Karina Nova
While I spent most of my life in Ohio, I'm a California girl at heart. The ocean, wineries, and beautiful parks are my happy place!
I was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and my family emigrated to the United States when I was 8 years old, and we ended up settling in Northeast Ohio, in a small town on the shores of Lake Erie. That's when I learned to speak English (though I continued to speak my native Russian at home).
I discovered my love for journalism at a young age. My persistent curiosity, love for hearing people's stories, and passion for learning and sharing the news of world events were what made me want to become a reporter. I studied journalism and political science at Kent State University in Ohio and summers interning for C-SPAN, a U.S. senator and the Voice of America in one of my favorite cities, Washington D.C.
I began my professional career hosting a civic-focused news program on PBS. My next job as a traffic reporter at WBNS News in Columbus, Ohio was the beginning of a 15-year long career at WBNS, first working my way up to a general assignment reporter and, ultimately, to the weekday morning anchor. I truly enjoyed becoming a part of the community, and I'm particularly proud of my fact-checking stories as part of the VERIFY team's efforts to stop the spread of misinformation. I was honored to win an Emmy for the breaking news coverage of a massive train derailment, spending a total of 7 hours that day in the helicopter, shooting video and reporting on the disaster.
During my 15 years in Columbus, I loved spending time volunteering and emceeing events for a number of nonprofit organizations. I'm a proud big sister for Big Brothers Big Sisters, was on the board of Columbus Fashion Council and Fairy Goodmothers. In my free time, I enjoy being outdoors as much as possible and had the incredible position as the Metro Parks spokesperson, helping people discover nature and all there is to do at the public parks. I'm excited to discover all of the parks in Northern California and take my paddleboard out on the water! Feel free to check out all of my fun adventures on my social media pages.
If you run into me on the street, please say hi! I'll gladly talk for hours about some of my favorite things, like traveling the world, eating delicious food (I would love to hear your Bay Area restaurant recommendations) and seeing my adorable nieces and nephews!
Karina's Stories
Irving Penn Retrospective exhibit at SF's de Young Museum captures Summer of Love
In some ways, walking through the Irving Penn exhibit at San Francisco's de Young Museum is like taking a magazine cover tour of 20th-century America.
Bay Area mom finds out scammer already claimed her tax refund. Here's what saved her
Imagine filing your tax return and finding out someone else already claimed your refund. It happened to a Rohnert Park mother of two -- who was told somebody used her identity to claim almost $9,000 in her name.
Bay Area man finds out state canceled his $7,500 EV rebate because he filed 1 day too soon
A North Bay man finds out he won't get $7,500 rebate for his new Tesla because he applied one day too soon. Canceled application is among thousands pouring in as California rebate program runs out of money.
Wells Fargo customer loses thousands in Zelle scam despite new refund policy
"When all my money was gone, all of a sudden the phone went dead. And I went, 'Oh my God,'" said the San Francisco woman after being taken in by a scammer pretending to be her bank.
Bay Area man lost his wife, then got scammed. Now Facebook won't stop the hacker
A grieving Northern California husband found a hacker locked his Facebook account and began taking GoFundMe donations in his late wife's memory. "And I mean, my poor wife. She would be horrified if she were here, witnessing what's going on. She would be so furious," the widower said.
'MJ: The Musical' now on tour in SF. Here's a look with lead star Roman Banks
The Tony Award-winning "MJ: The Musical" has just started its run in San Francisco. We spoke with its leading man, Roman Banks, who plays Michael Jackson.
'Fashioning San Francisco' de Young exhibit transports visitors to galas of past century
The "Fashioning San Francisco: A Century of Style" exhibit at the de Young Museum follows the evolution of high fashion in the city, from classic to chaotic.
From pizza to art: The generous act behind a San Francisco North Beach billboard
The owner of San Francisco North Beach neighborhood's famed Tony's Pizza Napoletana is helping local artists in a big way with the hope of encouraging people to enjoy and appreciate the city.
Protesters arrested as UC Berkeley crews close People's Park, set up shipping container perimeter
U.C. Berkeley crews have closed off People's Park to begin a highly-contested student housing project but were met by protesters in a conflict that dates back over 50 years. Here's a look at the long-running controversy.
Will BART's new 7-foot gates help prevent fare evasion?
With new 7-foot-tall gates, BART is beginning to upgrade some of its gates for the first time in 20 years as part of a $90 million project with hopes to prevent fare evasion.