Email: Adam.Townsend@patch.com
Phone: 949-436-3050
Hometown: Steubenville, Ohio
Birthday: July, 1983
Bio: I grew up in a small town in the greater Pittsburgh metro-area.
I attended journalism school at the Ohio University Scripps School of Journalism; I also studied studio art and Spanish at that school.
I've been a full-time newspaper and multimedia reporter for more than a decade. I started as a general assignment reporter at a small-town paper in the Ohio Valley and moved up through the ranks at that company as I completed my degree, doing piecework for other papers and magazines while classes were in session.
In September of 2006, I started as a reporter covering various cities in north Orange County at the Orange County Register. There I also administered the AroundDisney blog, shot hundreds of photographs, created feature and courtroom illustrations and designed informational graphics.
During my time at Patch, I've led local and national media on dozens of news stories, many of which have made national headlines. I cover everything from local business features to crime to elections and technology. I've been an occasional guest on KPBS Midday's Roundtable, speaking as an media expert on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
I've always had a fascination with journalism – the excitement of the process, the leap into the vortex of events as they happen, the sociability of meeting and interviewing sources, the exposure of crime and malfeasance.
I'm also a practicing artist, completing large paintings and illustrations in my spare time. I'm involved in musical pursuits; I play a few instruments to varying degrees of proficiency, but the piano is my first love.
I'm a voracious reader, preferring smutty mystery novels as pleasure reading, literature and history if I'm looking for something meatier. I've become something of a World War I buff lately.
I do some skim boarding out on North Beach – near where I've lived in San Clemente since 2006. I also train at the local MMA gym, Finish Strong.
Growing up near Pittsburgh, I'm a rabid Steelers fan. Sorry, Chargers.
My wife, Laura Lee Townsend, and I were married at the Ole Hanson Beach Club in May 2009.
Laura Lee, who also has a background in journalism, now is a certified health and fitness coach and manages San Clemente Boot Camp. You'll be seeing her maiden-name byline -- Laura Lee Bloor -- on San Clemente Patch as a health and wellness blogger.
We're both involved in charitable causes, raising money especially for the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which fights breast cancer. We also put on a production of the Vagina Monologues at Knuckleheads in 2011. Sponsored by Patch, Knuckleheads and Buds Famous Hot Dogs, we raised more than $5,000 for Laura's House network of domestic violence shelters in south Orange County.
As San Clemente Patch editor, I am here to cover San Clemente and all that goes on here. My writers and I produce breaking local stories, feature pieces, profiles of locals, high school sports news, and whatever else affects our community.
My Beliefs
I believe in democracy, fairness and hard-nosed journalism that is vital, useful and relevant. I believe in God and Jesus Christ, but I am respectful of those with other beliefs.
I believe the First Amendment is the most crucial part of the Constitution and the best means of preserving our nation.
Politics
As a journalist, I'm not a member of any political party or organization. I lean toward candidates I believe offer the best path to good governance – independent of their political philosophy. I do not vote in the San Clemente City Council races or on San Clemente ballot measures because I am covering them and strive to maintain objectivity.
Religion
I'm a Christian who was raised as a Presbyterian, but I am not currently a member of any sect or church.
Local Hot-Button Issues
Planned development at North Beach is a subject of much controversy in town, as is the Marblehead development and outlet mall and the troubled San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Marine and military issues are also at the forefront, considering our proximity to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.
Musicians and a local auctioneer have been announced for the first annual San Clemente Art Auction to benefit the Boys & Girls Club in San Clemente.
The San Clemente City Council Tuesday is set to vote on allocating CDBG funds.
The Orange County Register learns names through public records request.
Stance Sock Company, founded in San Clemente in 2009 and recently expanded, donated 1,000 pairs of high-end socks Friday.
Group protests San Clemente's refusal to ban the sale of dogs in pet shops, but City Councilman says no such businesses exist in the city.
A crackdown on methamphetamine ingredients in the U.S. has fueled a rush of manufacturers and smugglers in Mexico.
Last year, more Mexicans left the U.S. than entered, but human trafficking for sex and labor is still an issue in Southern California.
San Clemente will receive half a million dollars to time traffic signals and $10.2 million for the La Pata extension.
The San Clemente Exchange Club's yearly donation represents $10,000 of the San Clemente Boys & Girls Clubs' yearly budget, and this year that money will come from ticket sales to the Art Auction at the Casino San Clemente.
Five artists are turning five utility boxes around town into canvases for city-sponsored street art.
The most problematic intersection in town according to Patch readers is on track for improvements in a couple of years.
An anti-nuclear group sent out a press release saying the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station would stay on ice through the summer, but the actual dates aren't yet known.
An anti-nuclear group sent out a press release saying the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station would stay on ice through the summer, but the actual dates aren't yet known.
Orange County firefighters had cleared the scene by 11:30 a.m. Friday
City says the golf course restaurant will stay open as they search for a new operator.
Yvonne Baldelli disappeared from a sparsely populated island off the coast of Panama in November--she was last seen Thanksgiving weekend.
Orange County firefighters had cleared the scene by 11:30 a.m. Friday
The nonprofit arm of Finish Strong Mixed Martial Arts expands and recruits a prestigious board of directors.
New figures from federal regulators show the number of safety issues at San Onofre was more than six times the national average in 2011.
New figures from federal regulators show the number of safety issues at San Onofre was more than six times the national average in 2011.