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
Get far away from the city lights in Orange County and take in the always-reliable Geminid meteor shower, known for its colorful fireballs.
A day after the mission was forced to close, the entrance was vandalized, but staff and volunteers are determined not to be demoralized.
Patients are waiting in ambulances for more than an hour in Orange County before being sent to other hospitals due to lack of beds.
Commuters were advised to avoid the 10 Freeway in Pomona during the afternoon rush hour Friday.
For the third time this week, Los Angeles County set a record for new coronavirus cases with 13,815 cases reported Friday.
A Los Angeles County man used stolen identities to get more than $130,000 in unemployment aid, prosecutors allege.
A Los Angeles County man used stolen identities to get more than $130,000 in unemployment aid, prosecutors allege.
According to authorities, the woman was lying in the roadway early Friday morning when the sheriff's vehicle struck her.
Over 1K Hospitalized In Orange County, Surge Plans Underway | Beverly Hills Looks Into Creating Its Own Health Department | Patch PM
"Like a speeding car approaching a cliff, if we do not rapidly change course, we are in jeopardy of catastrophic consequences."
Get far away from the city lights in Los Angeles and take in the always-reliable Geminid meteor shower, known for its colorful fireballs.
Get far away from the city lights in Sherman Oaks and take in the always-reliable Geminid meteor shower, known for its colorful fireballs.
Get far away from the city lights in Hollywood and take in the always-reliable Geminid meteor shower, known for its colorful fireballs.
Get far away from the city lights in Los Angeles and take in the always-reliable Geminid meteor shower, known for its colorful fireballs.
Get far away from the city lights in Los Angeles and take in the always-reliable Geminid meteor shower, known for its colorful fireballs.
Carrie Ann Inaba, a "Dancing With The Stars" judge and "The Talk" co-host used her illness as a reminder to take the pandemic seriously.
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, 62, tested positive for COVID-19, but the comedian says she is feeling fine so far.
Private, secluded, spacious and gorgeous, this Toluca Lake home has it all.
How is it possible to buy in one of LA's most exclusive communities with a beachfront view for less than $1 million?
Listed at $1,297,000, this midcentury modern boats a treehouse/cabin prefect for escape, yoga or creative inspiration.
