158th Annual Meeting of YMCA staff and collaborators is April 26;
Russ Mitchell of WKYC Channel 3 to give keynote address

The Greater Cleveland YMCA will recognize volunteers and staff at its 158th annual meeting planned for April 28 in Butler Hall at the Downtown YMCA.

Triangle awards are given to those who dedicate their time to further the YMCA's mission and who exemplify the YMCA’s four core values of Honesty, Respect, Responsibility and Caring in their everyday lives.

WYKC-TV (3)’s Russ Mitchell, Managing Editor, Evening News, and 6 and 11 p.m. Anchor will deliver the keynote address.

The Association will be breaking ground in late spring 2012 on two new full-service branches, one in Warrensville Heights and one in North Royalton. The organization's expansion is expected to be highlighted at the event.

About Russ Mitchell

Russ Mitchell, former anchor of the CBS Evening News weekend editions and The Early Show on Saturday, and national correspondent for CBS News Sunday Morning, the CBS Evening News, and The Early Show joined the staff of WKYC as Managing Editor Evening News and lead anchor of the 6pm and 11pm newscasts on January 16, 2012.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my years at CBS and the challenges and excitement of a network role,” stated Mr. Mitchell, “but I've been offered a unique opportunity to help create the next generation of local news in a great place and have a key role in trying to make a difference in a wonderful community.”

Mitchell was born in St. Louis and accepted his first television job at age 17 as a nighttime switchboard operator at KTVI-TV. “I thought I’d be doing that for a week, then anchoring a newscast,” joked Mr. Mitchell. “Folks set me straight.” He graduated from the University of Missouri, and began his professional career at KMBC in Kansas City. Larger markets and bigger stations soon followed, then a move to New York as the co-anchor of the overnight CBS News broadcast, Up to the Minute. In 1993 he was named a correspondent for Eye-to-Eye with Connie Chung. In 1995, Mitchell was assigned to the CBS Washington bureau. In July of 1997, Mitchell was named co-anchor of CBS News Saturday Morning and traveled extensively as a reporter for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and 48 Hours. He covered the war in Bosnia, went to the Democratic Republic of Congo and interviewed then President Laurent Kabila, reported from Cuba, India, Indonesia and The Marshall Islands.

Mr. Mitchell was on the anchor desk with Dan Rather on September 11, 2001 and reported from Ground Zero and other parts of Manhattan on the days and weeks that followed. Most recently, he anchored the live CBS Special Report coverage of the capture and death of Osama Bin Laden on May 1, 2011.

Russ has been honored with multiple local and national Emmys Awards. He has received the National Association of Black Journalists Award, the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for his coverage of the Elian Gonzales story, the New York Association of Black Journalists Award for Best Documentary, and the Press Club of St. Louis 18th Annual Media Person of the Year Award.

Perhaps not as well-known, but equally important to Mitchell is the 2007 Missouri Honor Medal. He received it for Distinguished Service in Journalism from The University of Missouri School of Journalism, his alma mater. He also returns there every summer to help with a journalism workshop for high school students, a workshop he attended in 1977.

Russ is married to Karina Mitchell, a freelance contributor of entertainment reports to CBS. Mrs. Mitchell was also a producer for CBS Newspath. She and Russ have four children.

158th Annual Meeting of YMCA staff and collaborators is April 26; Russ Mitchell of WKYC Channel 3 to give keynote address

158th Annual Meeting of YMCA staff and collaborators is April 26;
Russ Mitchell of WKYC Channel 3 to give keynote address