For more than 40 years, the leaders of 28/22 News counted on Andy Mehalshick to cover the top story of the day in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania. Mehalshick embraced the daily responsibility and always rose to the occasion to inform viewers, his coworkers and fans say.
Over the past six months, the Hazleton native was curiously absent from the airwaves with virtually no explanation. Mehalshick returned to the studio Monday to explain why.
The 65-year-old revealed he’s battling an aggressive form of prostate cancer, forcing him to make the tough decision to retire from full-time work.
“I hate to say it’s goodbye,” Mehalshick said Tuesday. “It’s a difficult decision, but the reality is I have to focus on my health and my family. It’s hard to walk away, or step back, from something you love to do, what you are passionate about and impacts our community — reporting on the good, bad and ugly of our area.”
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.(Courtesy of 2822 News)
He vows to return to 28/22 News on a part-time basis for special projects and podcasts as his health allows.
“I always thought I was Superman in this business. This is not going to be my kryptonite,” Mehalshick vowed.
Mehalshick served as the station’s lead I-Team reporter for more than 30 years, reporting on political corruption, sensational murder cases, consumer fraud and more. He hosted a Stranger Danger program for more than 15 years in local schools and co-hosted the station’s Newsmakers monthly show for more than 20 years.
Mehalshick said he attempted to work at the onset of his diagnosis, but it became impossible during his treatment to continue his “100-miles-per-hour” work ethic. It was difficult to watch news unfold and not be there to cover the story, he said.
“I watched stories I owned and covered and I wanted to be there,” Mehalshick said. “I call it news envy.”
MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, left, and WBRE’s Andy Mehalshick conduct an interview after a live broadcast of Todd’s show “Meet the Press Daily” in Wilkes-Barre. (Citizens’ Voice file)
Hazleton friends and colleagues for decades
Mehalshick and fellow Hazleton native Jayne Ann Bugda worked together for nearly all of Mehalshick’s career since he was hired by WBRE-TV in 1985.
But their history goes back farther than that. They attended high school together, reported together from the Sunday Independent’s Hazleton office, and worked in radio together in Hazleton-area radio stations before they both landed at WBRE, which officially merged with WYOU last year to become 28/22 News.
While Mehalshick was always on air, Bugda was generally behind the scenes as one of Mehalshick’s producers.
She relied on Mehalshick each and every day to find the top story for her broadcast.
“You could always count on Andy. His stories were always strong. He was a trusted voice. He was always my lead,” Bugda said.
WBRE-TV anchor Andy Mehalshick, left, and senior producer Jayne Ann Bugda. (Submitted photo)
After 40 years, they remain close.
“Andy, of course, is my dear friend. He’s like my big brother. It’s wonderful to work with someone who is your friend. I’m going to miss him terribly,” Bugda said. “I don’t think you’ll ever find someone like him who is dedicated to his job, dedicated to the people.”
Both made it a point to cover the Hazleton area, where people often felt forgotten, she said.
“Hazleton was the forgotten land, but we made it a point to cover it,” Mehalshick said.
“The rest is history”
Mehalshick attended Wilkes University to study political science with dreams of going to law school. But he caught the media bug after starting to work at the college radio station.
In 1982, he started working at a Hazleton area radio station from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. while still attending college during the day. After graduation in 1983, he remained at the station and eventually worked his way up to news director — a stepping stone for anyone’s career in television.
He joined WBRE in 1985 on a part-time basis as a weekend assignment editor, producer and occasional reporter. He joined the station full time in 1988, and has been there ever since aside from a 10-month stint at WNEP.
“The rest is history. I worked my way up,” Mehalshick said.
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.(Courtesy of 2822 News)
Mehalshick served as a co-lead anchor between 2003 and 2008 when he returned to the streets as an investigative reporter.
Mehalshick covered the notorious murder cases involving defendants such as George Banks, Joann Curley, Glen Wolsieffer and Hugo Selenski. He broke stories about the infamous kids-for-cash corruption scandal involving two Luzerne County judges. He made it a point to expose contractors who ripped off customers. He partnered with the district attorney’s office and local police to nab child predators in online stings before such undercover busts were common.
He believes he reported on air for nearly 48 hours straight during the flood of 2011.
Mehalshick took viewers aboard a F-16 fighter jet with the Air Force Thunderbirds to experience the intense G-force pilots feel.
He landed exclusive interviews with Presidents Donald Trump and Joe Biden during their visits to Northeast Pennsylvania
“Only because of this business was I able to do all that,” Mehalshick said. “I am lucky.”
Former WYOU reporter and anchor Melissa Sgroi, a longtime media professor in Northeast Pennsylvania, said Mehalshick “is a broadcasting legend in this media market.”
“Among reporters on the street, he was the one to beat. He had tremendous energy, always doing the very hard work of covering — and uncovering — stories that impact people’s lives, and his empathy and sincerity was obvious both on the air and in person,” Sgroi said. “He made my work better by his example. And face it: he does one heck of a good live shot.”
Andy Mehalshick, serving as master of ceremonies during the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Hazleton-opoly game. (Citizens’ Voice file)
Manager: Mehalshick was Hazleton “through and through”
Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo heaped praise on her fellow Hazleton area native, noting “they say they broke the mold with Andy Mehalshick.”
“I’m not sure that’s entirely true. I think the mold just got exhausted trying to keep up with him and quietly retired a few years ahead of schedule,” Crocamo joked. “Andy and I go way back, all the way to the hilly streets of the South Side of Hazleton, where we were shaped by the same neighborhoods, the same values, and the same hallways at St. Gabriel’s — G-Men, through and through.”
Crocamo said Mehalshick “carried that Hazleton grit into every story he ever told.”
“Andy was always steady. Always fair. Always the guy in the room who’d done the homework when everyone else was still looking for a pen,” Crocamo said. “He didn’t just cover the news, he understood the communities behind it. That’s rare. What made Andy exceptional wasn’t just his instinct for a story or his willingness to ask the hard questions. It was that he never lost the human being underneath the reporter. He was tough when the story called for it, and he was decent always. That balance, fairness and fearlessness together, is the mark of a journalist who genuinely believed in what he was doing.”
Crocamo simply said, “Andy Mehalshick is the real deal.”
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)
Andy Mehalshick, serving as master of ceremonies during the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce Hazleton-opoly game. (Citizens’ Voice file)
WBRE-TV anchor Andy Mehalshick, left, and senior producer Jayne Ann Bugda. (Submitted photo)
WBRE reporter Andy Mehalshick interviews “Maria” a juvenile that had case before former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. between 2003 and May 2008. (Citizens’ Voice file)
MSNBC’s Chuck Todd, left, and WBRE’s Andy Mehalshick conduct an interview after a live broadcast of Todd’s show “Meet the Press Daily” in Wilkes-Barre. (Citizens’ Voice file)
Kids-for Cash Judge Michael Conahan is questioned by Andy Mehalshick outside of the Nealon Courthouse in Scranton. Conahan arrived for plea hearing with fellow defendant Mark Ciavarella. (Citizens’ Voice file)
WBRE-TV investigative reporter Andy Mehalshick, right, talks with Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Joseph Coffay after being interviewed live by MSNBC’s Chuck Todd on ‘Meet the Press Daily’ at Nesbitt Park in Wilkes-Barre. (Citizens’ Voice file)
Andy Mehalshick, of WBRE, served as master of ceremonies for the Boy Scouts Distinguished Citizen Award program. (Citizens’ Voice file)
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2822 News I-Team reporter Andy Mehalshick is retiring from full-time work while be battles prostate cancer.
(Courtesy of 2822 News)