How to contact me: deb.belt@patch.com.
Deb Belt has been an editor and team leader with Patch.com since August 2011, and regional manager of the Southeast team since 2017. After launching Patches in Iowa -- where staffers covered the 2012 Iowa Caucuses and the presidential campaign -- Deb joined the Southeast team of editors. Since March 2017 she has led Patch sites ranging from the Baltimore/DC area to Atlanta and Tampa/St. Pete.
She previously worked as an editor for 13 years at the Des Moines Register, focused on suburban coverage that ranged from local election coverage to city and county government reporting and crime/safety issues. During this period she led a team of 27 reporters, photographers and editors who produced 27 print sections a week, and transitioned into digital news.
As a weekly newspaper editor, Deb led the staff of the Indianola Record-Herald to win the prestigious Newspaper of the Year award from the Iowa Newspaper Association in 1997, competing against newspapers from major metros. She also won multiple INA and National Newspaper Association awards for covering city government and editorials examining open meetings issues, the need for bond issue approvals, and other good government practices.
In the digital space, Deb has earned an award for Patch's 2024 coverage of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore harbor, along with local editor Jacob Baumgart.
Deb grew up in Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, and majored in journalism at Northwest Missouri State University. She has spent her entire career in community journalism.
Shoppers in Virginia and other states have emptied store shelves of toilet paper after a dockworkers strike began. Here's why you can relax.
More than 40 restaurants will take part in the food and music festival Taste of Bethesda when it returns Saturday, Oct. 5.
Two Maryland men were convicted in a scheme to turn in fake iPhones to Apple for repair, swapping them for actual phones worth $2.5 million.
TableFest, a fundraiser for Shepherd’s Table, is set for Oct. 5. It provides services through meals, social support, and case management.
Weber Gallagher has opened an office in downtown Bethesda, its first Maryland location. Other sites include Philadelphia, Chicago and Miami.
The standoff between longshoremen and port operators at Virginia ports entered a second day Wednesday.
The standoff between longshoremen and port operators at Baltimore-area ports entered a second day Wednesday.
Kura Revolving Sushi Bar — which delivers plates of food via a conveyor belt — will open its first Maryland location this weekend.
Federal officials proposed a new rule that would allow for the REAL ID requirements to be implemented in phases. Here's the latest for FL.
Three teenage boys were arrested over the weekend and are being held without bond for an armed carjacking in Silver Spring, police said.
The Maryland Food Bank accepted a $50,000 gift from The Wawa Foundation to support healthy, kid-friendly snacks.
Nine people who drowned in their homes lived in a mandatory evacuation area in Pinellas County. The sheriff identified 8 of the victims.
Terminix has revealed the top 50 most rodent-infested cities in the country, and here's where a Virginia city and DC landed on the list.
Terminix has revealed the top 50 most rodent-infested cities in the country, and here's where a Maryland city landed on the list.
A raccoon tested positive for rabies, and the Harford County Health Department is warning residents their pets may have been exposed.
Anne Arundel County Health officials are seeking residents who came in contact with a rabid raccoon in Churchton this week.
President Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Florida, making federal assistance available. FEMA head urges evacuations.
Pitango Gelato & Coffee in Bethesda has closed, although the local chain has seven other locations open in the Baltimore-DC region.
With Hurricane Helene poised to bring hurricane-strength winds inland hundreds of miles, VA Gov. Youngkin has declared a state of emergency.
Of the 50 restaurants highlighted by the New York Times as 2024 favorites, 32 are newly opened. One Maryland venue made the list.
