Allison Rosati

 Allison Kay Rosati, born on February 12, 1963 she is the co-anchor of WMAQ-TV's 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. newscasts. She was raised in Pine City, Minnesota. Rosati is of Finnish and Italian paternal and maternal lineage. She is the daughter of Robert Rosati (paternal), and Sharon Nowling. In 1980, she was crowned Minnesota's Junior Miss. In 1981 she was a representative of Minnesota in the America's Junior Miss pageant, receiving the 'Spirit of Junior Miss' award alongside Idaho Junior Miss Kelly Jo Kreisher. She was a McDonald's drive-thru manager throughout her teens. Gustavus Adolphus College was where she was a speech and communication student. She was also a member the school's choral group The Lucia Singers. She graduated with a degree in cum laude in 1985.Rosati began her professional career in Rochester, Minnesota in 1985. KTTC-TV initially employed Rosati as a general assignment reporter, but she was promoted to co-anchor and producer of the newscasts at 6 p.m. (and 10 p.m.) within an entire year. Rosati went on to WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, New York. She was an anchor for the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. and general assignment newscasts. In 1989 she was the co-host local of The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon alongside Barry Lillis. She first came to WMAQ in Chicago in 1990 as host of First Thing in the Morning. During her morning tenure, Rosati co-hosted Chicago Live together with Warner Saunders from 1991 to 1992. In 1995 she began anchoring the afternoon news and in May 1997, following the controversy over the selection of Jerry Springer as commentator and the resignations of Ron Magers and Carol Marin, Rosati was promoted to anchor NBC 5's 10 p.m. newscast, establishing her the longest-running late-evening news anchor in Chicago.