Veteran reporter and weather guru Ben Gutierrez has joined the KGMB9 news team. This is great for Hawaii, great for KGMB9, and great for Ben, who in my estimation was easily among the best people in the local television news space.

And I'm not alone. I reported on Ben's departure from KITV in December, and the entry remains one of the most visited posts on Hawaii Blog, and still receives comments from fans.

"Ben knows Hawaii, and knows the weather," said Chris Archer, KGMB9 News Director. "You'd have to be crazy not to want him on your team."

Ben's return to TV comes on the same day KGMB9 also announced that Dan Cooke was also joining the station. Dan was one of the most familiar faces and voices in local news before he left broadcasting for real estate in 2002. I guess the bad real estate market has turned out to be a good thing for island viewers.