Heidi Collins, former CNN Newsroom anchor who left the network in January, will sign on as the new co-anchor of the 5pm and 9pm news bulletins at Fox 9 Minneapolis in early October.

Following the announcement by Fox 9, Collins spoke with Amy Carlson Gustafson from TwinCities.com.

Q In January, did CNN let you go or how did that work with you leaving the station?

A "That's not even remotely close to the truth. I was offered a two-year extension on the contract I had already completed and we never came to terms. My contract with them was actually just complete in August. It was interesting how all that was written at the time — not at the fault of CNN. CNN said we were going our separate ways, but the way it was written in a lot of different places was that they chose not to renew my contract. No one ever called me for an interview, so I just decided whatever. Onward and upward."

Q CNN is a national cable network and now you're coming to a smaller, local TV market. Why?

A "First of all because of my home and getting back with the family. Quite frankly, I've always loved Minnesota. I talked about it on my show at least on a weekly basis. My regular viewers were very aware I was a native Minnesotan and a Vikings fan. It just was truly the very first opportunity I've ever had to come back, especially in this type of job situation. A main anchor position most certainly for Fox would be my No. 1 choice. And to have it be in Minnesota is a total knockout, a win-win for me and my entire family. On a professional level, there's a lot going on in Minnesota both politically and news-wise that I really want to be a part of. I'm lucky it's going to be with Fox. I know they had a great night on Saturday winning all those (regional) Emmys. They're really on a roll and I'm thrilled to be walking into such a successful station."

Q So what have you been up to since leaving CNN?

A "Mostly I've been taking care of my family. It was a real tough time for us. Services for my father-in-law were in May, early June — they went on for quite a while, it's a large family and we had a lot of people to see and gather. We then got in a car and traveled 6,000 miles out west and took the kids and did a little bit of healing in all the national parks."

As we reported on January 8th, today was Heidi Collins' last day with the network. During her 9-11 AM ET CNN Newsroom show today, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta and CNN Meterologist Rob Marciano both praised Heidi for her work.

Here is what Heidi had to say on-air about leaving CNN.

"I'm Heidi Collins. And before we leave you today, I'd like to take a really short second to say goodbye to you. I will be leaving CNN after nearly eight years of broadcasting to you from out in the field and from pretty much every anchor chair that exists at the network.

Somehow, though, you at home have been gracious enough to find me where I landed, and you took the time to watch. I appreciate that very much.

Here I go with the cheesy again. Without a doubt it's you, the viewers, that I will miss the most.

We will be back, though, with much, much [more] important things in the world, like what is happening in Haiti. We'll get you to that after a quick break right here in the CNN NEWSROOM."

This week, three fan-favorites have announced they are leaving CNN.

With the announced CNN Newsroom anchor shakeup, it left Heidi Collins without an anchoring spot. She will be leaving CNN on Friday, January 15th. After joining CNN Worldwide seven years ago as a news anchor for what was then CNN Headline News, she has become a news anchor for American Morning, The Situation Room, Anderson Cooper 360° and CNN Newsroom. No further information has been announced about her future plans.

Abbi Tatton's last broadcast on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer was today. Abbi has been with the Washington DC bureau of CNN since 2000, working as a political producer/production coordinator for CNN Election Express and a producer for such shows as Inside Politics, Crossfire and On The Story.

On Tonight's Anderson Cooper 360°, Anderson announced that Erica is "moving on to an exciting future at CBS News." Hill began filling in on the weekend edition of the CBS Early Show in August 2008, and was named a co-anchor in September 2008. She joined CNN Worldwide in January 2003 as an anchor for then - Headline News, then moving to host Prime News with Erica Hill before leaving Atlanta to join Anderson Cooper 360° in New York in February 2008.

We wish them all the best.

Look for Bonnie Schneider tomorrow, December 24, on CNN's American Morning (6-9 AM ET) and on the morning editions of CNN Newsroom with Heidi Collins (9-11 AM ET) and Tony Harris (11 AM-1 PM ET).

CNN Newsroom is going the way of Headine News and changing to a single anchor format. TVNewser has more details. Here is the new lineup, beginning September 8th.

9:00-11:00 AM ET - Heidi Collins
11:00 AM-1:00 PM ET - Tony Harris
1:00-3:00 PM ET - Kyra Phillips
3:00-4:00 PM ET - Rick Sanchez

Don Lemon moves to the weekend evening broadcasts.

I guess this answers our questions about what is happening with Your World Today on CNN Domestic.

During the 10:00 AM ET hour of CNN Newsroom today, Heidi Collins asked Stephanie Elam if she'd gotten recently engaged, noticing a ring on her finger. Stephanie confirmed that she got engaged this weekend. Congratulations to her!

Fredricka Whitfield was in for Heidi Collins and Tony Harris this morning, not sounding too well. Her voice is sounding a little scratchy as she fights off sickness, so CNN brought in Rob Marciano to assist her beginning with the 10:00 AM Eastern hour.

Suzanne Malveaux is in for Kyra Phillips today on CNN Newsroom. Is this her first "fill-in" from Atlanta? I know she's filled in on The Situation Room before.

Betty Nguyen was in for Heidi Collins this morning on CNN Newsroom.

At 1059 gmt, Adrian Finighan in London introduced a live simulcast of CNN American Morning for continuing coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting massacre. John Roberts and Kiran Chetry were live on-location at Virginia Tech.

CNN/I continued with CNN Newsroom as well.