Ted Bender

Ted Bender (born March 24, 1925) is a long-time resident of El Paso, Texas, United States having moved there in 1949. He started working at local radio station KTSM, then became the weatherman for KTSM-TV when it first went on the air in 1953 until he retired in 1990. He served on the El Paso City Council from 1957 to 1963, during which he voted to end segregation in public places in El Paso in 1962. He has been been honored by the Martin Luther King, Jr., Committee of El Paso.

Ted was also a sportscaster, handling play-by-play of UTEP football and basketball on radio when the school was known as Texas Western College, as well as high school football.

During his weather segments until the advancement of computers in the 1980s, Bender would use a marker to draw cold fronts, warm fronts, high pressure ridge and low pressure ridge; then give a complete roundup of highs and weather conditions for virtually every major city in the United States, beginning in Caribou, Maine and ending in Seattle, Washington. He would also use official National Weather Service symbols to indicate sky and weather conditions; one of the few weathermen in the country to do so.

Work in Television at KTSM-TV

* Weatherman from 1953 to 1990.
* Hosted "Dialing for Dollars"
* Hosted "Open Mike"
* Hosted "Today's Spotlight"
* Was Master of Ceremonies for the Jerry Lewis' Muscular Dystrophy Association's Labor Day Telethon's local segments in El Paso, which were conducted for a time at the Bassett Mall, then later the Cielo Vista Mall. At one time in the 1970s, Bender traveled to Las Vegas to produce promos with Lewis for the upcoming telethon, which was held at the Sahara Hotel & Casino.

ee also

* KTSM-TV

External links

* [http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlo/reports/subject/79R/N0491.HTM Bills to Honor Ted Bender in the Texas State Legislature in 2005]
* [http://www.elpasotexas.gov/records/print_research_council.asp List of El Paso Mayors & City Council Members since 1873]
* [http://www.ktsm.com KTSM Homepage]