ABC 13 Houston

ABC 13 Houston Announces New Staff Members

ABC 13 Houston is a news and entertainment station that airs local news, weather, sports, daytime, primetime, and late night programming. The station is owned by the Walt Disney Company and is based in Houston, Texas. It can be accessed via an antenna or by subscription to a live streaming service. ABC 13 Houston

Tom Koch retired in May after 33 years anchoring the ABC 13 morning news. The Green Bay, Wisconsin native covered a number of major hurricanes, as well as a variety of national political conventions and space missions. He also reported from the Baikonur space port in Kazakhstan.

The longtime anchor and news director left to focus on personal and family projects, he told ABC 13's audiences in a Sept. 30 announcement.

Jacob Rascon will join ABC 13 as a reporter and anchor in 2022, replacing longtime co-anchor Art Rascon who retired at the end of 2018. The Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist crossed 25 states reporting on the 2016 elections for NBC News, according to his ABC 13 profile. He has also been sent to England, Turkey and Spain.

Patrina Adger joined ABC 13 in November from KOCO 5 in Oklahoma City, where she was a general assignment reporter. She was previously a producer at KTLA in Los Angeles and began her career in television as an assistant producer at KTRK.

David Froehlich joined KHOU in November after eight years anchoring "Good Day Austin" on Fox 7. A Houston native, he cites proximity to his family as an important factor in his decision to make the move.

Rita Garcia is a former Fox 26 meteorologist who will join ABC 13 as a weekday morning news host in July. A Texas State University alumna, she worked at KSBY in San Antonio and KWTX in El Paso before coming to Houston.

Jennifer Reyna will become the new traffic reporter on KHOU. She will cover weekday morning traffic from 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. She will work with Meteorologist Chita Craft and anchors Stephanie Simmons and Kimberly Davis.

Another newbie on the team is a former KTRK weather reporter. Stephen Morgan will leave the Houston station in October to become a meteorologist with FOX Weather in New York.

The departure comes after his wife, former weekend morning anchor and reporter Steven Romo, left the ABC 13 newsroom in September to become a reporter for FOX News in New York City.

Jacob Rascon, the son of departing ABC 13 anchor Art Rascon, will also be joining ABC13 as a reporter and anchor in 2022. He spent the past few years at NBC News and covered a number of major events, including the 2016 presidential election and the 2017 riots in Baltimore.

There are a number of other ABC 13 employees who are expecting babies in the near future, including weather reporter Rachel Briers and digital anchor Jonathan Bruce. They'll each be welcoming their first children later this year.