Mike Petchenik joined WSB-TV in September 2009, after a four-year stint as a general assignment and investigative reporter for WLKY-TV in Louisville, Ky.
Mike's move to Atlanta marks his second time working in the Peach State. He spent several years early on in his career as a weekend anchor/reporter and producer for WAGT-TV in Augusta, Ga. While there, Georgia Trend magazine named him as one the state's top television journalists.
The Chicago native graduated with honors from the University of Missouri (Go Tigers!). He began his broadcasting career while still in school, running the audio board and reading weather reports for a public radio station, and as news director of his college radio station. He also reported and anchored for KOMU-TV in Columbia, Mo, and he spent six months in the United Kingdom as a reporter for one of London's largest commercial radio stations.
Mike says being a journalist gives him a unique opportunity to hold the powerful accountable and to tell the important stories of the voiceless. He's thrilled to work for a station that has such great history and reputation.
Mike and his wife live in north Fulton County with their two children. When not at work, Mike enjoys playing the drums, listening to music, working out and traveling.
A Hiram man faces charges after police said he posed as an undercover police officer at a Roswell pain management clinic . Police have charged Ted Hardison, 47, with felony impersonating an officer stemming from the April 2011 incident. Sheila Dilbeck, the officer manager at Bender Orthopedics, told Channel 2's ...
Fulton County leaders call it a scheduling conflict, but some Alpharetta homeowners said plans to rip up sidewalks already installed by state contractors is nothing but a waste of money. The Georgia Department of Transportation recently widened a portion of Kimball Bridge Road in Alpharetta, and as part of the ...
Two Roswell teenagers are face serious charges after police say the teens set fires and scrawled hate-filled messages in a local neighborhood. One of the two teens remained in the Roswell City Jail. Police said the teens started off their summer vacation with a bang. "I think it's ridiculous that ...
One of the world’s largest technology companies is making a multimillion dollar investment in Alpharetta, and city leaders are hopeful the investment will lead to new jobs. Hewlett-Packard, which operates a sprawling facility on Westside Parkway, gave Channel 2 Action News a firsthand look at its newest innovation, an eco-friendly ...
Alpharetta police now say a distracted driver on her cellphone caused a wreck last month on Georgia 400 that claimed the life of a 67-year-old Cumming man. Haleigh Davis Fine, 23, turned herself into police Wednesday morning on second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to maintain lane charges. Police said the ...
A Milton mother is facing charges after police said she left her 4-year-old son home alone. Diana Garcia, 30, faces a reckless conduct charge. Police said a crew painting the building where she lives in the Camden apartments on Summit Boulevard noticed Garcia's son, Juan, climbing on the balcony behind ...
Milton police have arrested a Roswell man on charges he was peeping into a woman’s window, and Channel 2 Action News has learned it’s not his first offense. Michael David Quinn, 37, faces prowling, obstruction and voyeurism charges stemming from the incident Friday at the woman’s apartment off Morris Road. ...
LOL is a common acronym for "laugh out loud," but some Milton parents aren't laughing about an elementary school's attempt to ban the phrase and other slang from making it into student yearbooks. Now, school officials said it was all a big misunderstanding. Channel 2's Mike Petchenik learned about the ...
The family of an autistic high school student is outraged the state Board of Education won't let him graduate next week. Sinclaire Coffer, 17, is a senior at North Springs Charter High School in Sandy Springs. "He's a model student," his sister Capri told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik. ...
Sandy Springs public safety officials are sounding the alarm over false alarms, and asking the city to crack down on home and business owners, as well as the alarm companies themselves. "We spend a significant amount of time on false alarms," Captain Keith Zgonc told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik. Zgonc ...