jimw@patch.com
415.948.8919
San Francisco, CA
Bio: Born and raised in Philadelphia. Went to journalism school at Syracuse University, where I met the love of my life and learned the craft. Moved to the Bay Area nearly 15 years ago with several high school friends with open-ended plans to start careers and dig deeply into the incredible beauty and culture of the Bay Area. Not leaving. I love where I grew up and am always thrilled to go back, but my roots are here now, and they are deep. I love music, basketball, food, travel, and laughing as often as possible. We had a daughter this year, and I am over the moon.
Professionally, it's been a little bit of everything over the years, from doe-eyed sports reporter to music editor to newspaper and online reporter of many stripes. It's simple, really: whether it's the high school phenom or the 85-year-old who can still throw verbal haymakers with the best of them, I love telling people's stories.
Politics
I'm a registered Democrat who believes in fiscal conservatism unless you're dealt a ridiculously bad hand and have to spend your way out. I believe we're all created equal and should be treated as such. Pragmatic empathy is possible, and government is a much-needed, if often mismanaged, force for good in the world.
Religion
I was raised Roman Catholic in a comically large Irish Catholic family. I've drifted from the church quite a bit since then for a number of reasons, but I still hold dear the people and values that were a part of that upbringing.
Local Hot-Button Issues
After a rough economic stretch for downtown business, Mill Valley is in the midst of a push to stimulate downtown business. That effort must be willing to innovate but also strike a balance between promoting downtown business and retaining the town's inimitable character.
The city must remain vigilant on issues of emergency preparedness, vegetation management and evacuation planning. Despite an improving real estate market, the city should strive for a more affordable housing market.
With its Miller Avenue Streetscape plan and all of its road projects, the city should try to promote alternative forms of transit throughout town.
Long-delayed effort to modernize 23-year-old General Plan, including the hot-button issue of affordable housing, is expected to take 18 months. Council also tackles traffic calming at Tuesday night meeting.
Marin's state representatives see a number of bills they introduced go into effect Jan. 1.
The once-controversial $1.5 million effort by the Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Marin County Parks to restore habitat on the 17-acre island off the eastern edge of Strawberry is set to pick up in the spring.
Marin's state representatives see a number of bills they introduced go into effect Jan. 1.
Visitors are paying an extra $2 fee that will go directly to California State Parks "in recognition of the heavy use their lands see as the access point for Muir Woods."
Growing "industrial hemp," registering to vote online and banning the sale of shark fins completes this list of 10 interesting new laws.
Grocery chain had planned to impose a 5-cent fee on paper bags at its four stores in Marin to comply with new county ordinance but rescinded the move after realizing it didn’t apply to its stores.
Grocery chain had planned to impose a 5-cent fee on paper bags at its four stores in Marin to comply with new county ordinance but rescinded the move after realizing it didn’t apply to its stores.
Three-alarm blaze originated from an office and involved two of the house’s three floors, causing several hundred thousand dollars worth of damage, fire officials say.
This year's roundup of police activities included a man in handlebar mustache giving off a weird vibe, a Botox bailout and a gruesome (but not real) leg in a trash can. And was it Wild Turkey or wild turkeys? Take a look inside to find out.
Just weeks after his Hawk's Tavern opens on Miller Ave., Mill Valley mogul's Rotisserie & Wine in Napa quietly closed its doors for a "quick remodel." No specific reopening date given.
At the end of a year in which he served as the city's mayor and earned an uncontested second term on the City Council, Wachtel garners the most votes in a close poll. Enjoy the Year of Ken Wachtel in pictures.
A look back on the year that was turns up an array of interesting stories from Mill Valley and beyond. What do you think were the most important developments in town over the past year?
Two years after a massive Monterey Cypress is taken down by the county, woodcarver turns its huge stump into a bench with a carved mountain lion atop it.
District officials cite higher costs compared to PG&E at a time of major budget concerns as the primary reason for decision.
The sandwich shop chain is proposing to move into 29 Miller Ave., the space formerly occupied for 40-plus years by Baskin Robbins.
The "acoustic folk-skiffle-swing holiday highjinks" celebrate 35th anniversary with short holiday tour.
Downtown clothing shop shifts to a more preferable location on Throckmorton in February, while Yasmine McGrane closes her store in an effort to expand other aspects of her business.
On this day when many of us wake up to mountains of new stuff in our homes, the president of the Golden Gate Baptist Seminary urges us to avoid "frugality fatigue."
This sculpture serves as a window onto a cross in the distance. Where is this?
