Roy Hobbs
Roy Hobbs (born January 31, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois; died February 17, 2018 in West Palm Beach, Florida) was a weekend news anchor for ABC 33/40.
Hobbs worked in Boston, Massachusetts (UPN 38 and New England Cable News); Jackson, Mississippi (WAPT); Beaumont (KBMT); and Houston, Texas (KTRK). While in Texas he founded the Houston Association of Black Journalists in 1986.
From 1997 to 2003 Hobbs was an anchor on Atlanta, Georgia's WAGA-TV, a FOX affiliate. In 2001 he joined a group from the National Association of Black Journalists on a tour of Kenya.
In 2005 and 2006 Hobbs spent a year as a morning anchor at KSHB, an NBC affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri and nearly three years as a morning anchor in Nashville, Tennessee, before coming to Birmingham in October 2006.
In April 2010 Hobbs was arrested in Woodlawn for possession of crack cocaine. He had previously been stopped in the same area with a known prostitute, a suspended driver's license, and no proof of insurance. He was charged on the second stop with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and released on bond. The station placed him on immediate leave, and officially terminated his contract on July 15.
Judge Shanta Owens sent his case to drug court where he pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentence, pending completion of treatment and recovery programs. He received treatment for addiction and depression. In 2014 he worked as an anchor for WRDE-TV in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware.
Hobbs died in February 2018. He was survived by his wife, Ellen, and two adult children.
References
- Gray, Jeremy (April 21, 2010) "ABC 33/40 anchor Roy Hobbs on leave after drug arrest." The Birmingham News
- "ABC 33/40′s Roy Hobbs arrested for drug possession" (April 22, 2010) Media of Birmingham
- Prince, Richard (August 9, 2010) "Roy Hobbs Says He Was Suicidal". Richard Prince's Journal-isms. Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
- Gray, Jeremy (February 18, 2018) "Former ABC 33/40 anchor Roy Hobbs has died." The Birmingham News