• Jenna EkdahlPatch Staff Verified Patch Staff Badge

  • Northampton, PA

<b>Email: </b>Jenna.Ekdahl&#64;patch.com<b><br> Phone: </b>610-462-5789<b><br> Hometown: </b>Gettysburg, PA<b><br> Birthday: </b>April 10, 1989

Jenna Ekdahl was born and raised in historical Gettysburg, a few hours from Northampton. She graduated from Penn State University in December, 2010, with degrees in print journalism and religious studies. She’s worked in print, web and with multimedia for newspapers and web sites with The Gettysburg Times and Readers Digest. She also worked for Penn State’s student paper, the Daily Collegian, doing reporting and transitioning to video coverage in January, 2010. Her favorite and most challenging event to cover was THON, Penn State’s annual 46-hour dance marathon because she was awake for most of it and began to get as loopy as some of the dancers.

Currently she rents a one-bedroom in Southampton that she will probably always be in the process of decorating with odds and ends from Goodwill and similar places. She recently rescued a beautiful terrier mix named Belle from the SPCA and plans to take her on lengthy walks through Tyler State Park, once it warms up of course. She owns every season of Friends on DVD and could watch it for hours without tiring of Chandler’s sarcasm or Phoebe’s peculiar songwriting.

Although she’s fresh out of school, she already has years of reporting experience under her belt that will help her cover what’s most important to the residents of Northampton. No stranger to small-town reporting, Jenna is familiar with the impact of school board decisions and how state legislature can affect a community’s businesses and members. She loves multimedia and is excited about where it will take journalism in the coming years 

<b>Your Beliefs</b><br> 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><br> <i>How would you describe your political beliefs?<br> Are you registered with a certain party?</i>

I am registered as a Republican, but I’d say that like many of my fellow Generation Y-ers, I like to take politicians as they come. I’d rather hear what they stand for than take them at the party line. What’s most important in my mind is finding out their values and then looking at how that translates to political decision-making. It’s no secret that choices made at the national level do trickle down to those of us fortunate enough to populate the small towns of America, and that’s the reason we have to care about who we’re electing and putting in that role. <br> <br> <b>Religion</b><br> <i>How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious)</i>

I became involved in a Lutheran church’s youth group when I was 12, and my involvement with the church grew steadily from there. In college I was part of a fellowship associated with the Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) and some of my dearest friends are those I met through that group. I am a Christian and I believe that Jesus Christ died for humanity’s salvation. Loving others and sharing the gospel are among my most important goals in life.

However, I believe that “the church” as an icon is widely misrepresented in the U.S., and the only way I can change that is through my personal actions. I am always open to have discussions and conversations about Christianity, and I’d love to answer any questions you have. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m happy to do research and meet you for coffee or some ice cream to talk about it.<br> <b><br> Local Hot-Button Issues</b><br> <i>What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?<br> Where do you stand on each of these issues?</i>

Being as new to the area as I am, I surely don’t know the issues that are closest to the hearts of longtime Northampton residents. But, one thing I am is willing. I am willing to sit down and hear what’s important to you, what you want to know most about, and what you want to see covered. I do know that education is pretty crucial and Northampton residents are proud of Council Rock schools. I also know living in a community whose cost of living is significantly higher than the national average can have its woes, and I’d love to hear what that means to you. Don’t hesitate to tell me I’ve missed something big or you want to know more about a certain issue. I too care about where my taxes go and what’s best for the local community.

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