Meet Team Talk Pittsburgh
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We're excited here at KDKA to bring you a talk show that's dedicated to you.
There are incredible people and organizations doing amazing things for our city and the Western Pennsylvania area. On Talk Pittsburgh, we want you to know that this is going to be a place where we highlight that good work and the people who are making difference.
The organizations that see a problem and are ready with a solution and most importantly deliver hope.
Heather Abraham
Heather Abraham hosts Talk Pittsburgh on weekday afternoons and co-hosts Pittsburgh Today Live with David Highfield on weekday mornings.
It was an exciting homecoming for Heather when she joined KDKA in 2010. She grew up in Shaler Township and graduated from Shaler Area High School. Her desire to get into news started there with the morning announcements. She continued her education at West Virginia University where she studied Broadcast News.
Before moving back home, she reported at News 12 Brooklyn, a 24-hour cable news station in New York City. Heather spent four years covering everything Brooklyn as a reporter, photographer, and editor. She says it was her time in Brooklyn that prepared her the most for the next step in her career.
Heather is an award winning journalist. She has been nominated for several Emmys. She also won a Golden Quill award for her reporting on a 7-alarm fire in Homestead. Growing in her on-air role on PTL, she was also nominated for an Emmy for hosting the show.
Being an active part of the community is very important to Heather. She's been involved with the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania, even taking part in their annual polar plunge fundraiser, as well as Hair Peace Charities, Animal Friends, and the KDKA-TV Turkey Fund. Her community involvement, though, includes being a good neighbor! She established an annual block party and helped to create a safe Light Up Night on her street during the 2020 COVID pandemic.
When she's not anchoring or hosting, Heather loves spending time with her family. Her husband Frank is a City of Pittsburgh firefighter. They have two girls and welcomed a baby boy to their family in 2019. They also have two dogs and decided to add to the chaos by adding two pet fish to the mix!
Mikey Hood
Pittsburgh native Mikey Hood joined KDKA in March 2019. She appears on PTL and Talk Pittsburgh.
Mikey has had a public presence in Pittsburgh for quite some time through her online show PghSpot, a platform she created to highlight the movers and shakers in the 'Burgh!
Mikey grew up in the East End of Pittsburgh and graduated from Taylor Allderdice High School. Her desire to get into TV started as a kid, when she would interview and produce pretend commercials for all of her friends. She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she studied Writing and Communications.
When Mikey is not on Pittsburgh Today Live and Talk Pittsburgh, she loves spending time with her husband, young son, dog Wilson, close friends and on long hikes.
Kelly Dzanaj
Kelly Dzanaj joins Talk Pittsburgh as co-host alongside Heather Abraham and Mikey Hood. She is a born-and-bred Pittsburgher, graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in the South Hills and has been in the media market for 11 years.
A proud Penn State graduate, Kelly has been the host of 100.7 STAR's Afternoon Drive from 2-7 p.m. and has loved every minute of getting to connect with Pittsburghers every single day.
Her work has been nationally-recognized with a coveted Gracie Award in 2022 (think Oscars for women in media!) and is Pittsburgh City Paper's Best Radio Personality two out of the last three years!
Kelly resides in Washington County (Peters Township) with her husband and two children.
She is so excited to be part of the Talk Pittsburgh team and loves talking about Pittsburgh to Pittsburghers, every single day, on a variety of platforms.
Boaz Frankel
Boaz Frankel is a correspondent on KDKA-TV's Talk Pittsburgh. He's also a writer, filmmaker and gardener.
Boaz grew up in Portland, Oregon, and has had addresses in New York, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Amsterdam (yes, the one in the Netherlands) before moving to Pittsburgh in 2019. He joined KDKA-TV as a contributor to Pittsburgh Today Live in the summer of 2023, before becoming a member of the Talk Pittsburgh team in February of 2024.
When he's not in the KDKA-TV studios, Boaz is usually working in his garden. He completed the Phipps Master Gardener program in 2019 and enjoys exploring the connections between plants, culture and history in his weekly Substack newsletter, Rootbound. He volunteers at Phipps every week and leads semi-monthly after-hours conservatory tours.
Boaz is the creator and host of NEXTpittsburgh's Yinzer Backstage Pass video series in which he goes behind the scenes of Pittsburgh landmarks and infrastructure. A few more random facts: In 2019, Boaz and his wife wrote Let's Be Weird Together, a fun book about the magic of relationships, that was published by Workman Publishing. Boaz has spent years studying the history of the kazoo and he's curator of The Kazoo Museum in Beaufort, S.C. He's also a former Guinness World Record Holder for most high fives in an hour.
Boaz lives in Squirrel Hill with his wife, Brooke, and their very cute terrier mutt, Kip.
Mary Ours
KDKA First Alert Meteorologist Mary Ours joins Heather Abraham on Talk Pittsburgh.
Mary interned with the KDKA weather department in 2011 while earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcasting at Point Park University.
After graduating in 2012 she also earned her Broadcast Meteorology Certification through Mississippi State University.
Mary grew up about 45 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh in the small town of Beaver Falls, known as the hometown of Joe Namath. Mary went to high school there for three years before graduating from Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School in 2008 where she majored in musical theater.
She began her career in 2013 at WTOV9 in Steubenville, Ohio, where she was a reporter and weekend weather anchor then went to WJAC-TV as the weekday morning meteorologist in 2016.
Mary has always been interested in helping people ever since she was young, including starting her own event to help victims of 9/11 when she was 12 years old. In Mary's spare time she loves to sing the national anthem at sporting events, binge watch TV shows, and most importantly spend time with her husband, children and her pomsky Jasper.
Mary is ready to to bring you a lot of sunshine and the most up-to-date weather information to keep you safe!
Maggie Rhoads
Maggie Rhoads is a producer for Talk Pittsburgh. She joined KDKA-TV in 2022 after working in Richmond, Virginia, for several years.
Originally from Charlotte, NC, Maggie loves to travel and explore new areas.
During her time in Richmond, she deepened her passion for producing and working in TV news. Maggie continued that work at KDKA, producing the evening newscasts.
The opportunity to be part of building a new show from scratch is Maggie's next adventure! It will allow her to help people tell their stories and share ways to be a positive force for change.
To contact Maggie with an idea for Talk Pittsburgh, email her here.
Allante Walker
Coming to you from America's Dairyland, Allante is excited to bring his passion for people and entertainment to the Steel City. Throughout his career in the broadcasting industry, he has covered everything from presidential visits to Dolly Parton's return to her theme park after a 3-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Allante grew up in Beloit, Wisconsin, about an hour south of the state capital of Madison. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the spring of 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcasting and Theatre Performance.
His career in television started at WXOW News 19 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he spent five years covering news in the Driftless Area as a producer, reporter, and production assistant. His work as a producer and reporter earned nominations from the Upper Midwest Emmys and the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association.
Contact Allante Walker: Facebook | Instagram | Email
His next venture was to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he worked as a lifestyle reporter for WATE 6 On Your Side. He says a highlight of his time there was doing a feature piece on a squirrel who has affectionally become known as the littlest fan of the University of Tennessee Volunteers football team.
Outside of work, Allante likes to perform onstage in theatrical productions, attend concerts and sporting events, try out new restaurants/breweries, and travel. He is an avid fan of the Green Bay Packers, but he is willing to root for the Steelers from time to time now that Pittsburgh is his new home!
Scott Danka
Talk Pittsburgh Videographer Scott Danka is a native of Westmoreland County and has been in the news business for more than two decades. He is excited to join the Talk Pittsburgh staff.
Scott attended Kiski Area High School and then moved on to Penn State.
After graduation, he got his start in news in Greensboro, North Carolina, before coming home to KDKA-TV. He's been with his hometown station for nearly 20 years.
Follow Scott Danka: X | Instagram
You may have heard Scott's name mentioned on Pittsburgh Today Live. He is the talented photographer who snaps the beautiful still photos of the city and surrounding area for the Shot of the Day.
His work has won several awards -- including the Emmys, Associated Press and Golden Quills.
When he's not behind the camera, Scott is spending time with his wife of nearly 20 years and their two daughters. He loves watching and playing soccer.