A local broadcast seen weeknights at 10 was added to the schedule in the Fall of that year. It would begin airing a midday show weekdays at noon in late 1956. Early on, the station's weather department was highly revered by Eastern Iowans for many decades under the direction of Conrad Johnson in the 1960s and 1970s. Shortly after his retirement, longtime meteorologist Dave Towne continued that tradition for another decade. Dave was joined briefly by Andre Bernier who was the weekday morning and noon meteorologist in 1981. Andre left KGAN in March 1982 when he became part of the launch team for The Weather Channel. In 1984, Dave Towne brought Doppler weather radar to the station and it became the first in the area to utilize the system's images for weathercasts and severe weather coverage. He took a sabbatical from television to pursue other interests and returned briefly to KGAN on weekends but has since retired from Cedar Rapids television altogether. Tim Heller was another popular weather anchor in the early-1990s who grew up not too far away from Cedar Rapids but left for sunnier weather and a larger market in Texas. While the station's local radar is still erect, it no longer pulls data from the device. The station's news department has won two George Foster Peabody awards. The first Peabody Award was in 1956 for its role in developing "The Secret of Flight" television programs. These shows, focusing on aeronautical education, were made possible with the assistance of Doctor Alexander Lippisch who was the Director of the Collins Aeronautical Research Laboratory. In 1994, KGAN won another Peabody award for the work investigative reporter Sandy Riesgraf performed in helping to expose a sewer solvent scandal. Compared with the market's other news departments, KGAN traditionally focuses on the greater Cedar Rapids area. Dubuque has coverage provided though bureaus operated by KFXA but ultimately the former captures a majority of the local news demographic in that area. It is unknown exactly when KFXA's separate news department in Cedar Rapids was shut down with that outlet's consolidation with KGAN. On March 4, 2001, KGAN began producing a nightly prime time newscast on sister station and fellow Fox affiliate KDSM-TV in Des Moines. Known as "Fox 17 News at 9", this half-hour show originated live from KGAN's studios and featured its own on-air personnel. There was regional news coverage and statewide weather forecasts provided since there were no locally based personnel in Des Moines.