Carly O'Keefe

Carly O'Keefe was that little girl who always asked "WHY?" about everything-repeatedly--much to her mother's dismay. Curious in nature, journalism seemed the perfect career for a girl who, as her mom put it, "likes to get to the bottom of things."

Carly was bitten by the news bug back in high school in Gurnee, Illinois. She wrote for the Warren Township High School newspaper 'Scratch Paper' and was the editor of the Student Life section of the high school yearbook.

She followed her dream of becoming a print journalist to college where she continued to write for 'The Clarion,' the University of Denver's student newspaper. Carly had every intention of writing professionally for a newspaper until she took one broadcast news class in her junior year of college at DU and was hooked! The art of putting voices, sounds and video together to tell a story was a challenging puzzle, and later turned into an enjoyable and rewarding career.

Carly graduated from the University of Denver in 2002 where she earned bachelor's degrees in English and Journalism. Before graduating, Carly was able to "learn the ropes" from some of the best in the "biz" as an intern at KCNC News4, the CBS affiliate in Denver, Colorado.

She started her career at KTVO in Ottumwa, Iowa in 2002 where she worked as a general assignment reporter and Bureau Chief. In 2003, she was awarded first place awards for Spot News, Feature Reporting, In-depth reporting, and General Assignment Reporting from the Iowa Broadcast News Association and in 2004 garnered first place awards in IBNA's Spot News, Excellence in Writing and News Photography categories.

Carly joined the KFVS News team in July 2005. She is the Anchor of Heartland News at Noon and Heartland News Now at 4. She also tests products for the popular "Does It Work?" segment and finds Heartland Cooks to share recipes for Heartland News at Noon.

Since she moved to the Heartland, Carly has met a great many people who have helped make Southern Illinois her home. In her time off, she can often be found exploring the many state parks and nature trails in the region with her two dogs, Denver and Burden.