Chris Aldridge

Reporter

Midland, Michigan

From college days in Mt. Pleasant, an internship in Flint, my first full-time position at the Huron Daily Tribune, in Bad Axe, and now back home at the Midland Daily News, these are my stories and photography.

Portfolio

Features, government, business, general

Huron Daily Tribune
09/24/2014
County offers payout to assistant prosecutor

Currently, Evans remains on medical leave, after commissioners approved his request for leave on Sept. 9. Terms of a proposed separation agreement and release of claims - which will dismiss any claims by Evans against Huron County - state that the county will allow Evans to: * Leave his employment effective Sept.

Huron Daily Tribune
10/06/2015
Local farmer anticipates a successful year

"This is the best batch of beans we've ever had," he said. "Pretty much all the crops this year are going to be record yields." For Koth, that means about 20 truckloads of black beans - at $20,000 per haul. That's just for beans.

Huron Daily Tribune
04/10/2014
Spelling bee helps support program

The spelling bee pitted three rivals in the fight to see who could assemble the myriad of multi-syllabic words that comprise Merriam-Webster’s dictionary. The trio trudged onward Tuesday inside Huron Area Tech Center, claiming victory in a not-so-bloody war of words.

Huron Daily Tribune
05/01/2014
Commissioner proposes curbing mosquitoes in parks

The eggs will soon hatch, birthing the inevitable mission for blood. Flicking, swatting and scratching are quick to follow, until summer suns set and cooler fall weather arrives. That’s right — mosquito season is creeping in.

Huron Daily Tribune
06/20/2014
Finally! Summer arrives for Deckerville students

It was a year in which Principal Allen Hosler witnessed a few things he’s never seen in 34 years at the school — one that packed 19 snow days, students in the classroom on two consecutive Saturdays and a 19-day stretch with only two days spent outside of school.

Huron Daily Tribune
06/06/2015
Labor leaders: Thumb high-paying jobs go unfilled

A look at the top five jobs in skilled trades in the Thumb - as ranked by the most recent quarterly report from Michigan Works! - shows more than 1,900 openings in Genesee, Shiawassee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Tuscola and Huron counties.

Huron Daily Tribune
06/24/2014
Local heroin drug 'leader' gets more prison time

Prosecutors alleged Hatch was a leader in local heroin distribution, which Judge M. Richard Knoblock echoed in his decision Monday. The sentencing ends more than a year of investigation and litigation.

Investigative

Huron Daily Tribune
02/20/2016
Michigan Attorney General still investigating local case involving judge's son

HURON COUNTY - A year after a special agent with the state interviewed local officials, the Michigan Attorney General's Office says it is still investigating whether an alleged deal or cover-up was made between prosecutors and a former judge, whose son was arrested. The state probe stems from a letter Huron County Sheriff Kelly J.

Huron Daily Tribune
08/06/2015
Status of AG case questioned

After calling for a state investigation into the handling of a drunken driving case against the son of a former judge, Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson is blasting the Michigan Attorney General's Office for failing to be forthcoming in the process.

Huron Daily Tribune
02/21/2015
Agent begins probe into possible 'public corruption'

The allegation stems from Huron County Sheriff Kelly J. Hanson, who sent a three-page letter dated Nov. 10 to the state's Attorney General. Hanson pointed out alleged irregularities involving the June 2014 arrest and charges of Michael A. Knoblock, the son of former Huron County Circuit Judge M.

Wind energy

Huron Daily Tribune
07/15/2015
Health officer says it's hard to blame wind turbines

Gretchen Tenbusch, health officer for Huron and Tuscola counties' health departments, said she had looked at five death certificates of individuals supposedly dying from wind turbines. Her review found that three of the people were "not even in a wind farm"; one had a heart attack and wind turbines couldn't be linked to cause of death; and turbines could not have been blamed for the fourth person's death.

Huron Daily Tribune
03/04/2016
Residents: Life here is 'living nightmare'

Residents skewered county planners for helping push Huron's turbine count to 500, claiming they aren’t protecting residents and telling of the “hell” and “living nightmare” they’re now stuck with in the state’s unofficial wind capital.

Huron Daily Tribune
02/07/2015
Township leaders have their say on wind

Responses also have poured in from residents as far away as North Carolina and Wisconsin. Several attorneys, both local and statewide, have weighed in. Developers, some of whom have come forward for the first time in months, made clear the financial and potential legal impacts a six-month moratorium would have on the fate of future wind projects.

Huron Daily Tribune
03/07/2015
Wildlife experts: Huron turbines could kill thousands of bats

To clear the air on what some county officials called a "wishy-washy" stance, U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologists visited Huron County on Wednesday to affirm that wind turbines should not be sited within three miles of Great Lakes shorelines.

Huron Daily Tribune
11/21/2014
Nearly half of state's wind turbines in Huron County

As 2014 comes to a close, 328 are set to turn. It's enough for Huron County to claim 47 percent of the total turbines currently operating in Michigan, according a state listing of utility-scale wind farms in Michigan. Plans for construction next year may add 100 more.

Photos

Michigansthumb
02/27/2016
Sights unseen: 17 photos of Huron County that slipped through the cracks

I’m excited to show some of the things I’ve seen while on assignment at the Tribune that readers didn’t see in the last two years. I hope the people in them help tell more of the Thumb’s stories — specifically, all the ones that, until now, have gone untold since February 2014.

Huron Daily Tribune
05/21/2014
That time of the day

Gerry Curran, 63, strums his guitar on the porch of his Hubbard Street home in Bad Axe on Monday before sunset, fretting riffs and practicing his licks and chops to stay limber. Curran sings and plays for The Laurie Middlebrook Band, which performs country music at venues across mid-Michigan.

Huron Daily Tribune
Winter freeze

City utility workers break ground to reach a frozen water line.

Flint

Genesee County

Mlive
12/09/2013
Swartz Creek City Council approves special assessment for police, fire

SWARTZ CREEK, MI - Nearly all seats were full at a public hearing in Swartz Creek where city council voted in a 4-3 decision to fund police and fire services through a special assessment. Council members made the decision in front of more than 30 residents Monday, Dec.

Mlive
08/15/2013
Renowned Flint coach Dr. William C. Blamer's impact widespread throughout community

Blamer coached the then-Flint Junior College's basketball team (currently Mott Community College) to five state and three regional championships, holding a 148-44 record. He also served as director of the Area 13 Michigan Special Olympics and was inducted into Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame, of which he was a founding member.

Grand Central Magazine