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Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

What We Cover

Mission: Clark-Garwood Patch's approach to news is professional, passionate, energetic and totally local. Our reporters, stringers and columnists will not only cover local government and school-board issues, but also Little League games, events around town and, of course, breaking news. And our stories, photos and videos will go online in minutes—not days.

You'll be seeing a lot of us: our editor and contributors will be all over Clark and Garwood with their laptops, cell phones and cameras, listening to people and covering what they care about. Our mission is simple: to make people's lives better by providing quick and easy access to the local news and information that is most relevant to them.

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClarkGarwoodPatch

Follow us on Twitter: ClarkGarPatch

Got a tip? E-mail editor Jessica Remo at jessica.remo@patch.com.

Meet Your Local Patch Team

Jessica Remo

Jessica Remo, Editor, Contributor

Jessica Remo graduated from Villanova University with degrees in English and Communications. Before Patch, Jessica worked as an editor at Philadelphia magazine and New Jersey Monthly magazine.

E-mail: jessica.remo@patch.com
Phone: 732-796-8940

Elizabeth Alterman

Elizabeth Alterman, Editor, Contributor

Writer, editor

Edward Van Embden

Edward Van Embden, Editor, Contributor

A former Staff Writer for the Press of Atlantic City, I have more than five years of fulltime experience covering local and regional news and sports. Born and raised in southern New Jersey - even attending college there - Red Bank and this part of the state is relatively new to me. I'm going to use this to my advantage and learn everything about the area that I can. The coverage I provide will be interesting and comprehensive. There's a story in everything, and I'm going to find it.

Deborah Levine, Contributor, Editor

Deborah Levine has been a journalist for more than 10 years. She moved to Fanwood in 2011 after living in Westfield for five years. She earned her master's in journalism from Columbia University.

Josh Solomon

Josh Solomon, Contributor, Editor

Josh is a contributor for Westfield Patch. A 2010 graduate of Westfield High School, he will attending Northwestern University to study journalism in the fall. While at WHS he wrote for the Hi's Eye an was an executive producer of Blue Devil News.

Joshua Solomon, Editor

Lori Muller, Editor, Contributor

John De Bellis

John De Bellis, Guest Editor

Kathy Pigott

Kathy Pigott, Contributor, Editor, Blogger

Kathy Pigott is the calendar editor for Westfield Patch, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch, Cranford Patch, Clark-Garwood Patch, Springfield Patch, New Providence Patch and Berkeley Heights-Mountainside Patch.

Rich Conforti, Editor, Contributor

Jamie Shuali

Jamie Shuali, Sales, Contributor

Jamie hails from Jersey City, New Jersey and is currently pursuing an MBA in Marketing at Rutgers University. Jamie is equipped with experience in the NYC film and TV industry and years of non-profit sales under her belt. She is thrilled to be at Patch and to work with you. If you are interested in advertising or partnering with Patch please contact her at 212-402-4608 or jamie.shuali@patch.com

Liz Dwyer

Liz Dwyer, Sales, Contributor

Liz Dwyer is the Advertising Manager for East Brunswick, New Brunswick, South Brunswick and Woodbridge Patch.  Liz has spent the past 25 years in marketing and advertising at various local community publications.  She was born and raised in Middlesex County, and currently resides in neighboring North Brunswick.  If you see me in town, please say hello. If you have an questions, please feel free to call me at 732-823-7322.

Sharm Shade

Sharm Shade, Sales, Contributor, Editor

sharm@patch.com      (c) 973-885-1826

Born and raised in Montclair, Sharm is used to lots going on around town! This Jersey native went to Rutgers University for a B.A. in Public Relations and flew north to Boston University for some "chowdah" and an M.S. in Advertising. After living in London three months for study abroad, she returned to the one and only Garden State. Having worked at MWW Group (Public Relations), L'Oreal (Editorial Asst), Bauer Media (Marketing Associate) and an interactive media company (Corporate Event Marketing), it became apparent that Sharm loves all things marketing communications! 

In her spare time, she enjoys live music, dance class, cooking and singing. Ever since London (where she hopped over to Spain and South Whales as well), she has caught the travel bug and can't wait for the next trip!

Tara G, Sales

Andrew Corselli

Andrew Corselli, Contributor, Editor

Andrew was born in Brooklyn, NY, but moved to Ridgewood, New Jersey at an early age. He lived in Ridgewood for the first 18 years of his life. After graduating from RHS he attended Saint Joseph's University (the undefeated season was his sophomore year), where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in English.

He loves writing and sports. Combine the two and watch out.

Peter Cook, Contributor, Blogger

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Natalie Davis

Natalie Davis, Contributor

Natalie Davis is an award-winning journalist, community organizer, musician and broadcaster. She has helmed Grateful Dread Peace Media since 1996. She is general manager and program/music director of Grateful Dread Public Radio, a multigenre-music and news/talk Internet station dedicated to presenting diverse sounds for open minds.

Donna Mulvihill

Donna Mulvihill, Contributor

Donna Mulvihill is a graduate of Douglass College, Rutgers University.  She worked for brokerage firms in New York for several years in sales, marketing and advertising and was editor in chief of a proprietary shareholder communication magazine. For the past few years she has worked as a freelance writer and editor for Chase and McGraw-Hill and is now editor in chief of a monthly legal newsletter, Accounting and Financial Planning for Law Firms, published by American Lawyer Media.  Donna lives in Clark and has four children in the Clark school system who participate in various recreation activities that keep her on the go.  She enjoys traveling, entertaining, cooking, drawing—especially pen and ink architectural renderings, Sudoku, family adventures and going to the gym. 

Emily Everson

Emily Everson, Contributor, Editor

Frank Makosiej, Contributor


About Us

What is Patch?

Simply put, Patch is an innovative way to find out about, and participate in, what's going on near you.

We're a community-specific news, information and engagement platform driven by passionate and experienced new media professionals. Patch is revolutionizing the way neighbors connect with each other, their communities, and the national conversation.

We want to be the most trusted, comprehensive, and relevant news and information resource in your community. What can you do on Patch?

  • Keep up with news and events
  • Check out photos and videos from around town
  • Learn more about local businesses and the people behind them
  • Participate in discussions
  • Share your perspectives via our Local Voices blogging platform
  • Submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews

Who's Behind Patch?

Patch is run by professional editors, photographers, videographers, and salespeople who live in the regions they serve, and is supported by a great team in our New York City headquarters. Patch also gets advice from our Advisory Board and from many members of the community.

We look forward to meeting you and hearing your stories. If you see us around town, don't be afraid to say hi and tell us what you want to see on Patch!

Where You Come In

We hope that our sites will strengthen communities and improve the lives of their residents, but we can't do it without you. We've built Patch so that you have plenty of opportunities to comment on stories, share your opinions, post photos and announcements, and add events to the community calendar. So get to it! And if you're a business owner who wants to be listed, just let us know.

Giving Back

You can't truly serve a community unless you provide the help it needs most, which is why giving back is so important to us. We do it as part of our coverage — in a dedicated space that lets local charities and volunteers find each other — and with a program called "Give 5," through which we donate advertising space to charitable organizations and contribute our own time as volunteers. Want to know more? Email us at give5@patch.com.


Advisory Board

Phil Meyer

Phil Meyer

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.

Steven Berlin Johnson

Steven Berlin Johnson

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.

Brian Farnham

Brian Farnham, Founding Editor-in-Chief

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson

Ken Paulson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the First Amendment Center

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.