CLEVELAND —
Thursday was a special day at 3News as we honored our "Chief," Betsy Kling, on her 20th anniversary working at WKYC Studios.
In 2003, Betsy — a native of Copley — joined our team at 3News as a meteorologist. Since then, she has not only become 3News’ chief meteorologist, but also the co-host of our daily 4 p.m. show “What’s New” alongside Jay Crawford.
“Two decades. That’s a long time,” Betsy said in reflecting on her time at WKYC. “I’ve grown up here. I’ve had a lot of life changes in 20 years, but I’ve also just loved every minute of it.”
As part of our salute to Betsy, some of her friends and colleagues paid tribute to her through messages.
TODAY weather anchor Al Roker, himself a former WKYC meteorologist, referred to Betsy as "the gold standard when it comes to TV weather."
Through WKYC's partnership with the Cleveland Guardians, Betsy has gotten to know manager Terry Francona rather well. Tito couldn't resist a few playful jabs while praising Betsy's importance in helping the Guardians predict weather conditions on game days.
Mike Polk Jr. decided to look at what the world was like in 2003 when Betsy first came aboard to 3News.
Betsy's 'What's New' co-anchor Jay Crawford added his heartfelt message to his partner. "We went from coworkers to friends. And now I consider you my TV wife."
And even our viewers got into the act! "What's New" superfan Hector Torres Jr. let us know that he composed a song in honor of Betsy's anniversary at 3News. The song is called "20 Years of Chief Betsy." We can't wait to hear it.