Illinois TV newsman with brain cancer gives up anchor desk

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois television newsman fighting brain cancer is giving up his anchor's chair.

During a newscast Monday, Dave Benton told viewers of WCIA-TV in Champaign the cancer has made it difficult for him to read, so he'll no longer anchor newscasts. He says he'll work behind the scenes at the station and provide taped segments on local crime.

Benton says he learned two weeks ago that a tumor in his brain has grown and steps to treat it haven't worked.

Benton had anchored WCIA's evening newscasts for about 9½ years.

Benton has a wife and two adult children. He grew up in Addison, a Chicago suburb, and graduated from Northern Illinois University.

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