KLEW weather forecaster Keith Havens stepping down, seeks a new path

Keith Havens’ job as a weather forecaster at KLEW helped make him a household name in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley and beyond.

This Friday he is leaving the Lewiston CBS affiliate owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group after a failed contract negotiation, Havens said.

He hasn’t done the weather forecast since May 31, the same day Anna Velasquez resigned from her position as a KLEW anchor and news director, said Havens, 59.

The day after Havens and Velasquez left the air, the newscast that usually broadcasts from Lewiston was replaced by the KEPR newscast from Pasco. It included a number of stories from the Lewiston-Clarkston region.

Starting June 19, the evening newscast will be hosted by a new anchor with a broadcast dedicated to the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley, according to an announcement from anchor Scott Stovall on the June 1 newscast.

Management at KLEW and KEPR, another Sinclair station, have declined to comment about the changes.

Sinclair is a company that owns and operates, programs or provides sales services to 163 television stations in 77 markets after pending transactions, according to KLEW’s website.

In many ways, Velasquez and Havens have been the local heart and soul of the KLEW newscast for almost a decade.

Velasquez began a 26-year career in broadcast journalism at KLEW in the 1990s. She returned to KLEW in 2015 and married a Lewiston firefighter, Nick Stevens, after she held jobs in bigger markets.

A graduate of University of Idaho and Lewiston High School, Havens is from a family that has lived in the region for generations.

One of his brothers, Doug Havens, serves on the Nez Perce County Commission. Another brother, Mark Havens, has held leadership positions with entities such as the Lewiston School District and Interlink, a not-for-profit group that helps seniors.

Keith Havens credits Velasquez with developing a strong news team while navigating the challenges of being in a small market.

Velasquez could spot overlooked, promising individuals and give them opportunities to grow their skills, Havens said.

Similarly, budding journalists would sometimes choose to work at KLEW instead of taking positions at more prestigious stations because they wanted the chance to learn from Velasquez, he said.

“She could grab some dynamite talent,” Havens said.

Havens’ responsibilities in his last days with the station have included shooting footage, gathering information for stories and writing scripts.

Exactly what the future holds for him is a work in progress, Havens said.

He and his wife, Elisa Havens, an interior designer at DZ Designs in downtown Lewiston, are opening a vacation property rental that’s a four-minute walk from Winchester Lake.

The “deluxe” tiny home sleeps six and has a full kitchen, a place to gather and a patio, Havens said.

Corporate leadership, product endorsements and broadcast journalism are among the possibilities, Havens said.

So is seeking public office, Havens said, making a reference to how Nadine Woodward left her job as a TV anchor in Spokane and won that city’s race for mayor.

Woodward coincidentally spent two years as a news anchor at KLEW starting in 1987.

Havens’ tenure as a weather forecaster with KLEW started in 1997, when he was hired by Noel Hardin, KLEW’s news director at the time, who is now chief of the Asotin County Fire District.

“He had an incredible background in radio and the gift of gab, which is exactly what a weather person needs to relate to the audience,” Hardin said in a text message to the Tribune.

Havens worked on a part-time, fill-in basis, and his position at KLEW became full-time in 2012.

“It was a hobby,” Havens said. “Who knew it would change into a career?”

He juggled his KLEW responsibilities with jobs such as being the president and CEO of the Lewiston Chamber of Commerce from 2004-10.

One of the best parts of working for KLEW has been his interactions with the public, he said.

A feature he was most well known for was “Keith’s Big Fish” that aired five days a week during the weather segment before sports.

Viewers would submit pictures of fish they hooked, often with details about the species, length, weight and maybe where they caught it, depending on how much they wanted to reveal about their favorite fishing holes.

People have approached him with fishing stories when they have spotted him at church, in the St. Joseph Regional Medical Center waiting room in Lewiston, boating on Dworshak Reservoir, at the grocery store and at the post office.

The feature was the idea of Nate Kuester, a former news director, and reflected the station’s understanding of the importance of the outdoors to its audience, Havens said.

In this area, almost everyone’s life revolves around some type of outdoor recreation such as hunting, fishing, camping, gardening, four-wheeling, boating, horseback riding, snowmobiling, skiing and hiking, Havens said.

It’s been rewarding to optimize people’s enjoyment of those activities by helping them decide when to go to the lake or the mountains and when to stay home, he said.

Brides would call him asking for forecasts for their wedding day. A church’s leadership once requested a preview for Easter weather because they were planning a sunrise service.

“Our computer program for weather is incredibly accurate,” Havens said. “It doesn’t miss very often. … I would get emails or people would stop me on the street and tell me how right on the money the forecast was.”

In his last five years with the station, his responsibilities broadened. He served as a fill-in anchor, gathered footage, completed interviews and wrote scripts for stories.

One of the stories he remembers most vividly was filming a holiday family reunion of an older sister who had enlisted in the military and wasn’t anticipated to be home for months.

“Her younger brother and sister missed her dearly,” Havens said. “The parents found out she was going to make it home for Christmas. They snuck her into a box and wrapped it up. What a tearjerker it was when they realized it was their sister back home for a few days.”

The final stage of his work at KLEW was shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Twice in a one-week time frame, he experienced breathing difficulty on air so severe another KLEW staff member had to step in to finish the weather forecast.

His medical team, Havens said, later attributed those issues, as well as a blood clot in each of his lungs and one that ran from his groin to one of his ankles, to a reaction to a COVID-19 immunization.

Blood thinners and a blood filter in one of his veins that was recently removed have fixed the issues, he said.

“The outpouring from the audience was overwhelming — emails, Facebook messages, cards and letters,” Havens said. “It was emotionally overwhelming.”

Even though he will no longer be working for KLEW, Havens said he expects to remain in the area.

He’s optimistic about the future of the region in no small part because of the high school seniors he met doing a weekly academic all-star feature for KLEW. The accomplishments of the young people impressed him, he said.

Two, for example, had earned associate degrees from Lewis-Clark State College prior to graduating high school through the state of Idaho’s dual credit program.

“I really enjoyed talking to them and finding out what their dreams are,” Havens said.

Williams may be contacted at ewilliam@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2261.