Meet Your New Oswego Patch Editor

OSWEGO, IL — Hi, everybody! My name is Joe Ward, and I'd like to introduce myself as your new, friendly neighborhood Patch editor. I'm taking over covering Oswego and the surrounding area, and I have the unenviable task of following in the footsteps of beloved editor Shannon Antinori. (Who is still with Patch and is now my boss.) I'm confident I will succeed, but I won't be able to do it without your help.

First, a bit about me. I grew up in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood on the Southwest Side of Chicago and attended Marist High School. After that, I studied at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I discovered my love for reporting.

After graduating from college, I moved to Galesburg, Ill., to cover government and politics at the Galesburg Register-Mail, where I won Associated Press awards for the use of public records in government reporting and for a series I wrote leading up to a visit from President Barack Obama. From there, I worked at the Kenosha News in Wisconsin.

In 2015, I moved back to Chicago and started working for DNAinfo, which is like Patch in that it was a hyper-local news source where reporters cover specific neighborhoods, instead of beats like crime, politics or schools. I covered some pretty major stories in my time at DNAinfo, including the Cubs World Series win, the Laquan McDonald scandal, and the chaotic Donald Trump rally that was canceled after violence broke out.

Outside of work, I am a big fan of walking my dog, Scout, listening to music, collecting records, reading current events and science fiction novels, and cheering on the White Sox. I am an avid camper, and I try to escape the city and get outdoors as much as possible.

(That's me, dressed as my alter ego, Scoops McWard, for a recent Halloween.)

I have also written for the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader and Chicago Magazine, among other local and national publications. I'm excited, however, to get back into local news, covering the people and the organizations that make our communities run.

Admittedly, I have a lot to learn about Oswego, but I'm eager to get more acquainted with the area. This is where you come in. Please never hesitate to reach out with story tips, heads-up on upcoming events, questions about my coverage or even to just say 'hi.' By getting to know you, I get to know the area, what makes it tick and what kind of coverage its residents want.

Let me ask this: who is one person in your area that I should know about? It can be an elected official, school official, business owner or a local gadfly. Send your answers in a comment on this story, or feel free to reach me at joe.ward@patch.com.