DENVER (KDVR) — After 17 years in news and seven years at FOX31/Channel 2, Kevin Torres is taking his career in a new direction.
His career has not only impacted viewers in Colorado, his bright and optimistic personality, plants and engaging graphics will be remembered as well.
Torres has been working in the Denver market for 13 years total. A large chunk of his time in Colorado was spent traveling across the state to cover stories in smaller communities.
“From the Eastern Plains to the Western Slope, I visited pretty much every Colorado community at least one to two times, and most places a couple dozen times,” Torres shared.
Torres started his career as a multimedia journalist in Watertown, New York before moving to WSYR in Syracuse, New York where he became a reporter.
In 2009, Torres moved to Denver and worked for KUSA before moving down the street to FOX31/Channel 2 in 2015.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Torres shifted to the morning show and became a consumer reporter where he shared tips and hacks to help save Coloradans money.
“During my 13 years covering Colorado I was fortunate to win 12 Emmy Awards. I kept three of them and gave the rest of them away to the people I did stories on and to loved ones,” Torres explained.
Torres gifted one of his Emmys to Judy Messoline who owns UFO Watch Tower in Hooper, which is near the Sand Dunes.
Torres gave another Emmy to Elaine Redwine, the mother of Dylan Redwine.
“I covered Dylan’s story since day one in November of 2012. In fact, I’ve worn a Dylan Redwine wristband on my right hand since 2013. It’s only come off once when it snapped – but fortunately, I had a replacement band I was able to put back on. Past that, there hasn’t been one day where it’s come off. I plan to keep on wearing it even after I leave news,” Torres shared.
Torres said the thing he’s most proud of during his time in Denver is the Facebook LIVE coloring show he created during lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic.
“Everyone was stuck at home and a lot of us were anxious. Coloring actually helps people ease their anxiety, so once a week on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. I would color and chat with viewers over Facebook LIVE for one hour. Each episode averaged about 4,000 viewers,” Torres shared.
Torres received several letters in response to his Facebook LIVE coloring sessions.
“Dear Kevin, I want to thank you for the coloring sessions. My son died about two years ago. As you can imagine it is a difficult loss to bear. I can’t do any of my normal “happy place” things when I start sliding into a funk. I can’t go feed the giraffes, I can’t go to a Rockies game, can’t go hiking to take pictures and can’t go out to eat with friends. You gave me something to look forward to and it really helped,” shared Gail.
Torres said Gail’s response, and others like it, are what made him feel so proud, especially knowing it helped some Coloradans during a very uncertain time in our lives.
His next step will be working in corporate communications, marketing and public relations with the national team at Robert Half.
