After more than 30 years at WLNS-TV, anchor Jane Aldrich will hang up her microphone and retire from the station.  Aldrich announced her "recess" at the end of Thursday night's 6pm newscast.

Jane started as an anchor and reporter at 6 News back on October 14th, 1985. She spent decades at the desk anchoring various shows, including 6 News at Noon, 5, 6, and 11 p.m. She also spent a sleepless but memorable week in May of 2013 co-anchoring the morning show.

Over the years, Jane has become one of the most recognizable and most beloved figures in the greater Lansing area.

“Jane is the real deal. She’s full of caring and compassion,” said General Manager Bob Simone. “She genuinely cares about people and the community, and the reason viewers love her is because they see that, too.”

Among her other accomplishments, Jane:

  • Founded the franchise called “Tell Me Something Good” – reporting good news, as well as interesting and inspirational stories.
  • Won numerous awards for her work, including:
    o An Associated Press (Michigan) award for her two-part series on organ donation called “A Perfect Match” (Part 1 and Part 2)
    o A Michigan Association of Broadcasters award for investigative reporting on a Lansing-made product called “Gunzilla”
  • Hosted a health care forum in Lansing alongside then-President Bill Clinton.

Jane has also hosted or led hundreds, if not thousands of events over the years for a variety of causes. For many years, she co-hosted the annual Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Labor Day Telethon. Among the other causes and organizations she has supported are the Alzheimer’s Association, the Hospice of Lansing, Special Olympics, the Greater Lansing Food Bank, and Lansing Community College – where she started scholarship to help students looking at a career in communications.

Jane’s last day on the anchor desk will be some time in mid-January.

Jane Aldrich will join Josh Strickland on Friday morning to talk more about this major decision.

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