News anchor Jeff Passolt retiring from Fox 9 after 23 years

Longtime Fox 9 news anchor Jeff Passolt is retiring, the Twin Cities station announced Thursday. His last day on the air will be May 5.

"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 in a statement released by the station. "So after about 39 years I figured it's someone else's turn."

Passolt, 61, grew up in St. Louis Park and joined WTCN-TV, Ch. 11, in 1982, covering sports. He later became sports director at the station, now called KARE, before leaving the Twin Cities in 1993 for a job in Denver.

He returned to the Twin Cities three years later with KMSP, Ch. 9, anchoring the station's 9 p.m. news for 23 years. In 2017 he missed several weeks of work after breaking his hip in a fall on an icy sidewalk. He said his recovery was complicated by diabetes.

"Jeff has been the leader of our newsroom for over two decades," Fox 9 News Director Mim Davey said. "We will miss his sure-handed approach to covering news in the Twin Cities."

Passolt said on Twitter that he would continue to appear on Barnard's morning show on KQRS (92.5 FM).

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