Saturday Morning Changes?

Today, Priya David filled in for Mary Calvi on CBS2 News This Morning alongside Steve Bartelstein. David is a CBS News reporter who can be seen on the Early Show and occasionally on the CBS Evening News. It was not clear if she was trying out for the job or just filling in because CBS2 was short-handed. In a funny moment, David smiled while talking about the Yankee's loss against Toronto. Bartelstein reminded her that she shouldn't look too happy about it.

The Saturday Early Show was anchored by Chris Wragge, Lonnie Quinn, and CBS2 Alum Andrea Stassou, who is the current fill-in host of CBS Up to the Minute. Stassou was at CBS2 until November 2006. Also, BMX Star Mike Spinner was one of the guests, doing stunts on the plaza. CBS2's Lonnie Quinn tried to replicate them with mild success.

Dahler to Replace Rosenfield

The Daily News reports this morning that Don Dahler has been named to take over Jim Rosenfield's spot on CBS 2 News at Noon and at 6:00. He'll sit next to Dana Tyler. Dahler joined the station the day after Labor Day, filling in for Rosenfield at 6:00.

Meanwhile, the paper also reports that Steve Bartelstein "picks up Dahler's weekend assignments," presumably meaning that he will do both the morning and evening newscasts on weekends. This is the same assignment that Mary Calvi has had since November when Bartelstein joined.

Bartelstein Bests Colleagues in Bracket Challenge

Maybe it's the fact that he used to be a sports anchor... Weekend morning anchor Steve Bartelstein beat out the other CBS 2 "VIPs" in the station's Bracket Challenge. He scored 192 points, placing him in the 76th percentile. Chris Wragge, himself a former sports anchor, scored 188, followed by Ducis Rodgers at 170 and John Elliott, who was right in the middle at the 50th percentile, with 162 points.

Here's a look at where everyone finished:

Steve Bartelstein	192
Chris Wragge	188
Ducis Rodgers	170
John Elliott	162
Sam Ryan	158
Kristine Johnson	144
Jim Rosenfield	140
Lonnie Quinn	138
John Discepolo	122
Dana Tyler	98

Part of the reason Rosenfield ranked so low is that he chose his alma mater Duke to win it all. And as good as Bartelstein did, he was still 32 points from making it into the top 100. The grand prize is a 40-inch flat panel LCD TV.

Last night's college basketball championship went into overtime with Kansas beating out Memphis 75-68 meaning the late edition of CBS 2 News did not start until 12:23 a.m.

Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 on CBS2-HD

Kate Sullivan and Steve Bartelstein anchored the news at noon today. Bartelstein joined Kristine Johnson for the news at 5. Don Dahler joined Kristine Johnson for the news at 6 and 11.

Ducis Rodgers announced the CBS2 Bracket Challenge, for March Madness, where the winner will receive a 40" flat screen TV. You can play against CBS2 personalities including Chris, Lonnie, Sam, Dana, Jim, Ducis, Kristine, John E, John D and Steve. Sign up here. So far, Sam thinks Georgetown will win it all, Ducis decided on Texas.

Steve Bartelstein shared a quick laugh with a tie-less Lonnie Quinn on CBS2 at your Desk at 3PM. Steve quipped that the best part of Tiger Woods buying a $65 million dollar Southampton home was that he was making Lonnie move out. Lonnie responded by saying "$65 Million? That's like your salary and my salary put together." The video is here.

Finally, Kristine signed off at 11 saying "Have a good night and a great tomorrow" a line that is similar to the sign-off of Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update: "Have a good night and a pleasant tomorrow."

Monday, March 17th, 2008 on CBS2-HD

Chris Wragge was live in Albany for the swearing in of New York's 55th Governor, David Paterson, at Noon and 5. He joined Kristine for his regular anchoring duties at 11 in New York City.

Dana Tyler was joined by Steve Bartelstein for the news at Noon and 6, instead of Don Dahler, who usually covers for Jim Rosenfield when he is off. Bartelstein also appears to be growing his hair in after successfully completing chemotherapy.

The weather forecast now changes from 5 day to 7 day when the plus 2 is added during the 5, 6 and 11 PM weathercasts.

CBS 2 News at 11 lead with breaking news. Hazel Sanchez reported from the newsroom on a NY Daily News report that David Patterson had an extra-marital affair in 1999 with his wife's knowledge. The story is posted on WCBSTV.COM

Special "Eye on the Storm" Coverage

CBS 2 News is on the air right now with a special "Eye on the Storm," with live coverage of the biggest snow storm to hit the tri-state all season. Maurice DuBois and Kate Sullivan are anchoring the broadcast, which opened at 8:55 and will continue until 10:00. John Elliott and Lonnie Quinn are providing team weather, forecasting six-to-nine inches for the city, while Katie McGee is updating viewers on the traffic and transit. A team of reporters are out in the snow, including Magee Hickey in Woodside, Queens; Jay Dow in Paramus; Deborah Garcia in Yonkers; Pablo Guzman at LaGuardia Airport; Tamsen Fadal at Penn Station; and Steve Bartelstein in Jericho, Long Island.

Bartelstein's Cancer is Gone

Steve Bartelstein finally got to share some good news with his colleagues yesterday: His cancer is gone. According to the Daily News, Bartelstein has a genetic makeup that only one in one million people have and this created false positive results for "cancer markers" in his body. He told the Daily News, "I've got a new lease on life. I know I have another purpose now."

While the news is great, he's not yet back to normal. He'll still have weekly blood tests and CAT scans and he'll be recovering from the chemotherapy for months.

This quote closed out the article: "I've always been someone who watched the sunset every day. This has reinforced how precious your health is. I think it made me appreciate all of the good mornings I have."

Bartelstein: "Unfortunately, the chemo has not worked"

The Daily News' Richard Huff reports disappointing news in anchor Steve Bartelstein's battle with testicular cancer: Not only have his four rounds of chemotherapy not been effective, but doctors worry that the cancer has spread to his brain.

Here are some of Bartelstein's quotes from the article:

• "I don't want to make it sound more dramatic than it is. I'm a little worried; it's somewhere else."
• "I'm not scared. I hate to say it, it sounds like a commercial for [Memorial] Sloan-Kettering, but they say not to be worried."
• "In their [the doctors'] words, 'We're disturbed, we're curious, we don't know why this is happening; if it was terrible, we would have seen something before this.'"
• "When I say I'm worried, I just want to find out. I'm still pretty upbeat about it. I've said this before; in some ways, it's been kind of this great gift, I've met so many amazing people."
• "I might have had one of those days last week, when word got back it didn't work. I'm really, really tired of being sick. For the most part, I haven't had many of those days, but I'm tired of being sick."

Update: Kristine Johnson spoke with Bartelstein at the end of CBS 2 News at 5:00... That segment is available on wcbstv.com.

More on Bartelstein

The Daily News' David Hinckley chats with Steve Bartelstein in today's paper. Bartelstein talks about how he was diagnosed with cancer in September and how everything moved very quickly between diagnosis and surgery. His chemotherapy program is four rounds -- Monday through Friday with two weeks in between. He starts round two on Monday.

Bartelstein says he plans to run in next year's New York City Marathon and will go back to the gym once the treatments are over.

And he opens up about wanting things to be different at CBS 2: "One of the things I want to do here is get a little redemption for the way it ended at Channel 7. We did fine there, but I didn't go out the way I would have wanted to. This is another chance."

Bartelstein Makes CBS 2 Debut

The newest addition to the CBS 2 News team made his debut at 6:22 this morning. After a Dr. Max Gomez "Health Watch" piece on testicular cancer, Steve Bartelstein joined Maurice DuBois and Kate Sullivan at the desk to talk about his experience in dealing with the disease. He looked noticeably different, having shaved his head so that he would not have to watch his hair fall out as a result of the chemotherapy.

When asked about his prognosis, Bartelstein said, "I think everybody thinks it's pretty good." The chemo, which he does Mondays through Fridays between two-week breaks, makes him feel tired. He said that he looks forward to the new job because "it gives me a place to go in the morning. Coming here gets my mind off -- I've been laughing all morning." He added "CBS has been great throughout all of this," saying that they understand if he needs to stay home on his bad days.

You can watch Bartelstein's appearance on wcbstv.com by clicking here.

Bartelstein Joins CBS 2 News

Steve Bartelstein will join CBS 2 News as a weekend morning anchor beginning this Saturday. He was most recently the co-anchor of ABC 7's "Eyewitness News This Morning." He will likely sit next to Deborah Garcia in the seat that was vacated by Brendan Keefe... It's been kept warm by Sean Hennessey and Magee Hickey.

Quotes from the press release:
- Peter Dunn, president and general manager: "Steve has proven to be a likeable, well recognized and successful news personality in the NY market. With his on-air experience and achievements within the industry and in the community, we are thrilled he is joining our thriving news team."
- David Friend, vice president and news director: "Steve is a smart, dedicated journalist as well as a terrific communicator. He will be another strong addition to our excellent on-air team."

Bartelstein recently spoke with the Post about his departure from ABC 7 and his cancer diagnosis and treatment.

9:36 P.M. UPDATE: Brian sends in this Richard Huff article that has some new information: While he was hired for weekend mornings, Bartelstein "will do more down the road." He will be on CBS 2 News This Morning and at 5:00 tomorrow to talk about his hiring and his cancer. And according to Peter Dunn, his co-anchor on weekend mornings will be Mary Calvi.