There are no "do overs" in life. Brad Hicks learned that the hard way.
The former WGAL-TV 8 news personality left Lancaster in 2000 for a job near his childhood hometown of Palo Alto, Calif., at KNTV-TV NBC 11, which covers the San Francisco Bay Area.
He thought the move would be a good opportunity, but the station changed ownership and there was tension in the workplace.
For nearly four years his curiosity, passion for detail, love of people and hunger for adrenaline — the stuff that made him a newsman — were stifled in the Bay Area. He wanted to get back to Lancaster, but there were no openings.
Then he found WITI-TV FOX 6 in Milwaukee, Wis., which, he said, has given him the kind of work experience he treasured at WGAL.
"Now I'm working in a place that's a lot of fun," Hicks said in a recent telephone interview.
Hicks, a reporter and anchor at WGAL from October 1990 to April 2000, handles the same responsibilities in Milwaukee at a station whose upbeat nature reminds him of WGAL.
Since joining FOX 6 in 2004, he's covered Green Bay Packers football games, ranked the best pizzas in southeast Wisconsin and put together a special project titled "Heroin in the Suburbs," which he believes to be the best work he's ever done.
"I watch it and it still gives me chills, and that was a year ago," Hicks said.
Doing solid work is nothing new for Hicks, who was an award-winning reporter during his tenure in Lancaster. At WGAL, the Hicks-anchored 6 p.m. news became the highest rated evening newscast in the country's top 50 markets.
Hicks' report on low-head dams titled "Keep Your Distance," later expanded into a 30-minute special "Dams of Death," earned him several awards, including one from the Coast Guard and one from NBC News for best story idea.
In the special, dummies and a camera were placed in a canoe, which was steered toward a low-head dam to demonstrate the hazards that face boaters. The piece played a role in changing state boating safety legislation.
"It was nice to take the power of TV and do something good with it," Hicks said.
At WITI, Hicks anchors the 6 and 9 p.m. news, which doesn't allow him much time between broadcasts. Keeping stories fresh is a challenge, he said. Hicks also covers events — and ranks pizzas — on his blog:
community.myfoxmilwaukee.com/blogs/Brad_Hicks.
Hicks said he is starting to settle in and enjoys what Wisconsin has to offer, but he's still torn about where he wants to work in the future.
"I would love to end my career at WGAL," he said, "but there is no change there. No one leaves. I've come to like Milwaukee, but I have no roots. Ron [Martin] and Kim [Lemon] are a great team, but if something changes, I'd be open to coming back."
Bird seeds: The Philadelphia Eagles have expanded their partnership with CBS Radio. In addition to game coverage on WYSP-FM 94.1, games will be simulcast on WIP-AM 610.
Eric Stark is a Sunday News staff writer and can be reached at estark@lnpnews.com.
