Email: Kara.Seymour@Patch.com
Phone: 215-821-5460
Hometown: Pennington, NJ
Birthday: January 8, 1980

Kara Seymour grew up just over the river from Newtown in Pennington, New Jersey. Since graduating from James Madison University in 2002, Kara has worked in both the journalism and nonprofit sectors.

Kara began her journalism career at the Culpeper News, a weekly newspaper in rural Virginia. After writing lots of stories about farms, horses, and Civil War history, Kara decided she missed the energy and pulse of the Northeast.  In 2004, she moved to Bucks County to work for the Princeton Packet and later became a staff writer at the Bucks County Courier Times, where she covered Wrightstown, Northampton and Upper Southampton townships.

For two years, Kara served as a communications professional for the Sierra Club in Trenton, where she handled media relations functions and utilized social networking to mobilize club members. However, she longed to return to journalism and jumped on the opportunity to join Newtown Patch. Kara plans to combine her reporting skills with her online networking abilities to ensure that the people of Newtown have up-to-date news and information about what's happening in their community.

Kara lives in Wrightstown Township with her husband, Justin, and infant son, Henry.  For four years, the couple has been fixing up an 1841 farmhouse and one of these days they swear it will be done. Kara feels lucky that she lives within walking distance to the Pineville Tavern. She often treks through the bramble for a cold beer or an order of buffalo chicken egg rolls.

With six siblings, Kara grew up in chaos and likes it that way to this day. She has two huge dogs (Clyde, a freak-of-nature 117-pound chocolate lab and Bella, a St. Bernard with an attitude). She and her husband can't pass up getting their hands dirty with a good project. Most recently, the duo (whose city slicker friends surely think they've lost their marbles) fixed up a 1972 tow-behind RV and plan to get in touch with their inner nomad this summer.

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
How would you describe your political beliefs? Are you registered with a certain party?

I grew up in an Irish-Catholic family who believed John F. Kennedy was the second coming. So as to avoid being disowned by my mother, I am registered as a Democrat. With that being said, I consider myself to be both rational and open-minded. Therefore, I assess the issues based on the facts and avoid swallowing political party talking points at all costs.

Presently, I am turned off by the current two-party system. I believe it is lacking in real progress and is robbing America of what it truly deserves:  a government that acts in the best interest of the people instead of voting based on greedy desires or reelection prospects.

Religion
How religious would you consider yourself? (casual, observant, devout, non religious)

See first sentence of answer to previous question. I attend church occasionally; my son was baptized at St. Andrew's in Newtown.

Local Hot-Button Issues
What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? Where do you stand on each of these issues?

I believe the people in Newtown hold a few things dear to their hearts: their families and their heritage. Newtown is a community that prides itself on being a superb place to raise a family. Council Rock School District is continually grappling with the challenge of how to provide a top-notch education to its students while keeping taxes at a rate that is fair and reasonable to the people. Development and preservation is another key issue in Newtown. We have a history here that can't be duplicated and will never be replaced.

The people of Newtown care deeply about the farms, historical buildings, and charm that makes our community what it is. It is that pride on the part of our leaders and residents that has kept Newtown beautiful over the years. Maintaining Newtown's heritage amid modern day development is something the community will continue to face.

As far as where I stand on these issues, as part of the Newtown community, I too value education, preservation, and our history.