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Longtime WHIO-TV anchor Jim Baldridge to retire

Anchor retiring after 37 years with station, nearly 20 in tandem with Cheryl McHenry.

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By Laura Dempsey, Staff Writer Updated 11:10 PM Friday, April 17, 2009

DAYTON — WHIO-TV news anchor Jim Baldridge will leave the station after 37 years.

Station officials announced Friday, April 17, that Baldridge will retire at the end of August.

“I am very grateful to the people of the Miami Valley for welcoming me into their homes, and to WHIO-TV for a long and fulfilling career in one of the most respected newsrooms in the country,” said Baldridge, whose broadcasting career has spanned five decades.

Baldridge, 61, grew up in Lima and started his career in journalism in 1964 while a senior at Lima Shawnee High School.

He served in the Army from 1966-69 with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services, and graduated from Sinclair Community College and Wright State University.

He has been with WHIO since 1972.

The veteran newsman listed the Xenia tornado of 1974, the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 and the San Francisco earthquake of 1989 as his most poignant career memories.

He also has reported from China, Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Japan, Colombia and throughout Europe — including Berlin, when the wall came down.

For nearly 20 years, Baldridge and co-anchor Cheryl McHenry have formed one of the longest-running anchor teams in the country.

Channel 7 anchor James Brown will assume the anchor responsibilities for the 5 and 6 p.m. newscasts, along with his current anchor duties at 5:30 p.m.

Of Baldridge, Brown said, “He is one of the smartest people I’ve met. I am very thankful to work in the same newsroom with him for seven years.”

Baldridge said he plans to remain in the Miami Valley upon retirement.

“My wife, Sue, and I expect that the Dayton area will always be our home,” he said, adding that they also plan to travel and spend time with their two children and two grandchildren.

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