Tom Nash, Co-Editor

Tom Nash moved to Somerville from Virginia in 2008 to work as a journalist, armed only with a history degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. While he’s covered national and international stories for various publications, Somerville City Hall has captured most of his attention. He cut his teeth at The Somerville News and later ran the news/fashion/food website Post Somerville. He is the news editor at MuckRock, a Boston-based web service dedicated to making Freedom of Information requests more accessible. Which means he just wrote about exploding toilets.

Adam Vaccaro, Co-Editor

Adam Vaccaro is an experienced Boston area freelance writer, and he’s still learning. A graduate of Emmanuel College where he studied Communications and Political Science, Adam will earn a master’s in Print and Multimedia Journalism this coming December from Emerson College. Adam has written about events as local as meetings to establish dog parks and as global as the 2010 World Cup, which he covered for Comcast SportsNet New England. He also wrote movie reviews while studying in Australia. For Scout, he hopes to cover the dynamics of our city through the prism of its business and government entities while helping to increase the magazine’s web presence. Outside of journalism, Adam is a fierce bocce competitor, drinks way too much coffee, and finds comfort in Seinfeld re-runs.

Eli Jace, Arts Editor

Eli Jace came from the Arizonan mountains. After earning an associate’s degree in screenwriting he moved to far out wavering Western Massachusetts. At Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, in North Adams, he discovered journalism as a useful means for his writing, becoming A&E editor for its newspaper, The Beacon, and finishing with a bachelor’s degree. He wrote for the Berkshire Eagle covering a Zimbabwean mbria player, a couple of painters, a psychedelic jazz band and Laurie Anderson to name only some. He’s since nestled in at Scout, writing about folks who play with Styrofoam and folks who shake their naked parts live.

Kelly MacDonald, Photographer

It is said of famous baseball players that they were born with wooden bats in their hands. Well, ever since she can remember, Kelly has had a camera in her hand. As a teen in Marco Island, Florida, she took a job at a one-hour photo both to pay for film and get discounts on developing. All this, to support her zealous photography of friends and family. Later, she spent four years working as a photographer and counselor at Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall camps. When she graduated from Boston University in 2008, she had no doubt that she would pursue a career in photography. She has lived in Somerville for 11 years now, and she intends to stick around.

Andy Pyman, Web Development & Hosting

Founder of Truly Good Design in Somerville and a member of Somerville Local First, Andy was a natural fit to be the man behind the rad redesign of the Scout site. Down with Scout since Issue 1 as Web Hoster and all around supporter, Andy loves the opportunity to contribute to the most happening publication in city limits. In a former life, Andy worked as a canvasser for VPIRG and a midnight stocker at Home Depot. Born outside of Worcester, raised in Connecticut, and grounded in Vermont, Andy studied computer science at St. Joseph University and Community College of Vermont-Burlington. He lives in Somerville with his consort and their 2 sweet munchkins.

Jon Van Kuiken, Business Manager

Jon grew up in various parts of Michigan, moving to Chicago in the mid-80s to pursue a culinary career. He waited tables, cooked and performed numerous roles in the world of corporate dining. In the 90s he began a career transition to the nonprofit sector, working in various capacities for DePaul University for 13 years. Along the way he earned degrees in Business Administration from Roosevelt University and Information Systems from DePaul. After joining Scout prior to Issue 3, Jon quickly displayed the talents he honed at DePaul: budgeting, IT management and meticulous bookkeeping. Jon also contributes to Scout as a blogger and photographer. Equally important, he continues to furnish a magic touch as a chef. His “Almost Famous” cookies remain a Highland Avenue highlight for Scout staff and sugar-starved passersby.