Email: james.price@patch.com
Phone 414-218-2779
Hometown: Wauwatosa, WI
Birthday: February 21, 1956
Bio: I've wanted to write ever since my father introduced me to the complete works of Mark Twain when I was a child, but I didn't get my start in journalism until 1986 when I began supplementing my income as an English major through freelancing for the Chicago Reader. Getting paid to write seemed better than not, so after graduating from the University of Illinois-Chicago, I applied to the graduate program of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, the first and I believe still the best J-school in the world.
Still a poor student, I begged my way onto the copy desk of the Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune. After five years of journalistic boot camp, I made my way to The Milwaukee Journal, settled in Wauwatosa, and I've been here ever since, editing and writing for The Journal and Journal Sentinel and teaching journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I'm thrilled to be a Patch editor in my adopted hometown of 22 years.
Our Beliefs
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.
My Politics
I am unashamed to call myself a liberal in my personal political beliefs, and I don't think anyone should think it's a dirty word, because I believe this nation was founded on the most liberal principles the world has ever seen: that all people are equal and should govern their own affairs as equals. That said, I agree with my hero Thomas Jefferson about the limits of government and with many people today who believe that our government has in many ways outgrown that notion. In any case, I have 25 years of training and experience in journalism and I can assure readers that I have never let any personal beliefs affect my sense of fairness and balance in reporting or editing any story.
My Religion
I grew up in the Methodist Church, and although I do not practice any religion now, I still adhere to much of the guidance of that church, which taught that we should all act toward others and conduct ourselves in accordance with certain beliefs that underlie Christian morality.
Local Hot-Button Issues
The hottest button in Wauwatosa, I believe, is in the undercurrents that swell to the surface from time to time as we try to deal with being the closest suburban community to urban Milwaukee and the socio-economic issues that sometimes spill over our borders.
Joe Kresl of Hawks rekindles his love of landscape design while Mark Birmingham of Stein Gardens & Gifts finds a treasure in Wauwatosa (that's kind of like a certain celebrated shoe).
Baited and robbed, an Oak Creek man says, he clutched the escaping car and tried to get his goods, but the driver just kept going faster until he had to bail.
On the same afternoon, police answer two unrelated calls in which families wanted a son arrested and prosecuted for stealing from them – in one instance, during a burglary.
New businesses and changing businesses are on the agenda, and plans push forward for UWM's Innovation Campus.
Meeting Tuesday will take input on limited retail center proposal for former Fire Station No. 3; School Board continues reworking employee policies in light of state law changes.
One of Wauwatosa's oldest businesses will lease its garden center to Stein Gardens & Gifts but will continue to own the property and operate its landscaping services.
Driver charged with a felony after plowing into another car at 80 miles per hour on Mayfair Road, causing 2-week-old girl to be ejected in car seat with life-threatening injuries.
Attendant hands over cash as fast as he can as masked robber demands speed and assures him he'll shoot.
On a school-day morning, boys, 14 and 15, are out stealing liquor, and when they're chased, they try to escape on bikes stolen at East High. The older boy already has three armed robberies on his record.
Physical property evidence from a break-in is added to positive identifications in two armed robberies, piling up quite a body of likely felony charges against a 22-year-old suspect.
With four people holding him down, he holds on to liquor and somehow or other manages to make off with it.
Thefts, attempted thefts and suspected thefts keep store calling the police time after time.
Chickens come before eggs in an ordinance revision making the animals more pets than livestock, and including a sunset clause should the birds become burdensome.
Wee municipality of Butler calls on larger neighbors after brazen bank crime, and bigger brothers send in legions to corral suspected criminals.
For three women stopped and cited for operating while intoxicated, one is now on her third offense and the others on their second.
Once more, police send a large force to deal with problems at notorious address on Wauwatosa's west side, this time to break up a fight between Jude and his brother.
Crimes hit home hard for a Wauwatosa family as one girl loses her car and sense of security; now her older sister's close friends are victims in another robbery and carjacking.
Multiple-offender arrested Sunday couldn't recite alphabet – but a first-offender from Tosa crashed into a pole, couldn't perform tests at all, and blew a .25 alcohol level.
City pushes change in the Innovation Campus TIF to allow public assistance for private parking, and shows that more than $12 million in parking support could be added to original $6.5 million in public roads and utilities — plus interest.
21-year-old says one of his assailants was someone he went to high school with, and that he was robbed and pistol-whipped besides losing his car.
