While Patch values community news — announcements, events and stories posted by residents — it also has a policy of paying for professional-caliber coverage from freelance writers, photographers and videographers. Pay is on a contract basis (meaning taxes aren’t withheld) and varies according to the contributor’s experience and dependability, and the complexity of the assignment.

I’m looking for contributors in several categories, which you can see by browsing the newly launched LaGrange Patch. For now, I want to recruit a couple of freelancers, ideally with a journalism background or experience, who can handle a wide range of news stories and features.

I’d also like one or two locals who could contribute sports and feature stories and some local columnists who could write weekly, monthly or occasionally on a specific topic. This offer also is extended to information officers for local institutions.

I’d be thrilled if I could find someone to cover the daily police beat. And I may also be able to pay for occasional photos and videos, which are a fundamental aspect of each Patch site.

Feel free to make other suggestions: I’m all ears. And if you have a college journalism major who may want to gain some paid experience occasionally writing for the site — or who might be interested in an internship — put them in touch with me.

This is the real deal, folks. Let me say that if Patch had been around when I was freelancing, I would have jumped at the opportunity to cover local news and features while beefing up monthly income with regular work.

So let’s talk. You can reach me at elaine@patch.com anytime.

“I find this to be my break from things,” said DeProsperis, who is a finance guy by day.  “I enjoy politics, in a smaller municipal fashion, on the side.  It’s my work away from work, and I have the mindset to always be working on something.

“I enjoy entrepreneurial things and taking on projects, which is why I started the site,” he said. “I want Downers to grow and flourish just like the next person, so I’ll continue to reinvent it as well.”