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
Napa may be becoming more 'down home' as 'local' is trending
The pandemic hit the Bay Area as hard as any other region, with business vacancies found in almost every main street in towns of any size. But a trend in Napa may be one solution for businesses in tourist spots where the low season is the too slow season.
Iran War: How will the Strait of Hormuz impact gas prices?
A mega oil tanker shipping lane 100 miles long and only 21 miles wide, called the Strait of Hormuz, could do serious damage to the U.S. and world economies if it remains closed to tankers much longer.
Marin County flood control projects suspended
In early January, Marin County had multiple low-lying area floods. Though it's not the first time, Marin is becoming an early model for what will impact other bay side and seaside communities as sea level rises, flooding other areas.
SF high-tech AI firm declared a supply chain risk to national security
Anthropic Public Benefit Corporation, one of the world's leading Artificial Intelligence companies, has been designated a "supply chain risk to national security."
Cockfighting operation raid nets 833 fighting roosters in Sonoma County
One of the Bay Area's largest cockfighting busts ever took place yesterday in Sonoma County not far from downtown Santa Rosa.
Sausalito looking for business to fill vacancies on Bridgeway
The city of Sausalito, deeply concerned about maintaining its world-class tourist image and warding off sea level rise, is planning to lure bigger retailers and restaurants without making it like every other place.
Guerneville house could collapse onto the road and other homes
This single, unoccupied home hangs precariously to a steep hillside, which it has done since Monday morning. There was a retaining wall and a parking spot construction going on at the time just below the home, as well as some tree removals.
Is the State of the Union the best economy ever?
With the President about to speak tomorrow night, very unhappy stock markets, critical to tens of millions of retirement plans, will be listening closely. So, why are those markets so worried?
Wildcare's rescue and rehabilitation center to open in the fall
A beloved North Bay wildlife rescue center is in the final stages of constructing a facility befitting its enormous mission to save as many local critters as possible when they get injured, oftentimes by human activity.
Stock Market: Is an A.I. crash possible?
Economic jitters hit the stock market on Thursday, with the Dow, NASDAQ, and the S&P losing digits. This renewed concerns over artificial intelligence (A.I.) prompting a tech sell-off.