Fitting, then, Obama chose to […] → Read More
Inspiring athlete finds balance on quest to cross all of the Great Lakes
CHICAGO — Mike Shoreman arrived at North Avenue Bach in Chicago at once exhilarated and exhausted. He’d just paddled 27-straight hours, across 44 miles from new Buffalo, Michigan to Chicago. “When people tell you that you can’t do something, it really motivates you,” Shoreman said. His is an improbable and inspiring story. […] → Read More
Lending a hand: First women’s bank aims to close ‘gender lending gap’
When mother and daughter duo Aisha and Ruth miller decided to start their own business, they decided that a Tropical Smoothie Café would be a perfect fit for the Southwest Suburban Burbank community. The franchise had a playbook for success, and the market seemed ready for a health fast-casual dining option. “I think the […] → Read More
Operation White Stork delivers supplies, hope to Ukraine as conflict nears 100 days
A retired U.S. Marine from the Chicago-area has been working in Ukraine since the start of the war to deliver medical supplies and evacuate vulnerable people, as brutal conflict grinds toward 100 days. William McNulty, 45, founded Operation White Stork, named after the national bird of Ukraine, as a humanitarian organization designed to address […] → Read More