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Subtract meteorologist Ashton Altieri from TEGNA8 news team

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By ED BARK
@unclebarkycom on Twitter
After a three-year stay, weekend meteorologist Ashton Altieri is leaving Dallas-based TEGNA8.

News director Carolyn Mungo termed it a “life move” in a memo to staffers obtained by unclebarky.com. At the end of August, Altieri will be returning to Denver, where his wife has received a “wonderful promotion,” Mungo said.

“So he will take his darling family and his wife and leave the Lone Star State,” she said. “He said this was the toughest decision he’s ever made. But in the end, he needed to put his family first. Which I totally get. We will miss the heck out of him. His dedication, commitment and his expertise.”

Altieri, who also fills in on weekday shifts, joined TEGNA8 in August 2013 from ABC affiliate KXTV-TV in Sacramento, CA, where he was the weekday morning meteorologist for two years. Before that he spent six years at KUSA-TV in Denver.

Mungo’s memo also mentioned the previously reported departure of reporter Mike Castellucci, who also will leaving at the end of August. Castellucci, who had two tours at TEGNA8, has accepted a teaching position at Michigan State University.

Mungo praised him for putting the station “on the map when it came to innovation. We were so lucky to have him . . . We will be looking for the next ‘wordsmith.’ “

“This newsroom is about work, but I take pride in the fact that this room is also human,” Mungo added. “While I will miss these guys terribly, I understand that life takes you on a journey. And I applaud both of them for following their ‘next right path.’ “

Altieri, Castellucci and early morning reporter Jenny Doren make it three TEGNA8 news staffers who have left for other pursuits in the past six weeks. Doren spent just two years at the station. All three departing staffers were hired (or in Castellucci’s case, re-hired) by Mungo, who became the station’s news director in February 2012.

Email comments or questions to: unclebarky@verizon.net