Longtime news anchor Allison Payne plans to return to Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Channel 9 on Monday, after having been off the air for several months.

Per WGN management, Payne had spent her time away from the station rehabilitating from a series of mini-strokes. But her rehabilitation apparently is not complete yet. Payne reportedly will focus only on anchoring WGN's early newscast at 5:30 p.m., so she can continue with her rehabilitation.

Payne was for many years a fixture on the station's flagship 9 p.m. weekday newscast.

It wasn't immediately clear if, or when, she might return to WGN's 9 p.m. news report, which now includes Mark Suppelsa as a co-anchor.