85239.com hires part-time news assistant

Michael K. Rich has joined the staff of inmaricopa.com as a news assistant for the daily news Web site and bi-monthly magazine.

Rich will assist Editor RuthAnn Hogue in day-to-day activities of the publication’s news operations by writing business and community profiles about people and organizations in Maricopa.

“We have been searching for the right candidate to fill this position for a long time and we have finally found him,” Hogue said.

Rich is a resident of Casa Grande and a journalism student at the University of Arizona.

He has had articles published in the Arizona Republic, East Valley Tribune, Casa Grande Dispatch, Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers across the state.

Rich has also completed internships at Fox 10 news and the Arizona Daily Star. He has worked as an editor/reporter at the Mesa Community College for a year.

Rich was selected last semester to be a Bolles Fellow. The Bolles fellowship is a program in which a selected student spends the entire semester covering the Arizona State legislature. It is named for the late Don Bolles, an investigative reporter for The Arizona Republic who was killed in June 1976 in connection with his in-depth reporting on local corruption.

“Michael is a very hard worker who is dedicated to a career in news,” said Bruce Itule, one of Rich’s professors from the UA.

However, his love for the news is second to the love for his family.

Rich is married with one child.

“I love just being with my family. Nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than the sound of my son’s laugh,” Rich said.

Michael is filling a part-time position and begins work April 7. He can be reached at [email protected].

“I am happy to have Michael aboard and look forward to his contributions to the company,” said Scott Bartle, publisher of inmaricopa.com.

Photo by RuthAnn Hogue