Email: paige.austin@patch.com
Phone: 714-625-1770 Hometown: Garden Grove Birthday: Gemini Bio While I fully intend to visit the big city one day, I remain firmly rooted here in Seal Beach about five minutes away from the home I was born and raised in. I spent my formative years getting in trouble at St. Hedwig in Los Alamitos, and I earned my Bachelor Degree in English all the long way across the county at the University of California, Irvine. There I attended school on a scholarship from the Los Angeles Times, and I have been journalism's indentured servant ever since. I learned how to be a reporter at the Orange County Register, where I covered, of all things, Los Alamitos and Seal Beach. After a couple years, however, I broke through the Orange County barrier, landing one county away at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside. But I still couldn't fully cut the chord – I spent about seven years commuting from Seal Beach to my office in Corona, where I covered everything from cities, to the national forest, to courts and prisons. I do have some pretty colorful war stories from those beats. So if you see me around town, you tell me your stories, and I'll tell you about the time I met Gov. Schwarzenegger…in prison…while wearing a stab-proof vest.  Or I can tell you about the time I watched a Manson girl give a talk on anger management. I joke around. A lot. However, journalism might be the only thing I take seriously. It's a very humbling job. Everyday, people trust you with their voice on topics that matter to them, and you have to try to live up to the responsibility. If I ever fail, I need you to tell me about it, so that I can get it right. It's important. I am insecure enough to tell you about some of the journalism awards I have won – the Associated Press Award for investigative reporting, California Newspapers Publishers Association awards for investigative reporting and best special section, the Price Child Health and Welfare Journalism award from the Children's Advocacy Institute as well as Society of Professional Journalists awards for best enterprise stories, beat reporting, feature writing, and best environmental story. I think I tried to collect awards in an effort to intimidate editors into letting me chase the kinds of stories I want to do. It doesn't really work. Working for Patch.com, my office consists of the cities I cover, Starbucks, and my house where my co-workers include a lovely gent named D'Wayne and two pugs – Monkey and Maggie. If we ever talk on the phone, it's Maggie you might hear faintly snoring in the background. Sorry, she just can't help it. Your Beliefs At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know. Politics: pro-environment and equality for all Religion: The unholy trinity of Joseph Heller, Kurt Vonnegut and John Steinbeck Local Hot-Button Issues: The Los Alamitos trash Contract, expansion of the Los Alamitos Medical Center, Sovereignty, services and coyotes in Rossmoor, the Arco gas leak in Seal Beach and the balance between the business needs, the residents' concerns in Old Town. Oh yeah, and three and a half years of major freeway construction work spanning all three cities.