Well this is positively a bummer for local news viewers: After more than 30 years at TMJ4 and more than 40 years in television overall, veteran anchor Carole Meekins announced today that she's retiring from Milwaukee airwaves. 

"It's time to focus on more than work. I want to spend more time with my family," Meekins said, in a press release. "I look forward to still contributing to the Milwaukee area – but I will focus on other passions including music, teaching and writing.”

Born in Mequon, Meekins got her start in television co-hosting the musical program "God's Musical World" in St. Louis before eventually moving stations and moving to news at KPLR in the same city. Meekins then made stops across a few different TV stations across the country – WAKA in Montgomery, Alabama; WRIC in Richmond, Virginia; WEWS in Cleveland – before making her way to Milwaukee and TMJ4 in 1991.

There, she would make an indelible – and award-winning – mark on Milwaukee media, serving as a compassionate and community-minded voice on TMJ4 news broadcasts and as the face of the station's "Positively Milwaukee" series. 

“The Milwaukee area is better and richer for Carole’s years of dedication, loyalty and hard work to uplift others," said TMJ4 news director Tim Vetscher, in the release. "We will miss her presence and her contribution in the newsroom. We wish Carole all the best on her next chapter and thank her for all she has done for TMJ4 and for our community."

Viewers will still have a little more time with Meekins on their screens, as her final broadcast on TMJ4 will air Thursday, Nov. 30. 

And cheers to you, Carole Meekins, for a well-earned retirement after decades as such an effervescent and iconic figure in Milwaukee media. May your next journeys be positively wonderful!