By Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist Published Aug 20, 2013 at 3:11 PM

If you’ve been watching local TV newscasts in the past couple of decades, then you are probably familiar with Joyce Garbaciak.

She was a long-time anchor and reporter at WITI-TV Fox 6, and more recently, she’s been a reporter, working on interviews and special projects for WISN-TV Ch. 12. This fall, she will be returning to the anchor desk for a regular shift, co-hosting at 10 p.m. on Sunday nights.

"This wasn’t on my radar to be returning right now," Garbaciak said.

"When I left Ch. 6, I did say that … when it was right for my family, I had hoped to return to anchoring.  And now, because of the timing of this opening and most important -- the ages of my children -- the time is right."

The timing seems to be fitting on a couple of levels. First, the departure of anchor Shelby Croft (read more in an interview here), allowed the executive team at the station the opportunity to shift staff members around. Included in the shift was moving morning anchor Portia Young to weekend mornings, Terry Sater to reporter duties, anchor Jason Newton to weekday mornings and bringing on Toni Valliere as the new weekend evening anchor. Valliere will anchor with Garbaciak for the hour-long newscast.

The second bit of timing fits Garbaciak’s family life, as her children are in high school and college. When I worked with "Operation Football" at Ch. 12, I would run into Garbaciak volunteering at the concessions stand at high school games.

"I'm excited for this opportunity and I'm grateful to Ch. 12 for giving me the chance to stay connected to television news and for this way to return to the anchor desk," she said.

We talked about the changes in news and broadcasting since she was last at the desk. In her time at WISN, she has been able to fill in to cover for staff vacations, and present her reports from the studio. A big difference is the change of a handful of scripts is now put together on an iPad.

"I’m excited to be back into it," she said. "12 allowed me to handle that (transition) and keep up with the latest technology … I’m happy that this is the next chapter."

SHARING: OnMilwaukee.com writer Molly Snyder wrote about Elizabeth Kay, and her sharing of a personal story on the air and on a recent blog post. The morning show co-host on WMYX-FM 99.1 said that she and her husband, Aaron, have been struggling to have a baby for two years and even had a miscarriage last April.

You can read more here.

IMAGINATION: Michael Kuznar from Eau Claire, is an incoming freshman at UW-Milwaukee this fall, and may have something pretty spectacular to have on his resume before he walks into his first class.

Kuznar is one of 20 finalists in Canon’s Project Imaginat10n film contest. His "Day 43" took a little more than a week to film using a using Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera. His entry will be judged by director Ron Howard, and his daughter, actress Bryce Dallas Howard.

The winners will included in "A Ron Howard Presentation" at the Project Inaginat10n film festival this fall.

"Project Imaginat10n has enabled artistry among filmmakers of all levels and inspired people in  the most contrasting disciplines to pursue filmmaking, completely redefining ‘art’ and proving that ‘we’re all creative,’" Ron Howard said.

You can see all the entries here.

"This exercise continues to prove that creativity and collaboration generate endless possibilities that mark the state of our time," said Bryce Dallas Howard. "All you need is some basic equipment, an imagination and a burning desire to tell a story."

Steve Kabelowsky Contributing Columnist

Media is bombarding us everywhere.

Instead of sheltering his brain from the onslaught, Steve embraces the news stories, entertainment, billboards, blogs, talk shows and everything in between.

The former writer, editor and producer in TV, radio, Web and newspapers, will be talking about what media does in our community and how it shapes who we are and what we do.