After 47 Years of Uncovering West Michigan’s Biggest Stories, WOOD TV8’s Ken Kolker Bids a Heartfelt Farewell

To do something for nearly 50 years is quiet an amazing accomplishment.

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A great example of this is Target 8 investigator Ken Kolker who has retired after an impressive 47-year career in journalism.

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Kolker did a sit-down interview with WOOD TV 8's Brian Sterling about his career and one of my favorite parts is when Kolker shared how he got his break at the Grand Rapids Press.

“The back door of the Press building, get around the secretary, go upstairs, go down the hallway and there’s Bob Becker, the sports editor, so he had no idea what was coming. I just showed up with only six clips (of my writing)."

After spending three years at The Grand Rapids Press, Kolker got his first full-time reporting gig on the east side of the state at The Saginaw News.

Then after 30 years of working in the newspaper Kolker made the move to TV taking a job in 2009 at Wood TV 8 as part of the Target 8 investigation team.

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Over all of his years as a journalist, Kolker shared that out of all the stories he covered, the disappearance of Deanie Peters is the one that stayed with him.

“You know when you talk to her mom, you just feel for Deanie’s mom and her these friends who you know still no clue whatever happened to Deanie Peters

Congratulations to Kolker on an incredible career, thanks for all that you did to help keep West Michigan informed and shed light on important stories.