Early in his professional journalism career, Kovaleski was a reporter for television stations
KIEM-TV in
Eureka, California;
KTVN in
Reno, Nevada;
KNXV and
KTVK in
Phoenix, Arizona; and
KPRC-TV in
Houston. Kovaleski first joined
KMGH in
Denver as an investigative reporter in June 2001. In the summer of 2008, while at KMGH-TV in Denver, Kovaleski aired a series of stories that chronicled problems with emergency ambulance service in Denver including response times that were nearly double the national standard. The stories also showed there was no permanently stationed ambulance at
Denver International Airport even though the facility was more than twenty miles from the city center. In December 2008, more than 100 people were on
Continental Airlines Flight 1404 when the pilot lost control. The plane slid off Runway 34 Right and burst into flames during take-off. Kovaleski obtained records of the ambulance response showing the first emergency ambulance needed 33 minutes to reach the scene. The investigative documentary "33 Minutes to 34 Right" aired in March, 2009 and lead to significant changes in Denver's ambulance procedures and policies including the permanent assignment of an ambulance at DIA. In May 2010, Kovaleski reported on several state-appointed board members of Pinnacol Assurance accepting gifts and an all- expense-paid trip to
Pebble Beach. The board was tasked with oversight of Pinnacol Assurance including the agency's spending. Kovaleski's investigation forced an overhaul of the board including the appointment of a new president and the implementation of strict regulations on travel and gifts accepted by board members. Hired on November 10, 2011, Kovaleski became chief investigative reporter at
KNTV in
San Jose, California in 2012. A 2012 story revealed that the
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) had the worst
fare evasion rate among
San Francisco Bay Area transit agencies at 7.2 percent; the story resulted in VTA implementing new measures to enforce fare payments, such as hiring inspectors and adding notice signs to stations. KMGH re-hired Kovaleski November 11, 2015, as investigative reporter. In addition to his regular duties with KMGH, station owner
The E.W. Scripps Company also made Kovaleski an investigative reporting trainer for journalists on other Scripps stations. ==Awards==