NBC11 announced today it has hired former KRON anchor Tom Sinkovitz as a reporter and fill-in anchor. He will start Wednesday night covering the Republican debate in Los Angeles and the Democratic debate on Thursday, TV critic Susan Young notes on her blog.

Although the station said Sinkovitz will only be filling in as an anchor, his arrival comes two months after the departure of evening co-anchor Allen Denton.

Sinkovitz is a three-time regional emmy winner who reported in the field and anchored several KRON newscasts over the course of 17 years. When he signed off from KRON for the last time on Sept. 15, 2006, he suggested viewers would be seeing him on another channel soon. “I’m not saying ‘good-bye’ tonight. I’m just saying I’ll see you later,” he said, leaving co-anchor Pam Moore in tears.