# NotiCentro

NotiCentro (NewsCenter) is the flagship news broadcast of Puerto Rican network WAPA which airs four times a day on weekdays and twice a day on weekends. Its main edition is anchored by Normando Valentín and Katiria Soto while Felipe Gómez anchors the nighttime edition. Weekend anchoring duties belong to Luisa Benítez, while weekday mornings are anchored by Jorge Gelpí Pagán and Mónika Candelaria, and Guillermo José Torres, Jr. anchors the midday edition.
Established in 1976, NotiCentro is the second longest running newscast in Puerto Rico and the only Puerto Rican newscast to air in the mainland United States through WAPA's cable superstation WAPA América.

## History
### Noticentro 4

Though WAPA-TV was established in 1954 it did not have a news operation until the late 70s when Evelio Otero (who at the time anchored the island's only newscast Telenoticias on WKAQ-TV) jumped to WAPA to anchor the newly newscast called Noticentro 4 (Newscenter 4). The station would occasionally drop the number 4 from their name (a reference to the channel's over the air number) and just by NotiCentro, this would first happen in 1995, then again in 1998 and again in 2007.

### Guillermo Jose Torres' Tenure

In 1969, Evelio Otero exited WAPA and was replaced in the anchor chair at 10:00 PM by Guillermo José Torres, a Navy veteran who first served as a radio host in Ponce, Puerto Rico before joining NotiCentro.
Torres would go on to become the most important fixture in the history of the newscast with a career that spawned over 40 years as the anchor of the main 5:00 p.m. edition of NotiCentro. Torres had multiple co-anchors, such as José Enrique “Kike” Cruz (who later served as a news director for 36 years), Luz Nereida Vélez, Sylvia Gómez, Jennifer Wolff, and Ada Torres Toro. In 2001, Also Torres anchor News at 11:00 AM with Keylla Hernandez. Torres was joined by Celimar Adames Casalduc with the two becoming the lead anchor team of NotiCentro at 5:00 PM for 12 years until Torres' retirement.
In July 2013, Guillermo Jose Torres announced his retirement after 43 years anchoring NotiCentro. His retirement became official in August 2013 when a special edition of NotiCentro took place to celebrate his career. During the special, it was announced that Torres would be inducted into the Guinness World Records as the longest career as anchor of the same newscast. Torres was succeeded on the anchor chair by Rafael Lenin López.
Upon his retirement, the news studio at WAPA-TV headquarters was renamed "Guillermo Jose Torres Studio".

### New Anchors and Revamp

After Torres' retirement, Rafael Lenin López and Celimar Adames continued as anchors of NotiCentro until 2017 Pedro Rosa Nales joined Celimar Adames as anchors until 2019. After Lopez's promotion WAPA announced a revamp of their entire daytime schedule that would extend the run time of the prime edition of NotiCentro from 60 minutes to 90 minutes, this would also move NotiCentro's start time from 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.. Lopez also announced that with its new start time NotiCentro would go through a revamp featuring a new studio and new anchor. In May 2019, it was announced that Normando Valentín would be taking over as the sole anchor of NotiCentro ending Celimar Adames' 17-year tenure as anchor of the newscast. The revamped version of NotiCentro officially launched on May 20, 2019.
On January 30, 2020, it was reported that Katiria Soto (who had served as co-anchor of WXTV-DT's morning newscast) would be joining Normando Valentin as the new co-anchor of the evening NotiCentro newscast. This marked Soto's return to the station where she had previously hosted a news magazine called Wapa a las 4 (Wapa at 4). Soto's first episode as anchor aired on February 3, 2020.
On October 31, 2024, after nearly 44 years working at WAPA-TV, Pedro Rosa Nales retired from the station as an anchor and reporter.

## NotiCentro América

In 2004, WAPA-TV (Then known as Televicentro) launched WAPA América, a Superstation feed that would be available on cable services in the mainland United States and would allow viewers to watch local WAPA programming while living outside of Puerto Rico. In October 2014 WAPA announced that they were launching a version of their newscast that would air in the WAPA América feed called NotiCentro América (Newscenter America) and would feature a mixture of national American stories that affect viewers living in the mainland and local Puerto Rican stories that would keep the diaspora residents up to date with the happenings on the island. This version of the newscast is anchored by Felipe Gómez and airs at 8:00 p.m. ET. NotiCentro América premiered on October 13, 2014.

## NotiCentro Al Amanecer

On June 5, 2000, WAPA (then known as Televicentro) launched their own Breakfast television show, a version of their newscast that would run from 5:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. and would be called NotiCentro al Amanecer (Noticentro at Sunrise), the original anchors of NotiCentro al Amanecer were Pedro Rosa Nales and Luz Nereida Vélez who were joined by Jorge Gelpí Pagán on weather.
In 2007, the program was overhauled, Normando Valentín and Keylla Hernández joined the show as the new anchors. Pagán remained as the weather reporter and Aixa Vazquez joined in as the traffic reporter. This version of the show gained popularity among viewers due to the chemistry between Valentín and Hernandez and the laid back/good nature demeanor that the cast would have while presenting the program.
In 2015, Keylla Hernández was diagnosed with lung cancer. Hernández made the surprising announcement during one of her segments on the show and reassured viewers she would be going through intense treatment to battle it. Throughout her treatment, Hernández continued anchoring the show and participating in major activities like anniversaries and holiday celebrations. On December 31, 2018, Keylla Hernández passed away after a three-year battle with cancer. Her passing led to major changes on the program with her co-anchor Normando Valentín leaving the show to host the evening newscast.
In 2019, Mónika Candelaria and Jorge Gelpí Pagán were officially named the new anchors of NotiCentro Al Amanecer, they would be joined by Aixa Vazquez in traffic and Ada Monzón in the weather report.
On January 21, 2021, a major change was announced to Noticentro al Amanecer with the arrival of Yizette Cifredo and José Santana. Cifredo and Santana jumped from TeleOnce to join NotiCentro al Amanecer in its new format. Starting January 28, 2021, the show would now be split into two with the program running a straight newscast from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. and then at 8:00 a.m. Cifredo and Santana join the show for the magazine portion of the show which would focus on guest interviews, entertainment news, cooking segment, among other variety segments.
In 2021, weather reporter, Ada Monzón was promoted to the evening newscast thus leaving NotiCentro al Amanecer. Carlos Omar Rivera was introduced as her successor on June 3, 2022.

## On-air Staff
### Current on-air staff
#### Anchors

* Normando Valentín - Edición Estelar
* Katiria Soto - Edición Estelar
* Jorge Gelpí Pagán - NotiCentro al Amanecer
* Mónika Candelaria - NotiCentro al Amanecer / Primera Edición
* Guillermo José Torres, Jr. - NotiCentro 11am
* Felipe Gómez - Edición Nocturna / NotiCentro América / En Una Semana
* Luisa Benítez - Fin de Semana

#### Weather

* Ada Monzón - Chief Meteorologist / Edición Estelar / Edición Nocturna (weekdays)
* Carlos Omar Rivera - NotiCentro al Amanecer / NotiCentro 11am
* Suheily López Belén - Fin de Semana / Edición Nocturna (Monday-Wednesday)
* Cherilyn Toro - fill-in meteorologist

#### Collaborators

* Yizette Cifredo - Host, NotiCentro Al Amanecer
* José Santana - Host, NotiCentro Al Amanecer
* Aixa Vazquez - Host, NotiCentro Al Amanecer / Traffic Reporter
* Luz Nereida Vélez - Health Correspondent / Field Reporter
* Nicole Chacón - Entertainment reporter
* José Vega Santana "Remi"
* Jay Fonseca - political analyst

#### Sports

(Sports personnel also works for the station's sports network WAPA Deportes)
* Albert Cruz
* Kefren Velázquez
* Natalia Meléndez

#### Reporters

* Kelvin Meléndez - Field reporter
* Sylvia Verónica Camacho - Field reporter / Fill-in anchor
* Sylvi Escoto - Field reporter
* Tatiana Pérez Ramos - Field reporter
* Tatiana Ortiz - Field and investigative reporter
* Alanis Quiñones - Field reporter
* Jamiebeth González - Field reporter
* Adriana Rozas Rivera - Field reporter

### Former on-air staff

* Guillermo José Torres (retired)
* Kike Cruz (retired, later at TeleOnce)
* Pedro Rosa Nales (retired)
* Rafael Bracero (retired)
* Keylla Hernandez (deceased)
* Celimar Adames Casalduc (now at TeleOnce)
* Deborah Martorell (now at TeleOnce)
* Rafael Lenin López (now at Telemundo and Magic Radio Network)
* Julio Rivera Saniel (now at Telemundo)
* Luis Guardiola (now at Telemundo)
* José Esteves (now at Telemundo)
* Walter Soto León (now at Telemundo)
* Efren Arroyo (deceased)
* Alberto Rullán (now at WWSI)
* Ariel Rivera Vázquez (now at KVDA)
* Arnaldo Rojas (now at TeleOnce)
* Orlando Rivera Martinez
* Maritza Cañizares (retired)
* Mardelis Jusino (now at ABC Puerto Rico)
* Luis Rigual (deceased)
* Yesenia Torres Figueroa (now at Univision and TeleOnce)
* Juan Manuel García Passalacqua (deceased)
* Ada Torres Toro (previously at WSJN-TV)
* Cyd Marie Fleming (now at TeleOnce)
* Sylvia Gómez (later at Telemundo, now semiretired)
* Carmen Jovet (now at ABC Puerto Rico)
* Carmen Dominicci
* Barbara Bermudo (later at Univision)
* Elizabeth Robaina (now at Telemundo)
* Néstor Flecha (now at KXTX-TV)
* Syrmarie Villalobos (now at KXTX-TV)
* Jennifer Wolff (later at TeleOnce and Telemundo, deceased)
* Maricarmen Ortiz (now at TeleOnce)
* Reina Mateo (now at TeleOnce)
* Zoe Laboy (now at TeleOnce)
* Lourdes del Río (now at Univision)
* Leslie Cruz (retired)
* Luis Francisco Ojeda (later at WKAQ-AM)
* Carlos Díaz Olivo (now at Telemundo)
* Alexandra Lúgaro (now at TeleOnce and MoluscoTV)

## Anchor Controversies
### Celimar Adames Discrimination Lawsuit

On February 20, 2020, Celimar Adames Casalduc filed a lawsuit against the parent company of WAPA-TV (Televicentro de Puerto Rico) citing Discrimination in employment; Law of Equal Pay; Reprisal. The lawsuit stemmed from the decision the station made a year before of removing her from her post as co-anchor (a position she held for 27 years). The station expressed they wanted to present the newscast with only one anchor in the studio which would be Normando Valentin, however, eight months later the station hired Katiria Soto as Valentin's new co-anchor for the evening newscast.
In the lawsuit, Adames stated that she had been bringing up to WAPA management issues with pay disparity during every contract negotiation she's had with them dating back to 2006 but the issue was never resolved. The issue became more apparent after Guillermo Jose Torres retired and Rafael Lenin Lopez was promoted to anchor, Adames states that Lenin was awarded a pay increase that had him earning more money than her even though they were doing the same amount of work and Adames had more experience in the position.
Additionally, the lawsuit states that during contract negotiations in 2018, WAPA tried to include a clause that would prohibit her from discussing her contract or her salary with any of her coworkers. Through her lawyer Adames informed management that they had to remove this clause from the contract and once again brought up the pay disparity between her and her male colleagues, in response WAPA removed her as anchor and changed the format of the newscast.
As terms of the lawsuit, Adames requested back pay for the time where she had been away from her position as anchor and she also requested to be reinstated as anchor of the evening newscast.
In June 2021, Adames left WAPA after 30 years at the station. She was joined by meteorologist Deborah Martorell (who had worked at the station for 27 years) as they both accepted offers to join rival station TeleOnce and their relaunched newscast Las Noticias. In October 2021, Celimar Adames and WAPA-TV reached a settlement on the lawsuit the terms of which are confidential.

### Pedro Rosa Nales

On December 11, 2020, yet another lawsuit was filed by the anchor of the night time broadcast and the U.S. mainland broadcast, Pedro Rosa Nales. In his lawsuit, Rosa Nales made claims similar to those of Celimar Adames where he claims there was a pay disparity between him and other anchors that were doing a lesser amount of work. The lawsuit states that at some point Rosa Nales was the anchor of up to three different editions of the newscast but was still being paid less than reporters that were only anchoring one edition. Rosa Nales states in the lawsuit he believes the difference in salary stemmed from discrimination because of his age and race and he claimed $2.5 million in damages. Rosa Nales settled the lawsuit with WAPA in May 2023 with the terms of the settlement remaining confidential. Rosa Nales continued to work for NotiCentro anchoring the weekday 11:00 p.m. broadcast and the U.S. Mainland edition of the newscast until his retirement on October 31, 2024.