Allison Rosati

 Allison Kay Rosati, born on the 12th of February 1963 is the co-anchor for WMAQ-TV's 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. newscasts. She was born and raised in Pine City, Minnesota. Rosati is of Finnish (paternal) and Italian (maternal) descent . She is the daughter of Robert Rosati and Sharon Nowling. In 1980, she was crowned Minnesota's Junior Miss. In 1981, she represented Minnesota in the America's Junior Miss pageant, receiving a 'Spirit of Junior Miss' award alongside Idaho Junior Miss Kelly Jo Kreisher. In her teen years she was a shift leader in the drive-thru department at McDonald's. Gustavus Adolphus College was where she was a speech and communication student. She was also part of the school's choral group The Lucia Singers. She graduated from cumlaude in 1985.Rosati began her professional career in Rochester, Minnesota in 1985. KTTC-TV initially hired Rosati as a general assignment reporter however, she was elevated to producer and co-anchor of the newscasts at 6 p.m. (and 10 p.m.) within a year. Rosati moved to WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, New York. She was the anchor for the newscasts at 6 p.m., 11 p.m., and general assignment newscasts. In 1989, she was the co-host local of the Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon along with Barry Lillis. Her first appearance on WMAQ in Chicago in 1990 to be the host of the morning show, First Thing in the Morning. In her morning stint, Rosati co-hosted Chicago Live along with Warner Saunders from 1991 to 1992. In 1995, she was able to anchor the afternoon news, and in May 1997, following the controversy over the hiring of Jerry Springer as commentator and the resignations of Ron Magers and Carol Marin, Rosati was promoted to co-anchor of NBC 5's 10 p.m. newscast, making her as a longest-reigning tenured late-night news anchor in Chicago.