Police now say it was a Brookfield man who was killed in a crash over the weekend in Newtown. The fatal accident happened Saturday night around 10:30 on Berkshire Road, and the victim has now been identified as 75-year-old John Schmalbach, of Brookfield. Investigators say Schmalback was headed east in a pickup truck when he crossed the center line near the Sandy Hook Fire Department and collided head on with another vehicle that was traveling in the opposite direction. Schmalbach was taken to Danbury Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.. The two people in the other vehicle, a 79-year-old man and a 77-year-old woman, were also taken to the hospital. At last report, they both were in stable condition. The crash remains under investigation.
Ed Histed
Ed launched his radio career in 1975 and has spent more than five decades in the broadcasting industry. During that time, he has served in a wide range of roles including Air Personality, News Director, Sales Manager, Operations Manager, and General Manager at numerous radio stations in various markets across the country. Beyond on-air and management responsibilities, Ed has also worked extensively on the technical side of broadcasting. His background includes RF engineering and information technology, with particular experience configuring digital automation systems and remote voice-tracking platforms used by stations across the country. Ed was also among a select group of industry professionals invited by Google to its California headquarters following the company’s acquisition of Scott Studios. He was one of just 12 broadcasters nationwide chosen to participate in discussions and provide input during the design and rollout of Google’s digital broadcast automation platform. Although the majority of Ed’s career—spanning roughly four decades—was rooted in music radio, he transitioned into news and information programming in 2012. He says the move into spoken-word broadcasting was a natural evolution after decades of experience in multiple areas of the industry.