You can reach me by email at chris.steller@patch.com, or by phone at 763-218-8319. My hometown is Minneapolis. My birthday is the same as Elvis Presley's.

Email: james.warden@patch.com

Phone: 612-889-6452

Hometown: Born in Temple, TX. But as an Army brat and preachers' kid (that's plural), he grew up Texas, Manassas, VA, and Schweinfurt, Germany.

Birthday: March 2, 1981

James stumbled into journalism when he had to pick a major while applying to the University of South Carolina. He happened to watch a documentary covering journalist Sebastian Junger's reporting on Ahmad Shah Massoud's pre-9/11 resistance against the Taliban. James thought that looked cool enough and penciled it in as a placeholder, figuring he could change his mind later if necessary.

The subject proved to be a good match, though. James started writing articles as a stringer for The State newspaper in Columbia, SC. and got more experience covering events like the Iditarod during an exchange program with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.

In 2004, he graduated and began his full-time journalism career covering the North Dakota Legislature for the Associated Press. When the session ended, he joined the Gillette (WY) News-Record as a cops and courts reporter.

James embarked on his dream of conflict reporting in January 2008 when he took a job covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for Stars and Stripes. He was embedded with American units during the 2008 Sadrist uprisings, the 2009 Iraqi provincial elections, the transition of power and other key events. During that time, he witnessed firefights, roadside bombs and both American and Iraqi casualties. He also reported on American anti-piracy efforts from Djibouti and the Gulf of Aden.  

James moved to Minnesota in the summer of 2009 to be with his then-girlfriend Christa Meland, who works as research director at Twin Cities Business magazine. He married Christa on July 3, 2011, and they live together on the Hopkins-Minnetonka border.

James worked at the Stillwater Gazette and Faribault Daily News before joining Patch.

He particularly enjoys local government. Even in Iraq, he spent extensive time covering the profound impact local institutions have on communities. He is passionate about learning how governments work and educating residents about those processes and their real-life impact.

James enjoys hiking and traveling as much as possible. At home, he loves reading, playing Xbox, watching mixed martial arts and spending time with Christa and their cat Tux. He never passes up a chance to try a new beer.

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 us to inject our beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that our beliefs are on the record will cause us 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

The strident tone of politics today scares me. Both parties oversimplify complex issues that demand nuance. I support the candidate who I feel has the most reasoned, intellectually honest problem-solving approach. This has meant voting at various times for Republicans, Democrats and even Libertarians.

Religion

I am an atheist. Although my parents are both Methodist ministers and I was raised in the church, I do not see any evidence of god in this world, especially after my experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I have immense respect for the religious beliefs of others. Several of my most fulfilling stories have involved getting to know others' faith traditions on their terms, including Catholic, Protestant and Latter Day Saints. 

Local Hot-Button Issues

How state lawmakers choose to address the state's budget deficit will have profound effects on Hopkins' schools, government, nonprofits and, of course, residents. There will be cuts — there's no way around that — the only question is where the cuts will take place and how judicious they will be.

The Southwest light-rail project will likely be a more long-term issue. With construction not scheduled to begin until 2014, it's going to be around for a while. There will almost certainly be growing pains as Hopkins ponders how best to align development with the project.

The development of Hopkins' downtown is a subset of the light-rail issue, but the area's importance to the community makes it especially likely to draw attention. The downtown can and has changed over time. In the upcoming years, Hopkins will have to find a balance between this latest round of change and maintaining the community's unique identity.

 

I am so excited about the future of Patch!

Before coming to Minnetonka Patch, I was the editor of two weekly newspapers. I spent two years as the editor of the Pine City Pioneer in Pine City before my company moved my office to Cambridge to edit the Isanti-Chisago County Star for another two years.

Email or call me anytime at becky.glander@patch.com or 952-221-1434.

I live in Whittier, Minneapolis with ten fish, five bicycles, four computers, one Wusthof knife, and one ever-tolerant partner. I like to hang out in coffee shops in the afternoons, and every week I host "office hours" at a rotating list of Southwest's coffee houses.

I love movies that make me cry, music that helps me remember the good times and good food that isn't necessarily good for me.

Ryan comes to Patch with several years of newsroom experience, most recently with a group of community newspapers in southwest Ohio. He grew up in Rubicon, Wisconsin, a rural farm town about an hour outside of Milwaukee.

Valerie Engler stumbled upon Patch at a Maple Grove farmers market in the summer of 2011. After freelancing for Maple Grove Patch and a number of other Patch sites, Val fell in love with the Patch way of life and is now the go-to girl for everything Golden Valley. 

Although Val loves Golden Valley, she's a California girl at heart.

Val was born and raised in San Diego and attended Torrey Pines High School. In 2003, she graduated from high school and moved to Minnesota to swim for the Gophers. 

After graduating from the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism in 2007, Val dove head first into the world of community journalism. She wrote for a handful of community magazines including Lake Minnetonka Magazine, Eden Prairie Magazine, Maple Grove Magazine and Plymouth Magazine. 

Val dabbled in coaching prior to her work at Patch. She was the head coach for the Eden Prairie High School boys swim team in 2009 and was an assistant coach for Team Foxjet. 

Today, when Val isn't bustling around Golden Valley, she's spending time with her daughter, running with her dog or hanging out with her husband.

Kathryn Nelson, a freelance journalist from Minneapolis, joined the Patch.com team in July 2011. Before coming to Patch, she wrote for a number of newspapers, magazines and online publications. In her free time, Kathryn runs a nonprofit organization called The Nafula Foundation that serves vulnerable populations in Western Kenya. She has been to over 30 countries in her short life and loves writing about her experiences abroad. 

Kathleen F. Miller was raised on Bainbridge Island. Her favorite childhood memory is of playing on the tire swing attached to the tree house her father built in a Madrona as a birthday gift.

Her first paying freelance gig was covering Bainbridge High School's football games for the Bainbridge Review while she was a senior at BHS.  She graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in Journalism and Business Administration. She was inducted into the Department of Communications Alumni Hall of Fame in 2004 in honor of her work mentoring students.

Prior to having children and launching her career as a freelance writer, she worked as an editor in a large publishing company, in public relations for nonprofit organizations and as a copywriter for GE Capital. She specializes in writing about health, parenting, business and travel.

Wendy Erlien is a former freelance writer as well as newspaper community editor and reporter. She covered community news in the northwest metro for about five years. She is a graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead with a double major in mass communications and English, focused on journalism. Wendy grew up in Maple Grove, attended schools in the Osseo School District before moving to cities such as Fargo, Moorhead and Eden Prairie for several years. She has been living Maple Grove with her family for the last nine years. Wendy joined Patch in April 2011.

Jon is a member of the Twin Cities Professional Photographer's Association.  Currently he is on it's board of directors.  He is a graduate of the Minneapolis College Of Art And Design (BFA) and has studied in Holland at the Rietveld Academie.  His company, J&K Creative! of Wayzata, Minnesota  (www.artbyjon.com) is well-versed in almost all aspects of photographic design.  Jon is equally comfortable photographing familily members or the board of directors of international corporations. 

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.