Trail-blazing TV journalist

Santa Barbara resident Joanne Desmond is featured in the new movie

By ANNIKA BAHNSEN NEWS-PRESS CORRESPONDENT

“The Strangler was stalking me!” Joanne Desmond exclaimed. “He would ask people where I live and eventually knew my address.”

Although she believes the Boston Strangler tried to break into her home, Ms. Desmond fortunately didn’t have a face-to-face confrontation with him. But she did report on him as the first female nightly news anchor in the 1960s at WBZ-TV in Boston. Ms. Desmond, a current Santa Barbara resident, is featured in “Boston Strangler,” starring Kiera Knightley and Carrie Coon. The film will start streaming Friday on Hulu.

The Boston Strangler became known for murdering 13 women in the 1960s. He sexually assaulted his victims, then strangled them with the victims’ stockings. His identity was later revealed as Albert DeSalvo.

Ms. Desmond reported on the story various times during the 1960s, and a clip of her reporting is featured in the film. This week, Ms. Desmond is on the East Coast for premieres of the movie — Monday in Boston and today in New York City. The movie is centered around Loretta

New York City’s Signature Bank was also closed by the FDIC on Sunday, according to its website. The FDIC was named receiver and has transferred the bank’s holdings to Signature Bridge Bank, N.A.

The last bank to fail was Kansas-based Almena State Bank in October 2020.

in SidE

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