People frequently send me links to websites on which citizens (not professional journalists) present local news. Two recent examples from my inbox:

Corpus Beat is an impressive site from Corpus Christi, TX, with news articles, blogs, photo competitions, and organizational charts of local government, among other features. Much of the content seems to be created by local kids. I especially liked a series of interviews of local officials and a feature called “Brain Gain,” about how to prevent college-educated young people from leaving the area. All the articles for “Brain Gain” were written by students. In keeping with classic public journalism experiments from the 1990s, Corpus Beat convened a forum on the brain drain problem and reported the results–thereby prompting public deliberation and covering it as news.

Much closer to (my) home, College Park, MD now has a well-written, independent blog about local issues. Rethink College Park has two staffers but is open to adding more.