Patrick Crotty has joined the staff of the Shelby County Reporter as a staff writer.

Crotty looks forward to building on the strong tradition of excellence at the Reporter.

&uot;I know there are stories that need telling in Shelby County, and I hope that people will take advantage of me as an outlet,&uot; he said.

&uot;It’s an exciting time to to live and work in Shelby County and I hope that my contributions at the newspaper will reflect that.&uot;

Crotty lived in Helena as a child with his parents, Reid and Martha Crotty, and his sister, Colleen.

He moved to Talladega, to Tuscaloosa and finally back to Hoover, where he graduated from Hoover High School in 1997.

Crotty earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2002.

He has worked as a reporter at The Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, The Observer News Enterprise in western North Carolina and the Athens Banner-Herald in Georgia before returning to Alabama.

&uot;We are very pleased to welcome Patrick to the Reporter; he has a solid journalism background, was raised in the area and comes to us with a track record of community-focused writing,&uot; said Tim Prince, Reporter publisher.

&uot;I am excited to see the quality work we expect Patrick will produce and how he will deepen our localized coverage.&uot;

Crotty will be assigned to cover the Pelham, Helena and North Shelby areas. He can be reached at 669-3131, ext. 21 or by email at mailto:patrick.crotty@shelbycountyreporter.com