What's Up With David Rose?

Something's up with David Rose, Ch 9 morning and 5:30 p.m. co-anchor, whose contract is up for renewal. He's the guy who was sent home at about 5:45 a.m. on Wednesday, March 7, after slurring his words. GM Bill Fee says he was sick, and sent home by a producer. The station pulled the archived newscast off its website by noon that day.

So today, after co-anchoring the monring news today, Fee announced that Rose won't anchor at 5:30 p.m. today or the Tuesday morning news. Strange. Asked if Rose's contract was not being renewed, Fee said: "At this point, I cannot confirm or deny it. At a certain point in the future, I'll be able to comment. When I'm able to say something, I will."

Rose's photo remains posted on the www.wcpo.com website, but his biography was not accessible. I haven't been able to reach Rose for a comment.

On March 7, Fee said the newscast was pulled down as part of the station's work to relaunch its website, which happened last week. Said Fee: "We did not pull a newscast off the website because of anything David Rose did. Absolutely not!"

In an email last week, Rose blamed his March 7 behavior as "a negative reaction to a new prescription.... I assure you there was no other problem this past Wednesday. Regarding (my) contract, we are still in neogitation. That's not unexpected and I feel we are still headed in the right direction. These things just take the time they take."