My first job at the age of 16 involved selling hot dogs at Brooklyn Dodger games, which was a lot of fun. Later I earned a masters degree in economics from Stockholm University, where I learned to speak Swedish. I worked on Wall Street for a year as a financial analyst, but found it boring, so I went back to school and got a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University.
I began in the television news business at the CBS station in San Francisco, where I learned that luck and timing were very important. In that first job interview, the news director asked me, "Do you think you can fill the shoes of William Randolph Hearst III?"
"I don't understand the question," I replied.
He explained that the grandson of William Randolph Hearst, founder of the Hearst newspaper chain, had just resigned his position as a news writer that morning. And I was the first guy in the door applying for the position. I took it immediately and began a career in broadcast news that lasted 40 years.
My first reporting job was eight months later at the CBS station in Sacramento, that also involved a famous name. The news director who hired me, Tom Capra, was the son of famed film director Frank Capra. This was a big come-down for Tom. After all, his father worked with Clark Gable. Tom was stuck with me. (Actually, he's a good friend.)
In Sacramento, I covered Ronald Reagan's second term as governor of California and the rise of Jerry Brown as a major political figure. That experience helped me land a job as KNBC's state capital bureau chief. We were the last Los Angeles station to have a bureau in Sacramento.
When they closed the state capital bureau, I was told the station would take the savings from the closure to buy a helicopter. Hearing that, one of my colleagues laughed and said, "They've decided that covering car chases is more important than politics and state government."
Still, working at KNBC for 31 years was a wonderful experience. I got to meet thousands of people whom I will never forget. I just happened to be on a golf and fishing trip in New York when the World Trade Center was attacked. I was the first Los Angeles television journalist to report live from Manhattan on Sept.11, 2001.
Now I'm moving into the online news world by working as the Local Editor for Sherman Oaks Patch. For years, I've been hearing people say, "How come you don't cover news in my neighborhood?" Now Patch is going to cover neighborhood news in communities across the country.
Last time I saw Jerry Brown, he was on his way to serving a second time as governor of California. He looked at me and said, "Kriegel, are you still in business?"
"Yeah," I replied, "and so are you."
Recent residential burglaries south of Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks are a reminder to residents to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity in the neighborhood.
No new kid on the block, Logan's Juvenile Shop has been in business for 35 years, outlasting all the competition in town.
Bert Boekman, owner of Galpin Ford, remembers selling cars when they were just basic transportation. Bert is the number one Ford Dealer in the World.
The boyfriend of the man whose dismembered body was found along a Hollywood Hills hiking trail speaks out in an interview with KTLA.
The minimum age for police cadets used to be 14, now it's been reduced to 13, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.
Clearing expected Tuesday, according to National Weather Service.
Two participating local eateries are offering discounts for the next two weeks.
Quick action by officers responding to a call from a neighborhood watch member led to the arrest of a suspect who police say had a large number of credit cards- not in his name.
There are more than 40 homes for sale in Sherman Oaks, with prices ranging from $250,000 for condominiums to more than $2 million for large homes.
This email from a Sherman Oaks neighborhood watch in the area north of the 101 freeway.
The two famous film scenes involved actors who lived in Sherman Oaks. Can you name the actors and the films involved?
Many movie critics say one of the most famous scenes in American films is the taxi-ride exchange between actors Marlon Brando and Rod Steiger who play brothers in the film,"On The Waterfront." Brando lived on Mulholland Drive in Sherman Oaks.
Sherman Oaks resident Jack Nicholson became a sensation after his performance in the movie 'Five Easy Pieces,' which features one of American filmdom's most famous scenes.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the woman who found the severed head thought it was a discarded Hollywood movie prop.
Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian will speak about traffic and other local issues at the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association Meeting.
Dog walkers in the hills make the discovery, police say.
Here is an alert from the Los Angeles Police Department about two recent incidents involving burglars.
Police in the Valley have received complaints of illegal door-to-door sales of magazine subscriptions and other products.
In a visit to the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich indicated an interest in running for district attorney, and cracking down on pot shops.
Rep. Brad Sherman says no bank should be so big that its failure could paralyze the American economy. Sherman, who appeared at the Neighborhood Council, talks to Patch Editor Doug Kriegel.