Michigan Radio Newsroom

News and Production Staff

Michigan Radio offers internships in its newsroom and production departments. Check our employment page for current openings.

Newsroom

Julia Field

Julia recently graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Urban Studies. Having spent the last two summers interning for a Detroit nonprofit and a NGO in India, she decided to dabble in online news journalism. As a university student, she was involved in the student organization, Human Rights Through Education and the Detroit Partnership.  Although she was raised in rural West Michigan, much of her time at the university was spent either in Detroit or studying it. She is interested in urban planning and policy, community redevelopment, and public health issues. After her internship this summer, she leaves for the Dominican Republic as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Rebecca Guerriero

Rebecca Guerriero is a senior at the University of Michigan studying in the Program in the Environment (Environmental Science). She is a Graham Sustainability Scholar and focuses her studies on water resource management and sustainable city growth and development. Rebecca is from Northville, Michigan and loves everything “Pure Michigan” – it is her dream to visit every Great Lakes lighthouse. Rebecca is writing her Senior Honors Thesis on sustainable golf course design and management. She works at NOAA’s Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Center as a research assistant and webmaster and as a summer orientation Peer Academic Advisor for the Honors Program. She enjoys coffee, camping, traveling, the Italian language, the West Wing, and a good stack of books. Her perfect idea of happiness is playing pond hockey with the 1980 Olympic Team. After graduation, Rebecca plans to trek across Canada and watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy in one sitting for the first time.

Lindsay Hall

Lindsay Hall is a senior studying Political Science and Psychology at the University of Michigan. She was born in Cape Town, South Africa and moved with her family to Ann Arbor when at five years old. Last winter term Lindsay was fortunate enough to return to South Africa to study at the University of Cape Town and pursue interests in early childhood education and development as a mentor at a local primary school. She is excited for the opportunity to join the Michigan Radio team this semester and experience what it is like to work within the field of communications.

Sarah Kerson

Sarah is an Ann Arbor native and a graduate of Community High School, where she was an editor of its online student newspaper. She spent her freshman year of college at the University of Vermont studying the social sciences and worked as an investigative reporter for UVM's student newspaper. Sarah also enjoys writing poetry, and was a finalist in the 2012 Ann Arbor Youth Poetry Slam. She is excited to expand her journalism and media experience to public radio.

Melanie Kruvelis

Melanie is a rising senior at the University of Michigan, studying Political Science. A Michigan native, Melanie serves as the Editorial Page Editor at The Michigan Daily, managing a staff of more than 40 columnists, bloggers and editorial board members during the school year. Last winter, Melanie spent five months in Madrid, taking classes at a local university and traveling as much as humanly possible on the weekends. She enjoys all things 90s, ukuleles, and the oxford comma.

Lucy Perkins

Lucy is from Suttons Bay, Michigan and is a senior at the University of Michigan, studying English and Communications. She has worked as an Arts writer for The Michigan Daily, as a writing workshop facilitator for the Prison Creative Arts Project, and as an editorial intern at Traverse Magazine. Last year, Lucy spent five months in Buenos Aires, Argentina taking classes and squeezing in weekend travels whenever possible. While in Buenos Aires, she interned for an English newspaper, The Argentina Independent. Lucy is interested in print and radio, and wants to tell real stories, especially about people who may not otherwise have a voice. She enjoys reading, eating barbecue pizza, and playing with puppies.

Dr. Nishant Sekaran

Nishant has been a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Michigan Medical School, and is a staff physician at the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. He has an M.D. degree from Vanderbilt University, and an M.Science in Health Related Research from the University of Michigan. Among his peer reviewed publications are “Hot unstable angina—is it worse than subacute unstable angina?” You can schedule an office visit with Dr. Sekaran to get the answer to that question. 

Chris Zollars

Chris is your basic born again journalist.  He reawakened his enthusiasm for radio news after years in the corporate sector writing and producing video and interactive marketing and training projects.  He holds a Masters in Journalism from the University of Illinois and a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communications from Southern Illinois University.  Chris started his journalism travels at his town’s daily paper as a teenager and during his undergrad also worked at SIU-Edwardsville’s NPR affiliate (WSIE-FM).   Chris then served five years as a commissioned officer in the US Coast Guard and was Managing Editor/Internal Relations Manager during the first Gulf War.  While in graduate school, he worked in the newsroom at WDWS-AM/WHMS-FM in Champaign, Illinois, and at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications specializing in science/technology stories.  He and his wife live up near Fenton with their 2 dogs, 2 birds, and 7 horses.

State of Opportunity

Kimberly Springer

Kimberly is excited to be back in public radio after several years spent teaching at the university and researching level in the US and abroad in London. She is currently a student in UM's School of Information Master of Science program specializing in social computing and archives/records management. Kimberly’s goal is to work in social media and/or digital archives and curation. To that end, she spends most of her spare time "curating" her Spotify collection, waiting for Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead to come back, and planning for zombie apocalypse. Ask her: she has a plan.

Stateside

Austin Davis

Austin Davis is a sophomore at the University of Michigan pursuing a degree in German Language and Communications Studies. He grew up not too far away from Ann Arbor in Rochester Hills, Michigan where his family still resides.  Although he is unsure of his future career path, he hopes to do work in global reporting/journalism and multi-media production. Although this is Austin’s first time working in a radio station, he has previous experience writing for an online publication and working on local political campaigns. He has thoroughly enjoyed his time here at Michigan Radio, and is excited for the further prospects of this internship.

Operations

Chrissy Zamaron

Crissy is the Operations Intern at Michigan Radio and a senior at U of M earning her BA in both English Language and Literature and Spanish Language and Culture. She has a passion for the art of storytelling and is a genuine NPR fanatic. After graduating this May, she hopes to stay in the public radio family by gaining a position at any one of her favorite NPR shows. Outside of her internship, Crissy loves Latin dancing, singing and endless hours of television crime dramas.

Pages

Law
1:13 pm
Wed June 19, 2013

No Hoffa: FBI officials call off search for Teamsters boss

Jimmy Hoffa on WESW-TV's Morning Exchange program sometime between 1971 and 1975.
Credit WEWS-TV / YouTube
An above-ground Jimmy Hoffa.

A search for ex-Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa was called off this afternoon, Joseph Lichterman of Reuters reported. 

On Monday, authorities from the FBI began digging in Oakland Township, MI in search of Hoffa's body. Anthony Zerrili, an 85-year-old alleged mobster tipped off the agency, saying that Hoffa had been hit with a shovel and buried alive in a field near Detroit. 

Read more
Politics & Government
10:57 am
Wed June 19, 2013

Mike Duggan bows out of Detroit mayoral race

Credit Kate Wells / Michigan Radio
Mike Duggan, left.

At a press conference early this morning, Mike Duggan announced he is officially withdrawing from Detroit’s mayoral race.

Duggan, the former CEO of the Detroit Medical Center, was kicked off the mayoral ballot last week after the Third Circuit Court ruled that he did not meet the residency requirement in Detroit’s electoral law. The Michigan Court of Appeals upheld that decision. Duggan declined to appeal that ruling.

Read more
Politics & Government
10:00 am
Wed June 19, 2013

Detroit City councilman Kenyatta quitting on Friday

Credit Sarah Hulett / MIchigan Radio
Detroit City Council member Kwame Kenyatta, center.

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit City Council member Kwame Kenyatta says he quitting Friday.

Kenyatta didn't give a specific reason to radio station WWJ, but he says the council is virtually powerless now that Detroit is being run by an emergency manager. 

Kenyatta also has been dealing with health problems that he hasn't publicly discussed in detail. After two terms, he didn't plan to run for re-election this year.

Kenyatta has been critical of Mayor Dave Bing and the state's intervention in Detroit's poor finances. He made headlines in 2008 when he gave up on his foreclosed home, one of a handful of council members who had financial problems. 

Detroit council members make about $74,000 a year.

Politics & Government
8:37 am
Wed June 19, 2013

This week in Michigan politics: Medicaid in the Senate, Snyder in Israel, Mike Duggan off the ballot

Credit Matthileo / Flickr

Week in Michigan politics interview for 6/19/2013

This week in Michigan politics, Jack Lessenberry and Emily Fox discuss the state of Medicaid expansion in the Michigan Senate, Governor Snyder's trade mission to Israel, and the political future of Mike Duggan in Detroit.

Read more
Politics & Government
8:11 am
Wed June 19, 2013

In this morning's news: Chrysler recall, disaster declaration in MI, Detroit Zoo and DIA saved

Credit User: Brother O'Mara / Flickr
Morning News Roundup for Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Chrysler waves the white flag

Chrysler is now agreeing to recall some 2.7 million older model Jeeps. At first, Chrysler refused to recall the cars and the company maintains the vehicles are not defective. Safety regulators say 1993 to 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2002-2007 Jeep Liberty Vehicles can catch on fire when they're rear-ended. The design flaw has killed 51 people in fiery crashes.

Michigan counties will receive disaster relief

President Obama has approved a disaster declaration for 16 Michigan counties hard hit by spring floods. The declaration will help communities repair and rebuild roads, bridges and other public infrastructure damaged in the flooding. This does not include assistance for individuals or businesses. State and federal agencies will soon hold briefings across the state to help communities understand and start the application process.  

The Detroit Zoo and the DIA are safe

Legislation was signed into law yesterday allowing the Detroit Zoo and the Detroit Institute of Arts to get millions of dollars in tax revenues as promised from the metro region. Several metro cities were skimming some of the revenue generated by multi-county millages voters approved to support the zoo and the museum.

Newsmaker Interviews
4:53 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Detroiters cautiously optimistic about Kevyn Orr's plan

Credit State of Michigan
Kevyn Orr, Detroit's emergency manager.

Detroit's Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, has laid out his plan to restructure Detroit's finances, and he has spread the pain around.

He ended payment on unsecured debt, he is negotiating with creditors to take significantly less than the money they're owed, and he's looking to city employees and retirees to sacrifice financially as well.

Read more
Law
4:37 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

The dig continues in hopes of finding Jimmy Hoffa

Jimmy Hoffa on WESW-TV's Morning Exchange program sometime between 1971 and 1975.
Credit WEWS-TV / YouTube

Update 6/19: 

The search is over, Reuters reported this afternoon. FBI officials left the field in Oakland Township without a body.  

Update 4:25 p.m.:

Detroit News reporter Tony Briscoe is tweeting live from the dig.

Read more
Law
4:22 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Judge declares a mistrial in the Aiyana Stanley-Jones case

Credit user: 4WardEver UK / Flickr
Aiyana Stanley- Jones was seven-years-old when Officer Joseph Weekley shot her

Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Cynthia Gray Hathaway said today the trial of Detroit Police officer Joseph Weekley ended with a hung jury.

Weekly was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of seven year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in 2010.

According to Elisha Anderson of the Detroit Free Press, the jurors sent a note to Hathaway earlier today as they deliberated, saying there was no "significant movement." The jury was "stuck."

Read more
Auto
4:01 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Solar car team at UM reveals its new car called 'Generation'

The Solar Car team at the University of Michigan unveiled its newest car today.

The car is called “Generation” and it will represent the U of M team in The World Solar Challenge this fall.

Read more
Auto
3:49 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Google and Ford have cars driven by robots, but will cars think for themselves someday?

Credit Ford / YouTube
Ford's new transit van being tested using robotic driving components.

Ford Motor Company recently started testing its cars with the help of robots.

The company does robotic testing on vehicles for durability at the Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo, according to a recent story from MLive.

Michael Wayland reported that Ford has used robots to test drive eight of its vehicles, including several truck models as well as the Fiesta.

Read more
1:05 pm
Tue June 18, 2013

Want to know where to get the best burger in Michigan? These men did the research.

Lead in text: 
John Gonzalez, David Kutzko, and Fritz Klug spent 6 days sampling 33 hamburgers to find the best of the best in Michigan. They revealed the winner this morning: Laura's Little Burger Joint in Decatur. A noteworthy finalist was Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor. Blimpy Burger, which took 10th place, will be closing at the end of August. Many locals hope that they will find a new location for sometime soon.
Does anyone remember the character Wimpy from the old Popeye cartoons? Well, he is best remembered for a healthy appetite for hamburgers, and his classic phrase: "I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today." Well, today is Tuesday! And it's pay day, in a way: It's the day we announce the results of our Michigan's Best Burger search.
Politics & Government
7:41 am
Tue June 18, 2013

In this morning's news: Palisades re-opens, Detroit's water dept., MI attorney general election

Credit User: Brother O'Mara / Flickr
Morning News Roundup for Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Palisades returns to service

The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in southwestern Michigan re-opened yesterday after finishing repairs to a tank that leaked slightly radioactive water into Lake Michigan. The plant has had nine shutdowns since September 2011; company spokeswoman Lindsay Rose says the tank has been redesigned to guard against future leaks. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says there was no public health risk from the radioactive release.

Detroit's water department faces restructuring

Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr has big plans to restructure the city’s water department. It would largely keep the same governing structure, with representatives from Detroit and surrounding counties, but the authority would also pay Detroit to lease the department’s assets.

“Orr’s plan suggests that spinning the water department off to an authority would allow it refinance its debt, and borrow more readily for capital improvements,” Michigan Radio’s Sarah Cwiek reports.

MSU law professor running for Michigan attorney general

Michigan State University law professor, Mark Totten, announced yesterday that he is running for Michigan attorney general in 2014. Totten, a Democrat, used to be a federal prosecutor. Democrats will choose their attorney general candidate at a nominating convention next year; no other Democratic candidates have entered the race yet. Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette is expected to seek re-election.

Health
5:21 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

61 percent don't know if they are a danger to their babies

Credit wikimedia.org

It might be embarrassing, but expecting mothers: it is ok to tell friends and family to be vaccinated before they see your baby.

Pertussis, or Whooping Cough as it is more commonly known, is at the highest level of outbreak in the past 50 years. Ann Arbor specifically, reports a high level of the disease in their schools.

So, why does this put your newborn in danger?

Read more
Environment & Science
5:14 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Divers in Lake Michigan today hoping to solve the mystery of a 340-year-old shipwreck

  • The audio version of this story.

In northern Lake Michigan today explorers are stepping up their effort to find a ship that sank in 1679.

French and American archeologists are on the Lake looking for a ship sailed by the French explorer Robert de La Salle, the Griffin.

So far, the top marine archeologist from France says he thinks they are close to the hull of a ship in northern Lake Michigan. Michel L’Hour says the beam of wood now exposed is likely a bowsprit.

The team excavating the site says the beam is at least 20 feet long and the construction details are typical of colonial ships.

Read more
Education
4:59 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

MSU introduces new program to train autism specialists

Credit Powell K (2004). "Opening a window to the autistic brain"

For families who have children with autism, finding a specialist to care for their children can mean being put on a long wait list.

Currently, there are about 50 certified behavior analysts in the state of Michigan.

However, there are over 18,000 children with autism.

Read more
Offbeat
3:59 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Cute Michigan baby animals, we dare you to look away

Credit University of Michigan / Facebook

There were four baby peregrine falcons nesting on the roof of University Hospital at the end of April. The University Record reports this is the third year in a row that two falcons nested on the hospital roof.

A contest was held to name the babies. Today, the people running the University of Michigan's Facebook page announced the winning names:

  • Maize,
  • Blue,
  • Woodson,
  • and Howard.

The images of the cute falcon babies got us wondering, 'what can be cuter than these things?'

Read more
Politics & Government
3:41 pm
Mon June 17, 2013

Do "food stamp challenges" help?

Credit Macomb Co.
In Michigan, a "Bridge Card" is used for food assistance.

Newark Mayor Corey Booker did it.

And last week, both Congressman Sander Levin (D-Royal Oak) and Congressman Dan Kildee (D-Flint) did it.

They all made a pledge to live on the average food stamp budget for a week.

That’s roughly $31.50 for a week’s worth of food.

Read more
Politics & Government
8:12 am
Mon June 17, 2013

In this morning's news: protecting Michigan forests, new farmer's market, visit from Hillary Clinton

Credit User: Brother O'Mara / Flickr
Morning News Roundup for Monday, June 17, 2013

DNR protects Michigan forests

The state Department of Natural Resources says about 750 acres in Michigan’s northern Lower Peninsula will be protected, available for public use, and managed as a working forest. The recent announcement of a $1 million Forest Legacy Program grant for the effort is expected to help protect nearly three-quarters of a mile of Thumb Lake frontage. The 750 acres in Charlevoix County will remain in private ownership, the Associated Press reports.

Tire dump transforms into farmer's market

A site once used as a tire dump is now a farmer's market following years of work by a community, the state, and federal officials. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Rural Development provided a $40,000 grant and a $60,000 loan to help finance the project in Mecosta County. The state of Michigan helped cover the cost of tire disposal as well as a trail, fishing pier and other recreational improvements, the Associated Press reports.

Hillary Clinton comes to west Michigan

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to speak to business leaders in western Michigan today. Clinton is the guest of honor at the Economic Club of Grand Rapids' 26th annual dinner. Ready for Hillary, a self-described national grassroots group, is organizing a rally outside the event. The group hopes to encourage Clinton to run for president in 2016, the Detroit Free Press reports.

That's What They Say
8:55 am
Sun June 16, 2013

'A' vs. 'An' is rather simple, unless you're talking unicorns

Do you say “a historical event,” or “an historical event?”

On this week’s edition of “That’s What They Say,” Professor Anne Curzan of the University of Michigan and host Rina Miller discuss this confusing speech convention. As Professor Curzan points out, the inclination to use either “a” or “an” depends on the pronunciation of the “h” at the beginning of “historical.”

“Most American English speakers pronounce ‘h,’” says Curzan. “We’re not ‘h-droppers.’ In Britain a lot of the urban varieties of British English drop the ‘h,’ even in words like house you get ouse. But at the beginning of words in American English we tend to pronounce the ‘h’… so we’ll say a history.”

The issue when pronouncing historical, however, is that the stress has moved to the second syllable. This makes for a lighter-sounding “h,” and can change the article of the word.

“For speakers with a lightly pronounced ‘h,’ they will say ‘an historical,’” says Curzan. “It may be seen as a more proper pronunciation.”

Read more
Law
4:17 pm
Fri June 14, 2013

Michigan ACLU declares Ann Arbor Public Schools' decision 'unconstitutional'

ACLU
Credit Slightly North/Flickr
The ACLU of Michigan declared AAPS proposal unconstitutional

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan said that Ann Arbor Public Schools' decision to charge students $100 per semester to take a seventh hour class is illegal, because it violates the State Constitution.

The ACLU's press release cited the Michigan Constitution, which  says that "the Legislature shall maintain and support a system of free public elementary and secondary schools as defined by law."

It continued:

In Bond v Ann Arbor School District, the Michigan Supreme Court held that the guarantee of free public education extends to any school district activity that is considered a "necessary element of any school's activity" or an "integral fundamental part of the elementary and secondary education."

Read more

Pages