Whatever
Happened To...
An update on past news
Career change for
former KHNL
weather forecasterErin Brown, the bagpipe-playing weather forecaster for KHNL-TV from 1998 to 2001, is now a commercial mortgage broker in Miami.
In May 2002 she married former University of Hawaii volleyball player Bill Via. The two met while he was working in KHNL's marketing department.
"I miss the island life," she said in a telephone interview from her Miami home. "We love where we are, too, it's just different. ... It's good as far as careerwise, but it's still nothing like living in Hawaii.
"We miss the lifestyle and our friends."
Originally from Connecticut, Brown came to Hawaii in 1992 and lived and worked on Maui for four years as an art consultant in Lahaina. In 1997 she got a part-time job at KITV in the technical department and later became a weekend weather person.
Nine months later, Brown became the full-time weather anchor at KHNL where she was known for practicing her bagpipe playing in the station parking lot after finishing work at night.
She and Via later moved to Malibu, Calif., where he got a job at Telemundo, one of the largest Spanish-language networks in the country. It was there that Brown said she last picked up the pipes.
"Sad to say, because I don't have a place to practice now," she said. "And since I don't work in TV anymore, I don't have access to a soundproof studio."
Brown said she likely will not be practicing the bagpipes again until after she gives birth in December. The couple is expecting a girl.
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