Congratulations to good friend of the blog Mindy Winkler, who was named Indianapolis’ “Best Local Traffic Reporter” for the 4th year in a row.

From Nuvo.net

Best local traffic reporter (TV or radio): Mindy Winkler
It’s hard to drive in Indy and not hear Mindy Winkler’s traffic reports. Reporting for the Smiley Morning Show on Z99.5, 104.5WJJK and 102.4 Hit Country WMDH, Winkler is there to cheerfully report the plagues of every morning commute. Formerly Commander KC on WTTV, Winkler eventually moved through WRTV-6 as a fill-in traffic reporter and through miscellaneous voiceover jobs into her current place in Indy radio traffic reporting. Winkler has made herself a permanent installation in the lives of Indianapolis commuters, making what can be a torturous experience into something with a little optimism

Mindy is a former Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders and also cheered for the CISL Indianapolis Twisters.

[Mindy and the Fun Company]

Jenna is a former Tennessee Titans Cheerleader.

From the WRCBTV.com

Jenna McKee joined the Channel 3 Eyewitness News staff in June 2008. You can see her reports throughout the week on Eyewitness News at 6:00 and Chattanooga’s #1 newscast, Eyewitness News at 11:00. Jenna is a Tennessee native and most recently worked for WKRN-TV in Nashville as a reporter. Before her stop in the Music City, Jenna was an Anchor/Reporter for WBBJ-TV in Jackson, TN. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Electronic Media Journalism from Middle Tennessee State University where she was a Blue Raider cheerleader.

Our list of reporters is here.

By Terry Foster
The Detroit News

Heather Zara loves sports so much, she still has pieces of confetti from the night the Pistons won the 2004 NBA title.

And when her alarm rings at 2:30 every morning, the television is usually tuned to “SportsCenter” or a replay of the previous night’s Tigers game.

Zara, WDIV’s morning traffic reporter, is a passionate sports fan who used to scramble around the Lions dressing room looking for stories.

This weekend, Zara moves to the sports desk, anchoring Channel 4′s weekend show.

“I feel like I have my dream job, but I am not the kind of person to stand still,” said Zara, who grew up in Warren and attended Mott High.

“Down the road I would like to get a job in sports. Right now, I work with some amazing people. If my career ended at Channel 4, I would be very happy. I love working in the city, and you have some of the best sports teams around whether you are a fan or a reporter.”

Zara is a risk taker.

She left a full scholarship at Wayne State and transferred to Michigan State so she could study broadcast journalism.

“I don’t think I’d be here if I didn’t do that,” said Zara, who won an Emmy her junior year and appeared headed toward her career in sports.

But WDIV held a contest for a traffic person in December 2007, and she decided to take a shot at coming home. She had just left a small Maryland station for a behind-the-scenes job in Chicago. The audition was a hit. The day after Super Bowl XL, Zara was on WDIV doing afternoon traffic.

Not bad for someone who played volleyball and softball, but was cut from nearly every basketball team she tried out for. What she coulddo was dance, and she landed gigs with the Detroit Fury, the now-defunct arena football team, and Automotion, the Pistons’ dance group. That’s how she celebrated the Pistons’ title — confetti and all.

[Heather's Station Bio]

[Follow Heather on Twitter]

[Our List of Reporters]

We’ve come across quite a few Cheerleaders/Dancers that are television reporters. We’ve also found a few radio reporters, but Tierney of the AIFA DC Body Armor is our first print reporter.

She earned her BA in English from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA. At Mary Washington, Tierney was Associate Editor of the school newspaper, The Bullet and performed on university dance team.

Tierney’s now a web/general assignment reporter for the Washington Business Journal. She writes 6 to 8 daily news stories that are posted on the paper’s home page that cover a variety of beats in the D.C. area. Some are more feature-oriented, while others are breaking news stories like earnings, real estate transactions, mergers, and company expansions.

Tierney also writes the Commercial Real Estate brief section that runs in the weekly print edition of the paper.

Ultimately, Tierney says she’d like to move to California and get into magazine writing and do feature-length articles and profiles.

[DC Body Armor]

Volanda Calloway is the weekday noon anchor for WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC. Before coming to WRAL, she was an anchor and reporter at WNCT-TV in Greenville, N.C. Volanda began her career in 1994 as a writer and reporter at the Voice of America radio in Washington, D.C.

She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Winston-Salem State University, where she graduated cum laude.

Valonda cheered in college from 1990 to 1994 and professionally for the Washington Redskins from 1995 to 1997.

Check out our list of reporters here.

[WRAL-TV Station Bio]

[Valonda Calloway on Twitter]