Thomas Tolen

• Covered innumerable government meetings over the years such as local boards of education (primarily Brighton and Howell), along with Brighton and Howell city councils, Livingston County Board of Commissioners and various township boards of trustees (Brighton, Green Oak, Hamburg, Genoa, Hartland, Marion, Putnam, Unadilla and Howell Twp.). Also covered and wrote/recorded stories on public hearings and news conferences involving state and area lawmakers, covered various court trials and other court proceedings.
• Anchored, wrote, edited and recorded weekend news. This included calling area sheriff's and fire departments, Michigan State Police and local city and township police in Livingston County and the surrounding area to get breaking news, along with information on fatal accidents, crime incidents and major fires.
• Helped grow online readership through reliable reporting on relevant news and events impacting community.
• Wrote stories for two local/area print newspapers and assisted in designing page layouts.
• Trained junior staff members on how to write/report breaking news stories, style guidelines and organization procedures.
• Developed news content for online publication and helped increase online readership by 30%.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY:

• 1963-70: Started out as a DJ at WHAK-AM, a 5,000-watt regional station in Rogers City, MI, that had listeners as far away as Canada. After a few years hosting record programs and doing production, I started covering news assignments such as city council and school board meetings and was appointed news director in 1968.
• In 1970 the station owner promoted me to news director at WHSB-FM, a 100,000-watt regional station in Alpena, MI, which covered most of Northern Lower Michigan. In 1980 I had an exclusive, 1-on-1 interview with George Herbert Walker Bush, during his first campaign for the presidency. I held the WHSB position until 1984, when I was hired as news director at WCCW AM-FM in Traverse City, MI, a position I held for four years.
• In 1988 I was hired as news director at sister stations WQKL (KOOL-107) and WPZA-AM (later WTKA), whose studios were located at Domino’s Farms in Ann Arbor. I held the position for over five years until the stations changed ownership and ended local news coverage. I then temporarily left radio and began working for the Ann Arbor News as a reporter, covering Livingston County, which I did for several years.
• After the Livingston Community News, a weekly paper owned by the parent Ann Arbor News (with offices in Brighton) was established, I started working there as a reporter. I covered Brighton City Council, Brighton Board of Education, Howell Board of Education and Livingston County Board of Commissioners meetings, along with area township board meetings.
• Eventually, I asked the editor if I could also work part-time at WHMI radio, an FM station licensed to both Howell and Brighton. Although the station and newspaper were nominally competitors for the same advertising dollars, he gave me permission to work there in my free time. The Livingston Community News lasted approximately 10 years, until 2009, before folding.
• At WHMI, I have covered countless local government meetings in my over 30 years there, such as Livingston County Board of Commissioners, Brighton Area Schools, Brighton City Council, Howell City Council, and some of the surrounding area township boards. Although my workload is now less than it formerly was, I still cover occasional government meetings - such as the Brighton Area Schools Board of Education and Brighton City Council.
• I am also the caregiver for my wife, who is disabled, and take her to her doctor's appointments, as well as providing for her everyday needs such as making her meals, helping her dress, doing laundry and giving her her daily medications.
• Note: References available upon request