Dan Nephin, Patch Staff

<b>Email: </b>dan.nephin&#64;patch.com<b><br>Phone: </b>412.298.7618<b><br>Hometown: </b>Dormont<b><br>Birthday</b>: 10.10.1967<br><b>Bio </b>Dan has been a professional journalist for two decades, starting at a weekly community newspaper in suburban Philadelphia after graduating from Temple University in 1991. Before joining Patch, he spent nearly nine years at the Associated Press in Pittsburgh.

Dan and his wife Kathleen have lived in Dormont since May 2002.

He&#39;s an avid runner, having logged more than 3,000 miles in 2010, including a 100-mile race a 77-mile race, the Boston Marathon and the Pittsburgh marathon. Oh, and the Dormont Dash.

And despite having lived in Philadelphia for years without watching professional sports, he and his wife have become huge Steelers fans. Must be in the water.

<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>How would you describe your political beliefs? Moderate.

Are you registered with a certain party? No. I&#39;ve been registered nonpartisan for as long as I&#39;ve been a journalist. I try to be as objective as possible, but I&#39;ve been accused of writing with a conservative/Republican slant and a liberal/Democrat slant. The AP serves media outlets of all stripes (Fox News, the New York Times) so we could ill afford to show bias.

<br><b>Religion</b><br>How religious would you consider yourself? Non-religious, but spent time as a Catholic and Unitarian in childhood.<br><b><br>Local Hot-Button Issues</b><br>What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? Community revitalization. Both Dormont and Brookline have downtown shopping districts with unique offerings. But it&#39;s a challenge to remain vital in the big-box and mall era. Both are older communities as well with attendant infrastructure issues. Education is also important.

<br>Where do you stand on each of these issues? I want to live in a thriving, unique community with good schools, so I support efforts to achieve those goals. I realize, however, money doesn&#39;t grow on trees and the government and schools can&#39;t do it all.