Longtime Baltimore traffuic reporter Jim Russ passed away unexpectedly Wednesday morning, WBAL News Radio General Manager Cary Pahigian announced Wednesday.
Jim is the unquestioned dean of Baltimore traffic reporting, keeping watch on the roads in the WBAL/98 Rock listening area for the past decade, with many more years of experience at WTOP in Washington and later with the Total Traffic and Weather Network. Along the way he helped mentor a generation of traffic reporters in the Baltimore-Washington area.
"No one loved the job of reporting traffic more than Jim did. He saw it as his duty to keep people in Baltimore moving to their destinations as quickly as possible and attacked that responsibility with passion and dedication," Pahigian wrote in an email to staff. "The sterling reputation of WBAL as a news and information leader was strengthened throughout Jim’s tenure, and his departure leaves a void both professionally and personally for his colleagues who enjoyed his company and commitment to excellence."
Jim grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Loyola Blakefield High School in 1981. As a student at Towson University, he interned at WBAL Radio what he called his favorite hometown station in 1984.
He will be dearly missed. Jim would have turned 58 today.
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