NEWS

My first foray into local news was at the helm of Durand High School's student-produced video news program, Railroader Televsion (RTV). My good friend, William Green, and I started the program in 1994.

My first radio job came in 1996 at Supertalk 1470 WFNT in Flint. My first shift which was to begin at 12am on June 22nd, would typically consist of playing recorded commercials between syndicated program segments, but became wildly more exciting when the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for the area just prior to midnight.

On September 11th 2001, I was working at Z 92.5 The Castle (WJSZ) in Owosso. The station carried regular local newscasts, which were usually read by the station's owner, Mike Gaylord, Sr. Occasionally, in his absence, I covered news reports. But the station went wall-to-wall with non-stop coverage of the attacks and aftermath of 9/11. I hosted many hours of the day's coverage.

The following year, covering mornings at Saginaw's 100.5 The Fox (WTCF), newscasts were a daily task.

I escaped the responsibility of "doing the news" over the next nearly ten years. But by the end of the new millennium's first decade, digital had become equally as, if not more important than, radio broadcasting to Citadel Communications. The company hired me in July of 2006 to host afternoons on 105.3 Hot FM (WHTS) in Grand Rapids. In February of the following year, Citadel expanded my responsibilities, making me Program Director of "The New 97.5" WJIM-FM in Lansing. In 2010, my role within the company expanded again, when I added programming duties at 99.1 WFMK, and with these new responsibilities, a return to news. Thankfully, I wasn't reporting the news at WFMK, but overseeing a relationship that WFMK had with the local TV station, WILX, whose anchors provided morning updates for the radio station.

My return to news reporting came in 2011, when I left Citadel for Saga Communications' Mix 96.5 (WOXL) in Asheville. It was a short stay in the gorgeous mountains of North Carolina. In 2012, I returned to Lansing radio, but instead of moving back to Lansing, we moved to the city where I grew up; Durand, about 40 minutes east of Lansing. It was at this time that I decided to build on my digital experience at Citadel and launch the local news website, DurandNow.com.

In 2017, I left WFMK and WJIM and began working at Smile FM, a radio network with more than thirty stations throughout Michigan. I began by reporting traffic, but a few short months later, I was back to doing mornings, news and traffic.

In March of 2020, I left Smile FM to focus on Durand Now.

In April of 2021, I launched the streaming station, Shiawassee Radio. ...and gave myself the job of doing the news.

On May 1st 2022 I began work as Program Director and Operations Manager for longtime news/talk radio station 1590 and 99.3 WALG in Albany, Georgia.

I returned to Michigan in November of 2024, accepting the Program Director/Operations Manager position for Midwestern Broadcasting's 99.3 WATZ and 105.7 The Bird (WZTK) in Alpena.

September 1st 2025 marked thirteen years since I began publishing local news.

On September 20th 2025, I was awarded a GABBY Award from the Georgia Association of Broadcasters in the category of Best Station Produced Commercial. A true honor, and hardware to add to a collection that includes a few other awards from the Michigan Association of Broadcasters (2010, 2002) and Associated Press (2002).