Tom Vacar
After two years of freelancing while working full time in L.A., Tom became a full-time staff member of KTVU as Consumer Editor, in 1991.
Tom has covered every major disaster including earthquakes, wildfires, floods, levee breaks and droughts and has had a big hand in covering business, economics, consumer affairs, aerospace, space, the military, high technology, ports, logistics, airlines and general news.
Tom worked at KGO TV and KGO Radio from 1979-1985. He moved to KCBS-TV and KNX News Radio in 1985 before moving to KTTV in 1988.
Tom is originally from Salem, Ohio (a small industrial town of 11,000 people between Cleveland and Pittsburgh). He got his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Government at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio in 1972 as a designated Undergraduate Scholar. Tom got his Law Degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1978.
In his 31 years at KTVU, he calculates that he has covered 8,000 stories. For 18 years, KTVU was home to Tom’s syndicated Great American Toy Test (nominated for a national Emmy). He has covered many major disasters including the Caldor Fire in Lake Tahoe, the L.A. quake in 1994, the Napa Quake, the Great Recession, the Pandemic and the long drought.
Tom loves the diversity of the region’s people, cultures and ethnicities. That, he says, is what truly makes the Bay Area’s natural beauty even more beautiful.
Tom shoots still pictures, mostly of wildlife while traveling with his wife Sharon, a former SF Opera soprano who also worked as a producer for 17 years. He has also traveled to England, Italy, Japan, Honduras, Bahrain, British Virgin Islands, The Grenadines, St. Martin. Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Society Islands, Panama, etc.
The latest from Tom Vacar
California's wine industry facing down turn
Every segment of the wine industry, from super premium to jug wines, is seeing slowing and sluggish sales. When it's all added up, the industry was down 8.7 percent last year. That directly affects more than 400,000 California jobs still fighting back from Covid.
Bay Area startup touts driverless transit system as commuting solution
As more people return to work, commutes become increasingly unbearable, especially for those remote suburbs. However, a homegrown Bay Area solution will soon begin construction to alleviate some of these challenges.
California bill would restrict self-checkout, force some stores to do away with it
Self-checkout lanes are increasingly utilized, lessening the need for more costly employee-staffed checkout stands.
88-year-old Apollo 16 astronaut touts the privatization of space
At first, Apollo 26's Charles Duke was not sure of the privatization of space. He's changed his mind.
Sea lions help Fisherman's Wharf post-pandemic economy
Mother Nature made humanity possible. Now, some of her furry children are making it possible for crowds of tourists to a major tourist attraction to revive itself from the post-pandemic.
Port of Oakland currently leading the world in zero pollution efforts
The Port of Oakland helped turn a page in history this morning, as it opened the very first commercial, zero emission, hydrogen truck stop, in the world.
Special surcharges to become illegal in California restaurants
As of July 1, it will be illegal for any restaurant in the Golden State to add special surcharges to diners' checks, which has become a favorite method that restaurants use to lower costs and enhance employee incomes.
San Rafael little league baseball field could be sold
Las Gallinas Field, on an eight-acre parcel of land owned by San Rafael City Schools, has hosted baseball teams for more than 70 years and is used by the Galinas Valley Little league, other players and the public in general. But now, there is real fear the property may be sold or leased.
New federal rules give farmworkers more rights and protections
The acting U.S. Labor Secretary came to Santa Rosa's Balletto Vineyards on Friday to announce new labor regulations to better protect the nation's 1.6 million farmworkers, effective June 28. Balleto was chosen because workers there feel appreciated and respected.
Parking enforcement clampdown has SFMTA workers worried about safety
Hundreds of Muni parking control officers rallied on Thursday outside the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency over concerns around beefed up enforcement.