<strong>Email </strong>darren.fishell@patch.com<strong><br>Phone </strong>909.274.8345<strong><br>Hometown </strong>Diamond Bar<strong><br>Birthday </strong>May 12, 1987<strong><br>Facebook </strong>facebook.com/DiamondBarPatch<strong><br>Twitter </strong>twitter.com/DiamondBarPatch<strong><br>Welcome Video</strong>
<strong>Bio</strong>
Darren Fishell has a passion for journalism that began early, as a sophomore reporter and later editor in chief for the Diamond Ranch High School paper. After those early years growing up in Diamond Bar, Darren shipped off to Maine to attend Bowdoin College, where he spent summers and spare time reporting in Brunswick for The Times Record on everything from church bazaars to snow plow contract disputes and gubernatorial debates. After graduation, he worked as a correspondent for The Times Record, reporting in towns dappling Mid Coast Maine. His reporting on four men battling prostate cancer earned him an award from the Maine Coalition to Fight Prostate Cancer and was collected and republished for distribution throughout the state.
At Bowdoin, Darren co-founded and served as editor in chief of a student and community news website called Curia that provided students a platform to read about and discuss the issues of the day. That site introduced Darren to a new take on community journalism as an extended and community-wide conversation – the resource that Diamond Bar Patch will provide.
Darren has also contributed reporting for the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, an investigative journalism non-profit headquartered in Augusta, Maine.
Growing up in Diamond Bar, Darren attended Armstrong Elementary, Lorbeer Middle School, and Diamond Ranch High School. In his senior year at Diamond Ranch, he received a school service award for his work as editor in chief of the school paper.
See Darren's welcome video to Diamond Bar Patch for a video guide to the site.<br><br><strong>Our Beliefs</strong><br>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. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know.<br><br><strong>Politics</strong><br>I was a registered Democrat until the 2010 mid-term elections, when I became unaligned to follow a compelling Independent candidate for governor in Maine. I strongly feel that party affiliation is only the tip of the iceberg with any candidate and I follow politicians of any stripe who are thoughtful, nuanced, and caring. My only hard-nosed political belief is that a better-informed public is more capable of governing itself. <br><br><strong>Religion</strong><br>I am not religious, but I value strongly the idea of Buddhist teacher and thinker Thich Naht Hanh that we have much to learn and to take from every world religion. I would suggest his book Living Buddha, Living Christ to people of any creed. I believe our creation is magnificent and rife with mystery and I would point anyone to Carl Sagan's Cosmos as a brilliant illustration of that.<br><br><strong>Local Hot-Button Issues</strong><br>Development is an ongoing tension, both at the proposed site of the Los Angeles football stadium and at Site "D," owned by Walnut Valley School District. The future of Diamond Bar could be shaped by the fate of the Los Angeles football stadium project.
School budgets will also be a point of interest throughout this year as districts will likely see significant cutbacks from the state.
The latest incident reports from the Walnut/Diamond Bar Sheriff's Station — crimes from Feb. 14 through Thursday, Feb. 24. And one late outlier in Walnut on Jan. 14
It's a roundup of the region's major developments for Monday.
The city of Diamond Bar will honor its top volunteers at a ceremony during the city's 22nd birthday celebration in April. Nominations will be accepted through March 18.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's have issued a warning about a telephone scam where impostors claim a family member of the victim has been imprisoned. The ruse can leave victims with a potentially large bill for collect calls made to inmates, authorities
This week in news at Diamond Bar Patch.
This three-year-old male pit bull mix was found wandering the streets but is looking for a home that can provide him a lot of activity and space to run!
Assistant City Manager David Doyle gave an update on plans for a new city library to the city's parks and recreation commission Thursday night, including plans for a life-sized horse lamp to tie together the library's ranch theme.
One person was injured after two big rigs collided on the 60 freeway and one of the trucks fell onto two passenger cars.
As another cold front is expected to move in this weekend, here are five tips on how you can make sure to stay comfortable despite the weather.
Sheriff's arrested two more men Tuesday in connection with a hate crime reported in Rowland Heights on Feb. 6. Sheriff's report that the four men arrested in connection with the crime are members of a Korean-American gang.
The Panthers were even with the Artesia Patriots at the half, but mounting pressure against the Panther net led to two goals later in the second half to put Artesia up 3-1.
Students from Professor Ahmed M. Abo-Hebeish's class will provide free tax e-filing for people with gross incomes under $55,000. Last year, the program earned $218,000 in refunds for filers.
The Pomona Unified School District prevented layoffs last year with federal stimulus dollars. But with that money gone, the district is asking voters to decide whether state taxes should be extended to bolster education funding.
The Pomona Unified School District Voted Tuesday Night to issue layoff notices for 272 full-time instructors to give the district the option of layoffs should voters not approve tax extensions to support education in June.
![[UPDATED] Pomona Unified Will Issue Over 272 Layoff Notices, Supports Tax Extension](https://patch.com/img/cdn/users/103599/2011/02/raw/b073d50e6049eaed832456088cb571c6.jpg)
Two suspects are still on the loose after a robbery at the South Diamond Bar ARCO station early Sunday morning.
Over 1500 applicants statewide auditioned for the middle school All-State Honor Band and 22 from South Pointe Middle School were selected. The band will play Feb. 19 and 20 in Fresno.
The National Weather Service issued wind advisories for the San Gabriel Valley Friday and predicts possible thunderstorms through to early Sunday morning.
Diamond Bar and Walnut Mayors spoke Friday morning at the annual Joint Mayors Prayer Breakfast sponsored by the Regional Chamber of Commerce. Supervisor Don Knabe also spoke on the influence of faith in civic leadership.
The Chaparral Middle School Wind Ensemble was selected to participate in the 2011 Percy Grainger Wind Band Festival in the Windy City this March. Chaparral is only one of four student bands and the only middle school band selected to play the festival.
Sheriff's officers were called in Thursday night after a caller reported that someone brought a .44 caliber artillery shell into building 66. The round was determined to be inert.
