Lisa Jordan and Kevin Kollins

Robservations on the media beat:

Star 96.7

Kevin Kollins soon will be working two drive-time air shifts for Alpha Media suburban stations. While continuing to host afternoons at news/talk WJOL 1340-AM, Kollins has been named morning personality at hot adult-contemporary WSSR 96.7-FM. Starting Monday, he’ll join Lisa Jordan from 5 to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday. Kollins, who’s been hosting weekends on Star 96.7 for nearly 10 years, succeeds Josh Cooper, who left in April. “I'm extremely grateful that Alpha Media brought some really innovative minds together to allow me to continue my afternoon talk show at WJOL and to add mornings on Star 96.7,” said Kollins, who previously was senior vice president of promotion for Jeff McClusky and Associates.

Kristen Schorsch

Kristen Schorsch, health care reporter for Crain’s Chicago Business, has been hired as Cook County reporter for Chicago Public Media WBEZ 91.5-FM. She joins a growing lineup of top talent on the public radio station’s government and politics desk. A University of Illinois graduate, Schorsch previously worked for the Chicago Tribune, the Daily Southtown and the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Also at WBEZ, former Tribune metro reporter Nereida Moreno has been named producer for “The Morning Shift.” She’s a graduate of California State University.

Carlos Ballesteros

Reporters Carlos Ballesteros and Manny Ramos are joining the Sun-Times next month as part of Report for America, a non-for-profit initiative involving eight news organizations across the country. They’ll focus on coverage of Chicago’s South and West Sides. Ballesteros, a graduate of Claremont McKenna College, is a former reporter for Newsweek. Ramos, a graduate of DePaul University, worked for City Bureau, a civic journalism lab on the South Side, as well as Gaper’s Block and the Daily Line. Both are Chicago natives.

Thomas Markle

Here’s a followup to Wednesday’s note about the father of Meghan Markle, the retired actress and Northwestern University graduate who’s marrying Prince Harry Saturday. A spokeswoman for Chicago’s Window to the World Communications confirmed that Thomas Markle worked at WTTW-Channel 11 as a member of the floor crew and lighting director from August 1963 to August 1976. (Markle’s LinkedIn profile listed his employment there as 1965 to 1979.) WTTW will air live BBC coverage of the royal wedding starting at 3 a.m. Saturday.

Bob Collins

Thursday’s comment of the day: Stephen Veenker: [Bob] Collins was a genuine wit. I always remember the winter several storms headed straight for Chicago veered north or south at the last moment, sparing us. Bob introduced Tom Skilling one day by crediting him for predicting “eighteen of the last four storms."