Tom Vacar

Tom Vacar

Reporter

After two years of freelancing while working full time in L.A., Tom became a full-time staff member of KTVU as Consumer Editor, in 1991. 

Tom has covered every major disaster including earthquakes, wildfires, floods, levee breaks and droughts and has had a big hand in covering business, economics, consumer affairs, aerospace, space, the military, high technology, ports, logistics, airlines and general news.

 Tom worked at KGO TV and KGO Radio from 1979-1985. He moved to KCBS-TV and KNX News Radio in 1985 before moving to KTTV in 1988. 

Tom is originally from Salem, Ohio (a small industrial town of 11,000 people between Cleveland and Pittsburgh). He got his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Government at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland Ohio in 1972 as a designated Undergraduate Scholar. Tom got his Law Degree from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1978.

In his 31 years at KTVU, he calculates that he has covered 8,000 stories. For 18 years, KTVU was home to Tom’s syndicated Great American Toy Test (nominated for a national Emmy). He has covered many major disasters including the Caldor Fire in Lake Tahoe, the L.A. quake in 1994, the Napa Quake, the Great Recession, the Pandemic and the long drought.

Tom loves the diversity of the region’s people, cultures and ethnicities.  That, he says, is what truly makes the Bay Area’s natural beauty even more beautiful. 

Tom shoots still pictures, mostly of wildlife while traveling with his wife Sharon, a former SF Opera soprano who also worked as a producer for 17 years. He has also traveled to England, Italy, Japan, Honduras, Bahrain, British Virgin Islands, The Grenadines, St. Martin. Puerto Rico, New Zealand, Society Islands, Panama, etc.

The latest from Tom Vacar

Atmospheric river to dump heavy rains on Santa Rosa, residents prepare

Atmospheric river to dump heavy rains on Santa Rosa, residents prepare

An atmospheric river storm is expected to arrive in the North Bay late Tuesday before spreading to the rest of the Bay Area later this week, likely bringing several inches of rain and wind gusts of up to 45-50 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Sonoma Valley's worst traffic chock point going away

Sonoma Valley's worst traffic chock point going away

A new Caltrans infrastructure project about to open in the North Bay is generating excitement among businesses, residents, and visitors eager to eliminate an often stop-and-go bottleneck in a rural Wine Country area.

PG&E notifies thousands of possible power shutoffs

PG&E notifies thousands of possible power shutoffs

PG&E is preparing for some possible planned power shutoffs, as early as tonight, in 6 Bay Area counties and 17 counties in its service territory.  Though the shutoff will affect on 22,000 of PG&E's 5.5 million electric customers, many often tell me they are tired of it.