I was born and raised in Eastern Massachusetts, and first took an interest in journalism when I was named the National Correspondent of the Year for SchoolSports (now called ESPN Rise.) I relocated to Chicagoland in 2006 to attend the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where I wrote for a number of student publications. During my time in school, I also completed editorial internships with Chicago Parent and Vicon Publishing. Upon graduating, I became Western Springs Local Editor with Patch.com

My interests/hobbies include sports, reading, fiction writing, gaming, and outdoor living (hiking/camping/canoeing.) I play both indoor and beach volleyball, and I'm passionate about golf (if not terrific at it.) I also author the online graphic novel Panthera.

Sandy is a freelance writer who has enjoyed a professional career in both print and broadcast communications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from Roosevelt University in Chicago.

She has worked as a radio news anchor for several suburban stations as well as Chicago stations WGN, WLS and WBBM. She's been published in numerous area newspapers including the Chicago Sun-Times, Beacon News and the Daily Herald. 

She lives "at the end of the line" in Elburn, with husband Ed, two cats, and an energetic dog named Bindi Sue.

Ron Kremer, a well-respected Chicago sports veteran with 29 years of experience, is Sports Editor for Patch in the south and southwest suburbs. With more than 4,000 bylines in his career and more awards than we can mention, he's interviewed celebs such as Tiger Woods, Pete Rose, Jack Nicklaus, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Reggie Jackson and more. But he's happiest when covering high school athletes and coaches, where the journalistic competition can be as intense as the rivalries between the powerhouse schools. From 1985 to 2010, Ron was a sports reporter, columnist and copy editor for The Herald News in Joliet. He covered local preps, NASCAR, NHRA and the Western Open/BMW Championship.

Email: matthew@patch.com
Phone: 630-926-3866
Hometown: Chicago, Il
Birthday: Jan 05
Bio: I come to Patch after working in a wide variety of media environments, with experience in traditional newspaper reporting as well as on the Internet.  In the past, I've reported on Chicago's vibrant arts community for the Chicago Journal and done investigative reporting at the Chicago Reporter and ChicagoTalks.org. I graduated in 2009 from Columbia College with a B.A. in Journalism.

My investigative series on childhood lead poisoning rates in Chicago, published at ChicagoTalks, won a 2009 Peter Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club in the Neighborhood/ Community News category. The series was also a finalist for a 2009 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award.

In Chicago, I also founded Jettison Media LLC, which publishes the arts and culture magazine Jettison Quarterly where I also serve as editor in chief.

I am very interested in the future of journalism on the Internet and am excited by Patch's hyper-local focus on news in communities across the country. But aside from journalism, my interests also include music, literature, movies and the arts.

I hope to see you all around town. Feel free to shoot me an email about any topic under the sun.

Mary and her little lamb, Maya, age 6, are thrilled to be a part of the Patch Communities of Downer’s Grove, Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills, Lisle and Burr Ridge.  Mary has been in local advertising media sales for her entire career and is excited to help local businesses connect with customers in their neighborhoods in a such a hyper-local, interactive, community focused online forum.   She will come up with a better acronym for this at a later date, suggestions encouraged!

You will regularly catch the mommy-daughter duo at local festivals, sporting events, parks and playgrounds, shopping (of course) and community events. 

You can reach Mary at mary.olson@patch.com and 630.234.7022.

I spent seven years covering state and local politics for daily newspapers in eastern North Carolina. I cut my teeth reporting on municipal and county government at The Daily Southerner before quickly moving on to start a new political beat at The Wilson Daily Times.

In addition to politics, I wrote feature articles about numerous subjects, but many pertained to local history. I wrote about eastern North Carolina during the pre-colonial period -- exploring the countryside with a local archaeologist for signs of Native American settlements -- during the revolutionary period as well as the Civil War period. I also interviewed several World War II veterans for a living history project.

I left journalism and North Carolina in the summer of 2007 to move to DuPage County, Illinois to try my hand at corporate writing. Caught up in a round of layofffs I decided to return to the profession I love. I now work as a freelance journalist writing for multiple Chicagoland publications and Web sites.

Suzy Chudzik has lived in Woodridge for 15 years. When she is not writing for Patch she is hockey mom, softball mom, theater mom and volleyball mom. While most of her free time is spent chauffering her 4 kids (13 and 10 year old triplets) all over creation, her real-life driving skills have yet to help her reach the ultimate - beating her kids on Wii Mario Kart!

I am a personal trainer, yogi, and stand-up comic turned comedic wordsmith. Writing offers me the opportunity to share my humor without being heckled (to my face) or having to dodge flying Bud bottles (well most of the time).  In my past life I was an IT consultant, before that a psychic told me I was Martha Washington.  I can't type and channel Martha at the same time, but if she/me were here, she would encourage me to help bring some levity to these tough times. And so I type.

Bill Stone has lived in the western suburbs his entire life, and has covered boys and girls high school sports throughout the Chicago area for more than 20 years.

He is excited for the opportunity to provide Patch readers coverage of their favorite athletes and sports.



Mauricio Rubio has been involved in photography since age 8, when he was given a camera by his uncle, Pablo Martinez Monsivais. He began taking pictures of everything in sight, enchanted with the translation of objects captured from real life. During a junior year photo class, he fell head over heels, and from that point on, he was immersed.

Mauricio is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, officially majoring in photography with a concentration in photojournalism.

His first experience with a professional photographer was during an internship in Washington, D.C. at John Harrington Photography in 2005. Following that, he interned in D.C. at McClatchy-Tribune wire service in 2006, and spent a summer interning at the Baltimore Sun in 2007. He has been freelancing for the Chicago Tribune since October 2007, and recently joined Patch.com

Mauricio's photography strives to bridge the gap between people from all races, creeds, and walks of life, breaking the silence and opening the dialogue within.

A native of Peru, Illinois, Mike's stories have appeared in several suburban newspapers. Mike also is the author/editor of "All the Good in Sports," which previously had been listed in amazon.com's Top 100 sports books. In 2009, he co-authored "Bear With Me -- A Family History of George Halas and the Chicago Bears."

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.

Jeff Jarvis is the associate professor and director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York’s new Graduate School of Journalism.  He also blogs about media and news at Buzzmachine.com; is consulting editor of Daylife; writes a media column for the Guardian, and consults for media companies.

Prior to his current responsibilities, Jarvis held positions including president and creative director of Advance.net; creator and founding editor of Entertainment Weekly; Sunday editor and associated publisher of the New York Daily News; TV critic for TV Guide and People; a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner; assistant city editor and reporter for the Chicago Tribune and reporter for Chicago Today.

Jarvis is the author of What Would Google Do?

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.