Welcome to Charlotte Patch

I knew journalism was the only career path for me the day I found myself standing knee deep in a grain field crop circle in the backwoods of South Carolina, staring down at about half an acre of stalks inexplicably creased flat.

Earlier that morning, I had just been the lowly intern at a small community newspaper as I was wrapping up my first year at college studying journalism. That was before the phone started to ring in the newsroom. I have no doubt my eyes lit up when I heard my new editor mention that she was getting calls about weird formations in the field. Crop circles had been a periodic phenomenon at the time, popping up elsewhere around the world. Residents wanted to know what was going on. Why here? Were aliens descending upon our fair town?

It was a day tailor made for an intern eager to jump on a story and an editor with a keen sense of humor.

I got out my pristine reporter’s notebook and went to work. Neighbors, at least those who opened their doors, had nothing to offer. I called state meteorologists for historical data on typical wind shear patterns in the area, but came up with zip. Then, in what I’m sure was perceived by my superiors as a stroke of brilliance, I called in a team of local self-styled paranormal experts. They descended upon the field with a quickness that rivaled that of the response rate of town paramedics. They brought with them electronic meters and stern looks of concentration as they slowly walked the circle looking for proof of extraterrestrials. To be honest, my heart broke a little for them as they quietly got back in their car, heads hanging a bit lower than when they started.

At the end of the day, all evidence pointed to a teenage prank. I, however, went home elated by how far my curiosity had taken me.

In the many (don’t ask how many) years since that summer, that curiosity has kept me moving. After college, I spent about a decade in Washington, D.C., which feels a bit like doing time in the sausage factory. There, I reported on aviation and military issues from the federal level. Along the way, I developed a deep need to understand what happens to those in combat. I ended up in Iraq as a freelance war correspondent embedded with Marines at remote outposts, filing copy for USA Today. After getting married and coming back home to the Carolinas, I spent a couple of years as a digital correspondent for Al Jazeera America reporting on race and poverty.

News from your own backyard, where you’re planted, is the most important. I intend to cover the community news of our patch of North Carolina like a carpet of kudzu. And I’m going to need your help.

Send me your story tips – even, if you must, the extraterrestrial variety – or simply drop me a line at kimberly.johnson@patch.com. Make sure you follow what we’re doing on our shiny new Facebook and Twitter pages.

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