2017's Been A Busy Year For CT's News Anchors And Weather Forecasters

The year's not over, but already it seems like there's been enough comings-and-goings among Connecticut's popular news anchors and weather forecasters in 2017 to fill a stadium.

Some retired, some suffered health scares and some fell victim to workplace reorganizations, all of which Patch chronicled on an almost monthly basis.

Take Geoff Fox, for example. As if 2016 wasn't a busy enough year for the weather forecaster, who has bravely battled pancreatic cancer, in the summer of 2017 he returned to WTNH for a couple of months.

He filmed his segments from his home in California, an assignment he said he enjoyed immensely, but by the end of the summer, he and the station amicably parted ways.

In March, NBC Connecticut's weather guru Bob Maxon suffered a heart attack while at work, prompting a brief medical leave. But fortunately he returned to work roughly a month later.

Another WTNH stalwart, Senior Meteorologist Gil Simmons, also suffered a scary health situation in July, which sidelined him for more than two months.

While recuperating, Simmons held several Facebook Live sessions, and made his triumphant return to the airwaves on Sept. 18.

The moves at Channel 8 didn't stop with Fox and Simmons. The station also added Joe "Storm" Furey, who moved to the New Haven-based channel from Fox 61.

Among the other non-health-related moves, former WVIT anchor Brad Drazen left the station in June, after and execs didn't see eye to eye.

For longtime night anchor at WFSB, Dennis House, he didn't leave the station, instead deciding to give up his 11 p.m. role for an earlier time slot to enable him to spend more time with his family.

At NBC Connecticut, the roles of both Gerry Brooks and Brad Field are changing this year. Prompted in part with the return of Connecticut native Mike Hydeck, Brooks has decided to take on a reduced role as he prepares to ease into retirement.

Field, a 34-year veteran of the Connecticut airwaves, decided he didn't need to ease his way into retirement, instead announcing this summer that he was calling it a career to spend time with family and friends.

Television news was not the only medium to see change in Connecticut this year. Longtime radio host Jim Buchanan, who worked tirelessly at WICC 600 in Bridgeport for decades, was let go from the station, as it shifted its daytime lineup to nationally syndicated shows.

Photo: WTNH-TV's Senior Meteorologist Gil Simmons returned to work at Channel 8 on Sept. 18, 2017, following a health scare that kept him off the airwaves for more than two months.