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Provided by Mercury News frankKTVU announced this week that anchor Frank Somerville will take an indefinite leave of absence to focus on his health after the veteran newsman was seen slurring and stumbling over his words during a May 30 newscast on Channel 2.

Though station management has said it will welcome Somervilles return when he is ready, in the interim KTVU must scramble to fill the void left by one of the Bay Areas most visible journalists a man who co-anchored the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts.

KTVU will take an all-hands-on-deck approach while Somerville is away, relying on several newsroom regulars to fill in. Heres a quick look at some of the people we can expect to see more of in the coming days and weeks:

Julie Haener, a Danville resident, goes way back with KTVU viewers. She has been at the station since 1997 and was on the desk the night Bay Area news icon (and Somervilles predecessor) Dennis Richmond tearfully signed off in 2008. A consummate pro, she long has co-anchored KTVUs 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts with Somerville and figures to do a lot of the heavy lifting in the coming days. (She finished the May 30 newscast alone after Somerville disappeared from the desk, without explanation, 15 minutes into the program).

Heather Holmes, a Texas native, has been at KTVU since 2006, when she started as a weekend anchor. She currently anchors the 4 and 7 p.m. news at KTVU, but has filled in for Somerville several times already this week. Holmes has a strong social media presence, with 34,000 followers on Facebook and 14,000 followers on Twitter, where she claims to forever be in pursuit of a good story and fabulous shoes.

Mike Mibach grew up in the Bay Area and attended St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco (Class of 94) and College of Marin. He arrived at KTVU in 2005 as a general assignment reporter. Since then, he has helped launch the weekend editions of Mornings on 2, co-anchoring with Claudine Wong. He mainly anchors in the mornings, but expect to see more of him in the evening hours.

Alex Savidgenormally anchors the 4 p.m. newscast on KTVU and the 7 p.m. news on KTVU Plus. But the Berkeley native, USC alum and lifelong Warriors fan will likely see a lot more camera time at the desk in the coming days and weeks.

Andre Senior is a relative newcomer to KTVU, having arrived in 2018 after anchoring and reporting in Hampton, Virginia and Tampa Bay, Florida. A native of Jamaica, he grew up in Miami. One of the biggest stories he ever worked was the trial of George Zimmerman, the man who shot and killed Trayvon Martin. He has filled in this week alongside Holmes.

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