• Bea KarnesPatch Staff Verified Patch Staff Badge

  • Fremont, CA

It is a privilege to work for Patch and to provide Bay Area readers with news and events going on in their communities.

I am a Bay Area native, having grown up in Silicon Valley.

I am a graduate of San Jose State University. Upon graduating with honors with a degree in journalism, I worked in television news. I moved to Casper, Wyoming for my first job at a station whose call letters at the time were KCWY. After gaining a few years of experience I returned to the Bay Area, working for several years as a news producer at KNTV. While in the Bay Area I got married to Jim (more than 30 years now!) and we had two children, Emily and Mike. We relocated to Colorado. While there I worked for KOAA-TV. I served in a variety of roles including assignment editor, news producer, and assistant news director. When the role of web editor was created I jumped at the opportunity to move online. I also taught mass comm classes at Colorado State University-Pueblo and Pueblo Community College.

My children thrived in Colorado. Following an activity-filled childhood, my daughter graduated from CSU-Pueblo and my son from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. Emily works for a bio-tech company; Mike is a Air Force F-16 pilot.

Sadly, my widowed mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In early 2011 I returned to the Bay Area, moving into my childhood home to care for her. She thrived with the added stimulation, good nutrition and careful regulation of medications. I like to borrow the saying that I added years to her life and life to her years. She passed away on Thanksgiving Day in 2018.

I feel that my journey is one walked by many Patch readers. I know what it's like to have a job, two kids, a house and a spouse, aging parents, bills to pay, kids to put through college and other everyday challenges. I am concerned with providing a well-rounded look at my Patch communities. Of course I need to tell you about crime that is happening, but I also want you to know about free events, what's happening in the business community, and other things that impact your life.

Email me here at Patch!

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