Andy Smith, Patch Staff

<strong>Who is Andy Smith:</strong> Simple, really. Small-town boy. News junkie. Believes in the uniqueness and goodness of America. Doesn&#39;t care if you&#39;re white, black, purple, polka-dotted or striped. If you work hard, care about others, try to do what&#39;s right and can laugh at situations when they get silly, you&#39;re cool with me.

<strong>Religion:</strong> Thinks that believing in someone who&#39;s bigger and more intelligent than we are, who&#39;s in charge of things on Earth, and who has in mind what this quilt is supposed to look like when it&#39;s done-- unless we screw it up-- is a fairly smart thing to do . . . and I do.

<strong>Politics:</strong> Believes that most people who run for and serve in public office are good, sincere, caring people, but that -- sadly -- a few here and there are dishonest, manipulative jerks. I don&#39;t think it&#39;s my job to paint anyone in a particular light, but I believe strongly that it&#39;s my job to present the facts and what led up to the facts so that you can decide for yourself.

<strong>The Media:</strong> Believes that print, broadcast, cable, web-based and other journalists, for the most part, work very hard and care very much about doing what they do, right and well. On the other hand, like every profession there are some with no ethics (wrong), there are some whose ego is more important than the story (wrong), there are some who don&#39;t care about getting it right or acknowledging their mistakes when they mess things up (wrong), and there are some who think that being a journalist is the equivalent of pushing a particular point-of-view or agenda (really wrong). As for modern era news coverage, I&#39;ll be very frank: I believe that fewer and fewer so-called journalists -- sadly -- understand how important local everyday news is to people and communities. And, I don&#39;t have a lot of patience with reporters or editors who think it&#39;s not important for local reporters to show up and &#34;work a beat,&#34; meaning stopping by in-person and by phone, on a regular ongoing basis to talk with a lot of people all over town, say hello, ask what&#39;s happening, check on this report or that, and dig out interesting or important stuff. I believe strongly in this statement that old-fashioned journalists like me are likely to repeat often: &#34;<strong>No news happens in the newsroom</strong>.&#34; I&#39;m not afraid to ask anyone anything, but I hope that I&#39;ll do so, especially if it&#39;s a difficult situation, with some level of grace. On the other hand, I&#39;ve been spat upon, threatened, deliberately misled and downright lied to, so . . . I&#39;m a born skeptic.

<strong>Personally:</strong> I grew up in the Village of Sullivan, a tiny community near the Jefferson/Waukesha County border. I&#39;m married. We have no children. We don&#39;t live a fancy life, and hopefully never an ostentatious one, but we laugh a lot with each other, with friends and with family. When we have the chance, we like to travel ... around the state, around the nation, around the world. I&#39;m a bit of an owly curmudgeon some days, and I figure everyone else is entitled to be, some days. So it&#39;s the truth-- Amy&#39;s my better half. I hope you&#39;ll get to meet her, and I hope you&#39;ll make her feel welcome and cared about in and around Sussex. I hold a degree in Journalism with a Minor in History, but I know people with no more than an eighth grade education that I want on my team because they know what they&#39;re doing and I can count on them.

<strong>Contacting me: </strong>My email is <strong>andrew.smith&#64;patch.com </strong>but nobody calls me Andrew. Andy, Handy Andy or Big Red will get it done. My work phone is <strong>414/207-1900</strong> and I consider my job 24/7/365. On the other hand, I need to sleep, eat, mow the lawn, go to a ballgame and see a movie every once-in-a-while. BUT, IF YOU SEE BREAKING NEWS, like a fire, serious crash, tornado, crime scene with lots of police, ambulances or the medical examiner&#39;s vehicle, a train derailment, a school or plant being evacuated, a water main break, then I WANT YOU TO CALL, even if you&#39;re afraid that it&#39;s too early or too late. 

<strong>On People Getting Along: </strong> If you&#39;re going to swear at or about me, at least do it to my face. If I&#39;ve done or said something that has upset, hurt or offended you, tell me-- I&#39;ll likely feel badly about it and apologize. If I&#39;ve gotten something wrong, I don&#39;t need to be ripped about it, since I will very likely correct it almost immediately and apologize publicly for the error. On the other hand, if something I write is correct and you simply don&#39;t like it, then I&#39;ll tell you that&#39;s what I believe, but I&#39;ll always listen to your side. My goal as a community journalist is that even after an argument, I&#39;ll always be willing to have a cup of coffee, soda or a beer and keep moving forward.

<strong>Other Stuff: </strong>I love history. I love trains. I love the original Star Trek. I have a collection of classic movies. I think the music of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s is so much better than that of the 80s, 90s, 00s and 10s that it&#39;s not even close, but you can listen to yours and make fun of me, and I&#39;ll listen to mine and make fun of you. I don&#39;t think that hair ought to show outside of a football player&#39;s helmet and I don&#39;t think that pants intended to be around your waist should be halfway down your dupa, but everyone has a right to look silly. After all, sometimes my own wife doesn&#39;t want to be seen with me either. In other words, let&#39;s all have a sense of humor; let&#39;s all be quicker to laugh than to be perpetually offended.

<strong>Important Issues: </strong>You tell me, and I&#39;ll look into it.  Fair enough? Good. :-)