Rick Pluta

Rick Pluta has been the managing editor and state Capitol bureau chief since 1996. His beats include the Legislature and courts, as well as environmental and legal issues. Pluta has covered the Michigan Capitol since 1987. His radio work has aired on “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “Marketplace,” “Marketplace Money,” “Justice Talking,” and “Soundprint.”

Before joining MPRN, he covered the Capitol for WJR-AM in Detroit, The Oakland Press, and United Press International. His first full-time news job was with The Elizabeth (N.J.) Daily Journal. He has also written for The Chicago Tribune, The Toledo Blade, and some magazines and specialty publications. He is a lousy guitar player and an excellent parallel parker.




Laura Weber

Laura Weber is the newest player for the MPRN team. A native of Ann Arbor, she crossed rival lines into East Lansing and did her undergraduate work at Michigan State University. She later received a M.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern California. After spending time in Los Angeles and at Southern California Public Radio, Laura was ready to come home to report on and tell the stories of people in Michigan.

A self-professed public radio junkie and audiophile, Laura finds the best way to create images in storytelling is with sound. When she's not listening to NPR, she's blaring the kind of Soul music you can only find in dusty record shops full of crates upon crates of vinyl. From Motown to Funk to Hip-Hop, if it sounds like Detroit she can't get enough.