Ken Kolker, Reporter

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Ken Kolker joined 24 Hour News 8 in January 2009 after 30 years as a newspaper reporter. He started his work as a correspondent at The Grand Rapids Press in 1979 before moving to The Saginaw News in 1982. He returned to The Press in 1986, where he covered police and crime, courts, government, transportation and the environment. He also has worked as an investigative reporter.

Among his accomplishments: Tracking down a serial killer who had eluded the FBI while at the same time clearing an innocent man; uncovering the shoddy work of housing inspectors; revealing the inaccurate work of courtroom interpreters, leading to changes in state law; exposing police who were "shaking" down black teens without evidence of drug dealing; detailing major flaws in Kent County's 911 dispatch system; tracking trains that carried dangerous chemicals on unsafe rails through communities ill-prepared for disaster.

Ken's work has won more than three-dozen state and national reporting and writing awards, including Investigative Reporters & Editors top national prize, Associated Press sweepstakes award, Michigan Bar Association Advancement of Justice, the American Bar Association Silver Gavel, and the University of Michigan Political Reporting Award.

Ken grew up in West Michigan -- in the cities of Rockford and Wyoming. He lives in the Grand Rapids area with his wife, Hope, and five children.