News
Mike Hooker
Mike Hooker grew up in Colorado, but he says it is his work for CBS4 that's shown him what Colorado is all about. "Growing up I really knew my hometown and the places in the mountains my family would go for fun, but I've seen so much more as a reporter," says Mike.
Mike lives in Fort Collins and has been CBS4's Northern Bureau Reporter since June of 1998. He says his most memorable stories include Fort Collins' recovery from the Spring Creek Flood, the death of Matthew Shepard and the murder trials that followed, the arrival of West Nile virus in Colorado, and numerous forest fires over the years. Mike has also covered CSU football each fall and has traveled to several bowl games with the Rams.
After joining CBS4 in 1994, Mike lived in Dillon and reported from the Mountain Bureau for more than three years before moving with his wife and children to Fort Collins. In the Mountain Bureau, Mike reported on the ski industry, the mysterious crash of an A-10 warplane near Vail, and countless snowstorms, avalanches, and forest fires. He also reported and produced "Paradise Lost," a half-hour special on the struggles of the workers in mountain resort communities.
Mike has won awards from the Associated Press and from the Colorado Broadcasters Association, and has been nominated for an Emmy Award.
Before returning home to Colorado and joining CBS4, Mike gathered experience as a reporter at WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee; WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and at KSNF-TV in Joplin, Missouri. Mike was born in Rome, New York, but moved to Boulder when he was 7 years old. He graduated from Fairview High School in 1985 and received his BS in journalism from the University of Colorado - Boulder in 1989.
Mike is an avid runner who has completed three marathons. He also enjoys occasionally moonlighting as an adjunct instructor in the journalism department at CSU.
Mike and his wife, Debra, have two daughters, Erin and Claire. The Hooker family enjoys hiking and camping throughout Colorado.
