Jeff Passolt's Final FOX 9 broadcast tonight at 9 p.m.
(FOX 9) - Tonight at 9 p.m., longtime FOX 9 anchor Jeff Passolt will anchor his last newscast before entering into retirement.
After 23 years at the station, Passolt is ready to start a new chapter - one that will probably include more golfing.
Passolt joined KMSP in May of 1996 and has anchored the popular evening newscasts, including 9 p.m. for all of those 23 years.
The St. Louis Park, Minnesota native and St. Cloud State University hockey standout got his first job in 1982 in the Twin Cities at WTCN, Channel 11, covering sports. He later became sports director at KARE. He left the Twin Cities in early 1993 to become Sports Director at KMGH in Denver. Jeff came back home three years later to anchor the news at KMSP.
Earlier this week, Eden Prairie Mayor Ron Case declared May 2 "Jeff Passolt Day." Jeff also got a send-off from his former St. Cloud State University hockey coach.
“Earlier this year I realized I’d never catch Mark Rosen’s 50 years in the broadcast-media business, not to mention Tom Barnard, Charley Walters, Pat Reusse, Joe Soucheray and the legendary Sid Hartman," Passolt said. "So after about 39 years I figured it’s someone else’s turn. Thank you to all who’ve invited me into their homes all these years and for helping a Minnesota kid make good. I couldn’t have done it without very talented co-workers and the support from the public. Recently, one of the coaches at the Final Four said, 'And don’t forget the haters. They make you better too.' So I say thanks to all who made the kind comments, but also my harshest critics. They all helped make me who I am today.”
Jeff was voted into the Minnesota Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2018.