Melanie Graham, Patch Staff

<b>Email </b>Melanie.Graham&#64;patch.com<br> <b>Phone</b> 617-733-1840<br> <b>Hometown </b>Grafton, MA<br> <b>Birthday</b> 28 August

<br> <b>Bio </b>Melanie is a self-admitted music geek with a knack for piano and telling stories. She grew up in a small town in central Massachusetts and despite itching to move to the city, relocated up north and attended the University of New Hampshire. While at school she earned a pair of bachelors degrees in Music Performance and English/Journalism. In between six-hour stays in a practice room, she freelanced for various community publications. After a brief love affair with London, England, she worked as a staff writer for the Newburyport Daily News in Newburyport, MA.

After finishing school, Melanie wrote for the Milford Daily News, covering local beats in Bellingham, Hopedale and eventually Milford. While she misses many of her regulars back in Central MA, she is excited to be part of Patch and a community as vibrant as Newton.<br> <br> <b>Your Beliefs</b><br> <i>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.<br> </i><br><b>Politics<br></b>I&#39;m an unenrolled voter and I tend to stay out of politics as much as possible—outside of reporting them, of course.

<br> <b>Religion<br></b>I was raised in an Episcopal Church but I have since stopped attending regular services. However, I am very interested in various religions and beliefs and like to see myself as a spiritual person.

<br> <b>Local Hot-Button Issues</b><br> There are plenty of issues, both large and small, that occupy the 18 square miles of Newton. Education is certainly on everyone&#39;s mind as well as how to maintain the nationally-recognized Newton standard with dwindling funds. There is also the ongoing debate of what is best for kids and whether the pressure from parents and a top-ranked education truly prepares students for sucess.