Beloved California TV anchor reveals sudden departure from network: ‘Filled with thrill and grief’

A popular California television news anchor is departing the Golden State.

KCRA 3’s Erin Heft is leaving Sacramento for her “dream position” at a “legendary newsroom” in Dallas.

Heft, who won an Emmy for her team’s coverage of a Sacramento shooting in 2023, suggested the decision is bittersweet.

“I’m filled with thrill and grief,” Heft told The Sacramento Bee Thursday. “Thrilled because I can’t wait to go, but grief because it’s the closure of the chapter of Northern California, and I really do just adore it here.”

She first joined KCRA as an intern in 2018, an opportunity she called a “privilege.”

“When I got the internship, it was such a privilege,” Heft said. “It was actually the first newsroom —professional working newsroom — that I ever spent any time in, and I was just in awe of the talent that was within the room.”

Next she moved to Waco, Texas to work for the E.W. Scripps Co. as a reporter and fill-in anchor for three years. But she always kept KCRA in her heart, saying her “goal was to make it immediately back to KCRA.”

Heft rejoined the Sacramento news agency in 2021 and has remained a reporter and anchor there since.

She called Northern California a “wonderland of a news market, because there’s a little bit of everything always happening.”

She also thanked the community for welcoming her there, and acknowledged how important the region was to honing her life and career.

“This region has challenged me, shaped me, and changed me in ways I never could have imagined. Some of the most meaningful moments of my life happened right here, alongside an incredible newsroom and an unforgettable community,” she said.

“While it’s time for a new adventure, a piece of me will always remain with you.”

It’s not clear what her next role will be, but she told The Bee that it will be in the Dallas-Fort Worth market and closer to her family.

She added that serving Northern California “has been a privilege of a lifetime, and I will never be the same, and I am just full of gratitude.”

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