Email: karenc@patch.com
Phone: (630) 433-1233
Hometown: Elmhurst
Birthday: Aug. 4

Welcome video: http://patch.com/A-7ch 

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Bio 

I am an Elmhurst resident born and raised. I attended Jefferson Elementary School, Sandburg Junior High (they didn't have middle schools back then) and York High School. I did wander for a time, attending Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where I received a bachelor's degree in journalism, and living in Colorado, where I attended CU Boulder and worked for The Denver Post as a writer and photographer. I was a bit of a nomad in Colorado, living in Wheatridge, Golden, Evergreen (my favorite) and Lakewood. It was a busy five years.

After "honing my craft" and "finding myself," I moved back to Illinois, where I took a job at The Doings Newspapers. At the time, it was among a dying breed of independently owned newspapers in the area. After I had been there about six years, the owners sold to Pioneer Press/Sun-Times Media. My 16 years at The Doings was time well spent. I was a writer for about 11 of those years, during which time I won many national, state and regional awards. My last five years there I served as editor of The Elmhurst Doings, The Oak Brook Doings and The Weekly Doings, which included news of Willowbrook, Burr Ridge and Darien.

But what makes me uniquely suited to my job as editor of Elmhurst Patch is my deep background in and love for this town. You can take the girl out of Elmhurst but ...

As a kid, you could find me at The Candy Bar on Spring Road, MoPee's (now Southtown) for a hot dog, in the tippy tops of the trees on Cedar Street or sitting in my dad's '67 Buick Riviera, pretending to drive the neighborhood kids around.

Today, I spend as much time as possible with my kids—even the grown one, when he'll let me—doing whatever it is they want to do. I have a Mustang GT convertible, a totally obnoxious dog and a to-do list that never ever gets done. Life is good.

My 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. 

Politics 
I am a registered Republican, a rarity in media. But I actively seek out information on both sides of an issue before forming an opinion. There are problems (and problem people) on both sides of the aisle. Politics is a messy business.

Religion
I have been a member of Christ Church of Oak Brook for about 10 years. The older I get, the more I want to know the answers to things like, How did we get here? What happens when we die? What is the purpose of the other 90 percent of our brains? What about black holes, worm holes and parallel universes? I believe the answers to all those things and millions of others can be pondered through the lens of spirituality. I don't expect to get the answers—yet.

Local Hot-Button Issues
As of this writing, it's flooding, flooding, flooding. It was a sad period back in July, when blocks upon blocks of Elmhurst homes were devastated by massive floods. Piles of ruined belongings stretched as far as the eye could see on curbsides. At the time, I thought, "I wish my Web site was up, so I could write about this." Who'd have thought months later it would still be the No. 1 topic in town. We're finding out it's the city's problem to fix. Homeowners have built dams around their houses, replaced windows with glass block, installed back yard drains, dutifully manned their pumps. There's nothing more they can do. It seems the city is moving slowly on a plan to solve this problem. I hope it doesn't rain again anytime soon.