title NewsChannel 8 Today on Great 38, airing from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Until September 28, 2018, the second hour of that program, which was titled, Make Today Gr8 with Gayle and Leigh, was co-hosted by Gayle Guyardo and morning meteorologist Leigh Spann. On August 4, 2021, Tampa Mayor Jane Castor declared "Steve Jerve Day," in honor of WFLA's longtime meteorologist, who would retire two days later after 23 years at the station. Notable current on-air staff Keith Cate – anchor Jen Leigh – anchor Maggie Rodriguez – co-host of Daytime Notable former on-air staff Dick Crippen – sports director (1981–1999; was most recently with Spectrum Sports until its December 2017 shutdown) Arch Deal – anchor (1950s–1975; later at WRBQ-FM until 1992, died March 13, 2020) Rich Fields – meteorology intern (2000–2002; later with The Price Is Right as announcer, then with KCBS/KCAL in Los Angeles, and with WTSP) Chris Hansen – reporter (1981–1983; later with NBC News; later host of the weekday syndicated program, Crime Watch Daily) Jack Harris – host (NewsWatch 8 at Noon, 1990–1992; Harris & Company/Harris Live, 1992–2000) John Muller – reporter (1989–2001; now with WPIX in New York City) Byron Pitts – reporter (1988–1990; now with ABC News) Victoria Price – anchor/reporter (2018-2020; now with WHDH-TV) Gayle Sierens – anchor (1977–2015; now retired) Tony Zappone – news correspondent (1965–1977) Controversy and criticism Silencing Christians On June 27, 2009, WFLA aired an hour-long documentary, Silencing Christians, which dealt with the Fundamentalist Christian position of condemning homosexuality as a sin, and claims of the gay community's drive to make all criticism of homosexuality as hate speech, in the name of political correctness. The documentary, presented as a paid program from the American Family Association, was televised at 7 p.m. that evening, on the same day that St. Petersburg held the city's pride parade, St. Pete Pride, on the weekend of the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Prior to the telecast, the station was swamped with numerous phone calls and e-mails against WFLA's broadcast of the program. After it aired, the station logged hundreds of phone calls and over 1,000 e-mails protesting the broadcast. General manager Mike Pumo refused to elaborate on the decision, other than the show's content did not "raise the red flag" during pre-screening. Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida, considered the show hate speech, saying, "I think this program is a