Published works

News and feature stories
Tri-City Times
December 2020

Could the pandemic be producing more pairings? Local jeweler Jeff Johnson certainly thinks so. “I’ve never sold so many wedding rings as I have lately. There has definitely been a big upswing in weddings,” said the owner of Imlay City’s Gem and Diamond Specialists.

Tri-City Times
November 2020
A California-based company is making plans to construct a commercial size solar array on land in Goodland Township.

Tri-City Times
October 2020
Three funding requests will appear on all Lapeer County general election ballots. Among them is a proposal from Lapeer County Central Dispatch to increase the current 911 surcharge rate.

Tri-City Times
July 2020
The creation of a new school garden this spring hasn’t exactly gone as planned but the tomato plants don’t seem to care. They and a dozen other kinds of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs are flourishing in a collection of raised beds on the site of former tennis courts behind Weston Elementary School thanks to the expertise of Scott Aldridge. 

Opinion pieces
Tri-City Times editorial
December 2020
This has been a challenging year for just about every entity and schools are no exception. Unfortunately, Almont Community Schools was thrown an extra curveball last month when a wind storm toppled trees that took out power lines.

Tri-City Times editorial
February 2021
Scholarship season is here. If you’re a soon-to-be or recent graduate or the parent of one looking to get some help paying for college or trade school, this can be both an exciting and nerve-wracking moment.

Magazine features
Seed World magazine
February 2014
The adage referring to the circuitous nature of things—“what’s old is new again”—could be an apt description for today’s floriculture industry. Growers, whether they churn out a thousand flats of bedding plants or plant a few sunflowers for cutting, seem to want the same thing—flowers that are familiar, but with a new twist.

Seed World magazine
January 2013
Since the Great Recession, Americans have had less money in their pockets and, in many cases, no home or yard to spend it on due to the concurrent foreclosure crisis. As a result, the nation’s floriculture industry has had to weather some difficult economic times, with the effects impacting seed breeders and distributors as well.

Awards and other
Maria Brown, a founding member of the St. Clair County Farm Bureau Promotion and Education (P&E) Committee during its rebirth in 2009, is being honored by Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) with her second statewide award in 12 years for her efforts promoting agriculture.

Our Promotions and Education Committee partnered with the Port Huron Parks and Recreation Department to host a successful ice cream social with crafts, games and other educational activities.

Served as media spokesperson for our annual Project RED (Rural Education Day) in 2017.