Email nikki.ferrell@patch.com           
Phone 216-346-7380 Hometown Springfield, Ohio Birthday January 7 Bio Nikki comes to Patch from the Greene County Dailies, a company that prints small community newspapers for four cities in Greene County, just east of Dayton, Ohio. At the Dailies, Nikki covered everything from crime to features to city government, and she even met Vanilla Ice and Jim Tressel (O-H!) while covering Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. She graduated with two bachelor's degrees from Wright State University. At both her college newspaper and at the Dailies she worked toward making the Web an integral piece of her news coverage. In her free time, Nikki loves to read, go to the movies and cook. Oh, and she's a Bears fan – though the Browns are just fine – so please don't hold it against her. Your 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. Politics I'm a left-leaning moderate – left on social issues, moderate on fiscal issues, and a registered Democrat. Religion Though my mother is Methodist and my father is Baha'i, I don't practice any religion. However, growing up in households with such diverse beliefs has given me a fascination with the study of religions, and I do consider myself spiritual. Local Hot-Button Issues Fiscal accountability is important to Beachwood residents, as in any community. Taxpayers want to know that their dollars – whether for schools or the city – are used wisely, and that government is transparent about its budgets. Of course, I also believe in transparency, and as a reporter, part of my job is to aid that process by providing information that residents need to make informed decisions.