Heather Schallock joined WJFW in June of 1994 after she graduated from UW-Oshkosh. At that time she anchored weather during our 5pm and 10pm weeknight newscasts. In 1995 Heather joined WEAU, the NBC affiliate in Eau Claire, Wisconsin as a weekend weather anchor and weekday reporter. Soon after that Heather came back to WJFW as a reporter and 5pm producer/anchor.

In August of 1995 Jerry Schallock got down on one knee during Newswatch 12 at Five and asked Heather to marry him. She, of course, said yes and the clip has aired on NBC Bloopers and Practical Jokes several times. (She still maintains it was no joke.) On Thanksgiving Day of 1998 Heather and Jerry welcomed their daughter, Sydney, into the world. On April 6, 2005 their son, Jake, was born.

In 1996 Heather won the Associated Press Award for Best Spot News for her report on a high speed chase through Rhinelander. Heather was promoted to News Director in 1999 and currently anchors Newswatch 12 at Five. In 2006 Heather won a Bronze Award in the Muscular Dystrophy Association Broadcast Journalism Awards for her coverage of a Rhinelander teenager battling a neuromuscular disease. A reporter in Dallas took first place and a reporter in Boston took second place.

Heather is proud to call the Northwoods home and enjoys cooking, water skiing, and snowmobiling.

Asavari comes to WJFW from sunny southern California. Asavari joined our team in July 2001 anchoring Newswatch 12 Today and reporting. In 2005 Asavari gave up the early morning shift for a chance to anchor our evening newscasts.

Asavari graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a certificate in Marketing Communications. After working in public relations and the entertainment industry, she decided to pursue a career in television news. Asavari completed a certificate in Broadcast Journalism at UCLA and completed an internship at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles. She then worked as an assignment editor at KMIR-6 News in Palm Springs, CA.

She found the job listing for Newswatch 12 on the Internet and was excited to begin a new adventure in northern Wisconsin.

Asavari says life here is 180 degrees different from her hometown of Hermosa Beach, California, but she says she loves the four seasons, the beautiful Northwoods lakes and forests and even the snow. She credits her newfound love for nature to her husband Tom. Asavari and Tom welcome their twin daughters, Audrina and Amiya, into the world on December 7, 2009.

On the weekends Asavari and Tom love to fish, try out new restaurants, shop and check out the newest Box Office hits.

Sarah joined WJFW in January 2010 to help anchor the 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts, as well as report. Sarah came from WEAU 13 News in Eau Claire, most recently as Weekend Anchor. She started her career there in 2006 as a production assistant, then moved to morning show producer before becoming Weekend Anchor in 2008.

Sarah was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, but spent the majority of her life in Neenah, WI. She takes pride in her southern blood, but knows her heart and soul belong in the north. She graduated from Neenah High School in 2004 and headed off to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where she graduated in 2007 with a B.A. in Mass Communication-Journalism and a minor in Spanish. While in college, Sarah completed internships at WQOW in Eau Claire and KSTP in the Twin Cities; the latter courtesy of the Henry Lippold Fellowship.

When she's not working, Sarah enjoys reading, cooking, shopping, sight-seeing and spending time with family and friends. Her Yorkie-poo, Clifford, keeps her active and entertained. Sarah is excited about this chapter of her life in the Northwoods and can't wait to experience all it has to offer.

Also, Sarah loves hearing from you! Whether it's a story idea or simple "hello," feel free to send her an e-mail.

Kristyn Allen joined the WJFW team in October 2008 as co-anchor of our morning show, Newswatch 12 Today. She comes to the Northwoods from Lansing, Michigan where she worked as a live reporter for the morning show at WLNS TV-6. There, she did everything from delivering live reports on breaking news to giving traffic updates.

Kristyn graduated from Michigan State University in May of 2006 and is proud to be a Spartan! She has a B.A. in Journalism and Spanish. Kristyn says she has a passion for news and takes pride in waking up early and telling viewers what they need to know to get their day started.

In her free time, she enjoys working out, cooking, baking and spending time with friends and family. Kristyn credits a big part of her success to having amazing support from her family and friends. She is now proud to call the Northwoods home and explore all it has to offer.

Kira joined WJFW in July 2010 as a Co-Anchor of Newswatch 12 Today and Reporter. She came to the Northwoods from WXOW in La Crosse where she worked as a Meteorologist and Reporter.

Kira grew up in Moorhead, Minnesota, which is right across the river from Fargo, North Dakota. Much like Wisconsin, this area is famous for its wacky weather, but over the years Kira learned to appreciate the snow and the cold and loves wintertime. During the winter of 1996-’97 her hometown received 8 blizzards and countless “snow days” from school. Kira remembers being fascinated by the storms, flooding, and ongoing news coverage of the people and places affected that year.

Fast forward a few years, and this interest lead to Kira pursuing a degree in Atmospheric Sciences at the University of North Dakota. At UND, she got involved with the campus news show “Studio One” where she tried everything from reporting to floor directing. Here she found a passion for shooting video, editing, and story telling and cannot believe she gets paid to do that everyday at work.

Kira also likes getting outside to run, hike, and bike, and loves crafts. She is thrilled to experience the Northwoods and will likely be enjoying a fish fry every Friday. Give her a shout if you have any suggestions of where to go! Any question, comments, or story ideas are always welcome.

Bridget Fargen joined WJFW in August of 2008 as a General Assignment Reporter. In October of 2009, Bridget started anchoring Newswatch 12 Weekend.

Bridget is a Madison, Wisconsin native and has been coming to the Northwoods since she was a kid. Her family has a cabin in Minocqua and before that she vacationed at a friend's cabin in Watersmeet, MI.

Bridget graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in May 2008 with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and a double minor in Political Science and American Sign Lanugage Studies. While at UWM, she was very involved in UWM Panthervision, the school's weekly newscast. Bridget did two internships while in school; first, at WITI-TV the Fox affiliate in Milwaukee, and later at WTMJ-TV the NBC afilliate. Both internships provided invaluable experience about what the broadcast journalism industry is all about. Last year she had the opportunity to work for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Preps Plus where she covered local high school athletics
in the Milwaukee area. When Bridget wasn't in the journalism lab, she spent the rest of her time in the pool. She swam three years for the Panthers, before a career ending injury forced her to hang up her suit.

Bridget is an avid sports fan, can regularly be found parked in front of the T.V. watching the Brewers, Badgers, Yankees, Colts and 49ers. She also enjoys shopping, reading a good book, spending time with her friends and family, and traveling. Bridget is excited to be at Newswatch 12 and living in the Northwoods! If you have any questions, comments or story ideas she would love to hear from you!

Alex Ronallo comes to WJFW from the east coast. Alex joined the Newswatch 12 news team in December 2008 as a general assignment reporter. Before making the move to the Northwoods she worked as a production assistant for TruTV’s InSession.

Alex grew up in Oxford, Pennsylvania, a small town in Amish Country. She graduated from Oxford Area High School in 2004 and went on to college in the Big Apple at New York University.

While at NYU Alex majored in both Drama and Broadcast Journalism. During her broadcast studies Alex was lucky enough to intern with NBC News Channel 6 in New Orleans as well as with MSNBC. She graduated at the old Yankee Stadium in May of 2008.

Any free time Alex has is usually spent reading, writing, cooking, finding new music to listen to and seeing plays and movies. She is excited to be here in the Northwoods for all of the beautiful snow!

Jeff Allen joined WJFW in March 2009 as a Producer and General Assignment Reporter.

Jeff was raised in Sparta, Wisconsin and then moved to Mesa, Arizona where he went to high school. After high school he was lucky enough to enjoy his favorite pastime for a few years—traveling. His favorite places were Europe and Canada, where he was able to study French.

In 2003 Jeff started college at Arizona State University where he graduated with a B.A. in Political Science and a B.A. in Communication in December of 2006. During his senior year he interned at CBS 5 News in Phoenix. Right after graduation, he went on to the University of Arizona and graduated with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism in December of 2008. During his time there, he interned at NBC 4 News.

When he’s not at the station, you’ll find him snowboarding, working out at one of the local gyms and having dinner with friends and family around town. Jeff is excited to call the Northwoods his new home!

Dana Blado joined the WJFW news team in October 2009 as a General Assignment Reporter. Born and raised where the “I divides” in Tomah, WI, she attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. She graduated in 2007 with majors in Radio/TV/Film and Spanish, and minors in Journalism and Political Science.

At UW-O, Dana became well rounded by working on Titan TV News, the university’s weekly newscast. She also gained valuable experience through three internships, twice at WTMJ in Milwaukee, and once at WFRV in Green Bay.

After college, Dana spent a year and a half in the Lone Star State, where she taught English and Spanish to adults in the community of Edna. It was here that she learned about good old southern living and all the adventures it has to offer!

Returning to the Midwest brings a drastic change in climate, but Dana is happy to be back in Packer country. She loves watching games and going to them even more! She also enjoys cooking, traveling, playing piano, spending time with family and friends, and looks for opportunities to try new things.

Dana is thrilled to be in the Northwoods and add it to her list of latest adventures.

Luke has been Weather Watch 12 Chief Meteorologist since 2006.

Luke is also a full member of the American Meteorological Society, and has earned the prestigous AMS Seal of Approval in recognition of the quality of his television weather broadcasts.

Raised in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, Luke has learned to become very familiar with the variable Wisconsin weather we often experience. “Forecasting the weather in a place like Wisconsin makes my job very challenging and usually there is something new to consider in every forecast.”

After high school, it was off to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where Luke received a B.S. in Atmospheric Science in 2004. It was during his junior year in college when Luke called up WTMJ-TV in Milwaukee and inquired about working behind the scenes as a weather intern…that’s when Luke discovered that perhaps this is the career he wanted to pursue. After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree, Luke went on to earn his Master’s degree in Atmospheric Science at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He completed a thesis with a research focus of improving winter weather precipitation forecasts. “Writing a thesis was the most demanding and strenuous accomplishment I have ever undertaken and I am so relieved I made it through.” After 7 years of school and 4 years of helping out behind the scenes at WTMJ, Luke decided to try the “other” side of the camera.

“I try to bring a credible science-based approach to the day’s weather and forecast…with some of my dry humor mixed in!” Being a rather shy person, Luke says it just takes a LOT of practice and patience to get up in front of a viewing audience. “You may or may not know, but a weathercast is completely unscripted and NO, there is not a teleprompter. However, I enjoy the freedom to tell the weather story as I see fit in that moment…you may just have to forgive some goofy words that come out of my mouth every once in a while.”

Luke also enjoys getting into the classroom… “I was able to get an opportunity to teach Meteorology courses when I was in Graduate School. I found out that I love to teach.” Luke even teaches up here in the Northwoods. He is a community faculty member at Nicolet Area Technical College where he teaches Mathematics and Meteorology courses on an adjunct basis.

Luke married his longtime sweetheart Amy on June 2, 2007. She is a Two Rivers native as well and is a teacher employed at Nativity of Our Lord in Rhinelander as a 3rd grade teacher. Luke is VERY jealous of her summers off!

On April 24, 2008 Luke and Amy welcomed their first child with the birth of their son, Owen.

Matt was born and raised in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a suburb of the Twin Cities, but his family’s roots are from all across the Northwoods. His family owns a cabin west of Minocqua where he has experienced the Northwoods weather first hand!

Matt joined WJFW in February of 2008. He graduated in May of 2007 from the University of North Dakota with Bachelors of Science degrees in Atmospheric Sciences and Environmental Geography. During his freshmen year in North Dakota, Matt became involved with several campus weather shows working as a forecaster and producer. “This was a great way to get my feet wet in broadcasting and a way to find out if I really liked it.”
By his second year, Matt was anchoring and producing weather shows for Prairie Public Television in North Dakota and Southern Canada. After that, he was hooked and knew that he wanted to be a weatherman! It was also during this time that he interned with Studio One, the National Award winning campus show at UND. Here he interned for eight semesters as a member of the weather team and was able to work as a reporter, anchor, and producer for the live shows.

North Dakota was a great place to live and learn how to forecast the weather and find out just how extreme and sometimes unpredictable Mother Nature can be! “ I remember one spring day where it was 80° at noon, but by 5pm the temperature plummeted to near 30° and I was stuck wearing shorts for my walk home!”

In his spare time, Matt enjoys fishing and hunting during the summer and fall and skiing, snowmobiling and ice fishing when the snow begins to fall. He looks forward to living in the Northwoods and exploring what Northern Wisconsin has to offer!

Matt joined WJFW in April of 2010 as the Weekend Meteorologist.

He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and spent his childhood in the suburb of Wauwatosa. As a kid, he was terrified of storms and ran for cover every time he heard a crack of thunder. Around the age of 12, Matt started asking questions about the weather rather than being afraid of it and quickly grew to love the science of weather. He greatly admired WTMJ's Chief Meteorologist
Paul Joseph as a child, and knew that he wanted to take a similar path with his life.

Matt continued his tour of southern Wisconsin by enrolling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In his first year at school, while collecting hail samples outside his dorm, he was hit by a baseball-sized hailstone! He completed his B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences in May of 2009. During his time in school, Matt interned at WKOW in Madison where he was lucky enough to have four other Meteorologists to teach him the intricacies of TV weather. Even after storm chasing for 12 hours in Iowa, Matt worked at the station as those same storms rolled through southern Wisconsin in the early morning
hours, finally getting back home at 3 AM.

Matt feels fortunate to begin his meteorological career in his home state. In addition to exploring the greater Rhinelander area, Matt enjoys almost anything involving sports. His particular favorites are volleyball, golf, baseball, and soccer, and he enthusiastically supports the Packers, Brewers, and Badgers. Matt also loves going to concerts, discovering new music, and playing his guitar as much (and as loud) as he can. He welcomes any suggestions for places to visit or things to do that are unique to the region.

Sports Director Matt Thompson joined Newswatch 12 in July, 2003.

Matt came to the Northwoods from WGBA-TV in Green Bay where he was the sports reporter/fill-in anchor since 1998. "I had been vacationing in the Northwoods for the last 13 years so I figured I might as well live the good life all the time."
Matt is from Madison and can't think of a better sports state than Wisconsin. "The passion Wisconsinites have for sports is unmatched."

His true passion is breaking stories. "People watch sports for highlights. Viewers remember sports for great stories. That's my philosophy."

Matt spends most of his time away from work watching SpongeBob with his wife and three kids. "I know it's a kids show but I love it. Just about every time one of my teams lose I say "Barnacles" on the air."

You can watch Matt every weeknight on Newswatch 12 at six and ten, and in the morning on Newswatch 12 Today.

Lee DeJarlais joined the Newswatch 12 sports team in November 2009 as the Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter.

Before coming to the Northwoods, he interned at WQOW in Eau Claire during the summer of 2007. Immediately following the internship Lee was hired as a sports photographer and worked his way into sports reporting and fill-in anchoring until November 2009. Born and raised in Marshfield, he is now happy to call the Northwoods home.

Lee has always loved playing sports, so he decided to take his love into his career. Lee graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 2008 with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and a minor in Kinesiology. During college, he was also the sports anchor of the University’s news show.

Lee is an avid sports fan, listing the Packers, Brewers, Bucks and Wild as his favorite teams. Sports have always been a big part of Lee’s life. He was a three-sport athlete (football, basketball and baseball) at Marshfield High School, including winning back-to-back division 1 state championships in football in 2001 and 2002.

When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his friends and family, traveling, reading, watching movies and of course sports. You can also find him playing basketball or working out at the local YMCA.

If you see Lee out on a shoot, feel free to strike up a conversation with him and email him any sports story ideas you may have.