Liz Quirantes walked into CBS12 in West Palm Beach as a weekend reporter in 1991, planning to keep her Miami home as a backup. Thirty-five years later, the 60-year-old anchor is finally leaving — not because the network pushed her out, but because her children have built their lives in Oklahoma and grandchildren may soon follow.
Quirantes will deliver her final newscast on May 29, 2026, bringing to a close a career that made her what the station has described as “one of the defining voices” of CBS12. She currently anchors four nightly broadcasts: the 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. shows.
The retirement announcement came April 27 and was first shared by WPEC. Her departure arrives amid a chaotic period at CBS News marked by restructuring, budget cuts and high-profile exits following the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger.
Family Calls Her to Oklahoma
The pull westward wasn’t sudden. Quirantes said her two adult children have both relocated to Oklahoma, and the possibility of becoming a grandmother sealed her decision to retire and follow them.
“What really solidified my decision was when my children started talking about starting their own families. That’s kind of like, OK, they’re not coming back to Florida,” she said. “They’re in Oklahoma, and they’re doing very well, so mom and dad need to go there.”
She and her husband plan to move after her sign-off. In an interview, she told The Daily Beast she hopes to be remembered as “a devoted mom, a devoted wife, a good Christian, and an excellent journalist.”
Three and a Half Decades of Covering South Florida
CBS12 was Quirantes’ second job after college. Her first was at a cable news station in Miami, where she and her husband maintained a house even after she took the West Palm Beach gig.
“I didn’t even sell our home in Miami because we intended to go back to Miami and I would apply to a broadcast station there,” she told CBS12.
But she never left. Her tenure included coverage of major events that shaped South Florida, from the September 11 attacks to a succession of devastating hurricanes. In August 1992, just one year into her job, she reported from Homestead in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.
Her work earned her two Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards — one for covering the Parkland school shooting in 2018, and another for her reporting in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian’s destruction in 2019.
Leaving During Network Turmoil
While Quirantes insists her decision was personal, the timing coincides with unprecedented upheaval at CBS News. Since Bari Weiss became editor-in-chief in October 2025, the network has undergone sweeping layoffs and restructuring triggered by the Paramount Global and Skydance Media merger, which closed in August 2025.
CBS Evening News co-anchors Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson both left in December 2025 during the shake-up, with former CBS Mornings host Tony Dokoupil stepping in as replacement. CBS Mornings host Gayle King reportedly took a significant pay cut during her contract renegotiation, according to industry reporting.
Unlike many colleagues at the network level, Quirantes made it clear she was not offered a buyout and was not forced out. Her exit is voluntary, driven by where her family has gone.
Fans React to the News
Longtime viewers responded swiftly to the announcement, flooding social media with tributes. Many called Quirantes “a true local legend” and said the station’s newscasts “won’t be the same without her.”
Quirantes acknowledged the difficulty of stepping away from the community she has served for more than three decades.
“It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to the viewers, to the staff, and to my life here. I’m going to miss this,” she said.
Her career spanned the transformation of local television from analog to digital, the rise of cable news cycles and the consolidation pressures now hitting her parent network. After May 29, the anchor desk she occupied for years will need a new face. Who that will be remains uncertain.
What is clear is that after 35 years of delivering the news to South Florida, Quirantes will be reporting from a different place — one with Oklahoma sunsets, family nearby, and no 11 p.m. deadline.