Marina Cracchiolo, Patch Staff

My name is Marina Cracchiolo and I have lived in Shelby Township my whole life (with the exception of about a year when I went off to study several times in Italy), but I'll get to my life adventures later.  I am an Eisenhower graduate -- go Eagles! I studied journalism, with an emphasis in broadcasting and got a minor in political science from Oakland University. My first journalism job was at WDIV, where I worked as a web editor for ClickOnDetroit.com for nearly four years. While at WDIV, I worked on a variety of stories ranging from automotive news to the fall of the Detroit mayor and the infamous underwear bomber.  I loved every minute of the fast-paced newsroom, but when I was approached by Patch, they lured me in with the revolutionary concept of hyper-local news, the idea of being a part of a startup company, and running a mobile newsroom in the community you know and love. 

Voila! A few months later, I am up and running, and delivering important and relevant news to my neighbors. Shelby-Utica Patch will cover all aspects of news in the two cities, from breaking news, crime and community events to the latest drama in the local government arena and what's happening at the schools. 

I promised I would tell you about some of my adventures, so I will give a few snippets, but if you want to know more, just ask me. While studying at Oakland University I decided to polish up on my Italian reading and writing skills. I moved to a medieval city outside of Florence for several months to study the history of Italian Renaissance and the language. Of course being a journalist at heart, I also needed to know more about the fascinating people and their culture.

After graduating from college I moved back to Italy, this time to Rome, to do an internship at the Associated Press. While I was there, I helped write several stories about the Vatican and the Italian mob wars.

<b> Your Beliefs</b>

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> <b>Politics </b>

It&#39;s hard to define myself as just one thing, but I have to admit that I definitely lean to the left.

<b>Religion</b>

I was raised Catholic and was confirmed at a little church on top of a large mountain in Sicily.  However, recently, I have been exploring other religions and learning different ways to view the world.

I believe every person has the right to worship as they wish.  However, I get upset with religion when individuals become extreme and use it as justification to harm or suppress the rights of others.

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<b>Local Hot-Button Issues</b>

Shelby Township and Utica are great places to live and raise a family.  Therefore, it&#39;s resident&#39;s main concerns include schools, their families, their businesses and the housing market.<br> The economic downturn hit the cities housing market hard and although market values are slowly increasing, property values and township development are topics important to Shelby Township and Utica homeowners.  I want to hear what your concerns are.