What happened to KTVI meteorologist Anne Elise Parks?

Q: What has happened to meteorologist Anne Elise Parks and Belleville boy Vic Faust at KTVI-TV?

A: Oh, say it ain’t so, Anne Elise. You were smart, easy on the eyes and infectiously bubbly without sounding flaky. Since starting at Fox2 in June 2014, you even met and married your hubby. Wasn’t that a big sign you were supposed to put your roots down here?

Alas, Anne Elise, it seems we hardly knew ye. Saying she received an offer too good to refuse, the Mississippi State honor graduate signed off KTVI for the final time June 2 to become the evening/weekend meteorologist at KTVT-Channel 11 in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. On Facebook, you can even find a picture of the 2007 Miss Mississippi Teen (who later was named Miss Congeniality at the national pageant) modeling a Dallas Cowboys jersey. You can also find her KTVI farewell.

“I really just want to say thank you,” the 28-year-old Parks wrote on Facebook. “St. Louis is and will always be one of our ‘homes,’ regardless of our physical address. As a wise friend once told me, ‘Don’t be sad it’s over. Be glad it happened.’”

As for Faust, either he was on vacation or you’re watching at the wrong time. The 1991 Althoff Catholic High School grad, who replaced the veteran Tom O’Neal at KTVI two years ago, has been anchoring the 5 p.m. news every day that I’ve watched lately and, according to the station bio, he returns to do the 9 p.m. cast as well.

Today’s trivia

Alexander Graham Bell may have invented the telephone, but who is usually credited for inventing the phone number?

Answer to Saturday’s trivia: At 1:01 a.m. on Oct. 2, 1955, Belleville experienced a revolution in phone service when it reportedly became the smallest city in the nation to adopt Direct Distance Dialing. Yes, your kids, who can dial Timbuktu with the phones in their back pockets, will think you’re joking, but until that moment callers needed a human operator to place any and all long-distance calls. At that time, an army of operators were standing by to make the connections at the Southwestern Bell headquarters on Market Square. But on that early Sunday morning, much of that laborious work was transferred to the new, automatic switching machines at the company’s new HQ at B and 1st streets. According to the Monday News-Democrat, all went smoothly except for things getting a little overloaded at first when everybody stayed up late to try the new-fangled convenience.

This story was originally published July 29, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "What happened to KTVI meteorologist Anne Elise Parks?."