Email: paige.austin@patch.com
Phone: 714-721-1222
Hometown: Garden Grove
Birthday: Gemini
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. 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
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Video from the ordeal shows a woman pointing a handgun at other drivers and firing through her sunroof.
Zach Avery, an actor with small parts in movies, has been charged with fraud for allegedly running a $227 million scheme in the industry.
A man wanted in connection with a fatal shooting, flipped off police during a wild four-county chase that ended with a crash in Pomona.
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Investigators are asking for help finding a custom Metallica pinball machine that was stolen in the fall.
After weeks of rapidly declining COVID-19 cases, there was hope LA could advance to a new round of reopenings soon.
A two-car crash near Mulholland Drive and Skirball Center Drive shutdown the southbound lanes of the 405 Freeway Tuesday.
A proposal by two Los Angeles City Councilmen would have DWP using 100% renewable energy, reducing greenhouse emissions almost entirely.
A pitched firefighting battle overnight kept the forest fire from spreading further in the dense forest terrain.
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The blaze dubbed the Spring Fire threatened structures, and crews were fighting the blaze with air and ground crews Monday.
As the coronavirus cases continue to fall in Los Angeles County, yet another round of reopenings could be just a few weeks off.
According to investigators, an argument between three men living at a homeless encampment turned deadly Sunday.
A magnitude 4.0 quake was the largest of three small earthquakes that rattled Los Angeles and Orange County out of bed Monday morning.
Ever feel suspect drivers all around you are texting behind the wheel? It's actually so much worse, a Farmers Insurence survey found.
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Vaccinated residents of the Ararat Nursing Facility in the Mission Hills put on their dancing shoes Thursday and celebrated life.
A portion of Franklin Avenue was closed Thursday evening after a theft suspect crashed an SUV into several vehicles.
