Category 1 - Best Editorial

First Place - Ledger Independent, Mary Ann Kearns
“Living Dangerously” explores and explains the local fire district tax issue and takes a stand.

Second Place - Glasgow Daily Times, Todd Garvin
Drug Court, a controversial issue, gets a thoughtful evaluation and a recommendation of support.

Third Place - Madisonville Messenger, LaMar Bryan
Bryan raises concerns about the potential harm of this plan on community resources and quality of life.

 

First Place - Winchester Sun, Tim Weldon
Combined good on-the-scene reporting with extensive background details. Reported several aspects of inmate’s escape, including how it was made, court appearance earlier in day and details of arrest background.

Second Place - Commonwealth Journal, Chris Harris
Story was beautifully written with approppriate tongue-in-cheek tone. Good background details. Proves all crime stories do not have to be written alike.

Third Place - Richmond Register, Mandy Langston
Combined police and human interest angles well. Great on-the-scene inteview with family members of those arrested. Handled delicate story very well.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, William T. Simms, Jr.
Good detail and good interview with victims’ family member and witness to fire. Needed details on injuries a little higher in story.

Honorable Mention - Winchester Sun, Mike Wynn
Nice lede and graph summarizing situation and impact on community.

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Lori Harris
Frank treatment of sensitive topic makes the “education” story as interesting as it is important. Writer conveys mood and message with skill and style.

Second Place - Commonwealth Journal, Tricia Neal
Effective analogy gives life to a potentially dull “he said, she said” story. Readers get the facts without fear their eyes will glaze over.

Third Place - Glasgow Daily Times, Ronnie Ellis
Writing story was no picnic, but reporter’s keen eye and ear make reader feel the heat of a fiery campaign. Great treatment and judicious use of quotes.

 

First Place - Frankfort State Journal, Mary Branham
A moving, creative lead carried the reader straight through this story about a powerful place. Well-written with excellent detail and strong quotes. Well done!!

Second Place - Frankfort State Journal, Mary Branham
Touching story with a subject who inspires from the first sentence. The story also conveys useful information to readers about an important issue.

Third Place - Madisonville Messenger, Garth Gamblin
Wonderful tale of true romance, well organized with good detail.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, Don Perryman
Very interesting with strong detail.

Honorable Mention - Richmond Register, Bryan Marshall
Small moments show the impact of the closing business.

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Don McNay

Second Place - Madisonville Messenger, Garth Gamblin
Uses the device of the bar to great effect. Could get tiresome but doesn’t.

Third Place - Harlan Daily Enterprise, Patrick Drury
Goofy, witty, inventive and fresh.

 

First Place - Frankfort State Journal, Susan Riddell
Great local focus. Part of good column writing is selecting a worthy topic. Entries were good stories that were well-written with a nice touch of human interest. Great use of sources demonstrates working relationship with the people she covers.

Second Place - Harlan Daily Enterprise, John Henson
Good factual base and strong opinions. Great knowledge of the local sports landscape.

Third Place - Winchester Sun, Keith Taylor
Good mix of human interest and fact based opinion. Well written.

Honorable Mention - Commonwealth Journal, Chris Harris
Well-written columns, but could have been shorter without sacrificing too much.

Honorable Mention - Richmond Register, Nathan Hutchinson
Nice sense of humor. Easy and enjoyable read.

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Nathan Hutchinson
A beautiful blend of game details, follow-up quotes, season summary, and statistics. The lead which describes key moment of victory is uncommonly good. An amazing job on deadline!

Second Place - Middlesboro Daily News, Jerry Boggs
One of the few entries in this category that did not adhere to the format of cliche lead followed by play-by-play details. This story tells a real story of how a coach inspired her team to a championship by showing them how she did it herself 21 years ago.

Third Place - Richmond Register, Nathan Hutchinson
Another example of superior reporting and writing. Hutchinson takes the reader beyond the score into the hearts and minds of the team, places readers normally don’t get to go.

Honorable Mention - Commonwealth Journal, Steve Cornelius
An interesting topic worthy of attention.

Honorable Mention - Frankfort State Journal, Susan Riddell
An engaging story well told.

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Lori Harrison
Lori Harrison tells the history of Title IX through the memories of the women who lived it. An engaging feature full of visual details and unique quotes.

Second Place - Murray Ledger & Times, Michael Dann
Dann “shows” instead of “tells” readers how much this new football coach loves the game with his feature about the coach’s Football 101 class.

Third Place - Glasgow Daily Times, Ronnie Ellis
Ellis crafts two revealing portraits of Jim Whiteside through interviews and colorful quotes.

 

First Place - Frankfort State Journal, Nicole Sliger
Kudos to Ms. Sliger and the State Journal for digging into this story. Good research and reporting make for a solid series exposing the financial mismanagement of a top governemnt official. Well done!!!

Second Place - Winchester Sun, Tim Weldon
Timely, well written and well researched. An excellent example of enterprise reporting and great value to readers.

Third Place - Winchester Sun, Tim Weldon
Fascinating story about a top issue. Good explanation of complicated concepts of great interest to the community.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, Lori Harrison
Well-written pair of articles about a disturbing possible trend.

 

First Place - Winchester Sun, Tim Weldon
An outstanding investigation into a problem affecting the community. Excellent reporting yielded great detail and well-balanced opinion. A clear winner. Well done!

Second Place - Richmond Register, Ryan Garrett
Kudos to Mr. Garrett for finding this possible waste of taxpayers’ money and telling both sides of the story. Well-written and reported. Good work.

Third Place - Madisonville Messenger, Don Perryman
Solid coverage of a big story with local connections. The series covered all the angles giving readers the whole story.

Honorable Mention - Frankfort State Journal, Erik Carlson
Good investigation on the important issue of rising state government healthcare costs.

Honorable Mention - Glasgow Daily Times, Stacy L. Neitzel, Ronnie Ellis
This is community journalism that readers want to see. Investigations of problems that affect them every day like a dangerous road.

 

First Place - Frankfort State Journal, Erik Carlson
Eric provided thorough and compelling reporting on the merit system crisis and the investigation and indictments in the Fletcher administration. Strong blow-by-blow mixed with enlightening enterprise reporting. Fair and balanced.

Second Place - Murray Ledger & Times, Kris Adams, John Wright, Kristin Taylor
Comprehensive coverage of an important education issue. Stories chronicled stages of debate and explained the issues for readers. There’s no doubt such thorough reporting helped readers navigate a complicated issue.

Third Place - Middlesboro Daily News, Staff
Stories on the proposed Methadone clinic flowed each step of debate and gave people on both sides of issue a voice. Good explanatory journalism too in helping readers understand drug addiction and use of Methadone as treatment.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, Don Perryman, Lori Harrison, William Simms, Jr.
Riveting saga of drug ring composed of high-profile community members. Readers must have been awaiting each edition to see who’s next?

Honorable Mention - Winchester Sun, Tim Weldon
A yeoman’s effort in covering a dramatic tale. The plot-or-fantasy nature of the story was compelling and Weldon did an admirable job in telling it.

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Garth Gamblin
Great in-depth feature that has good design, a sense of humor, light touch and lots in informative telling details. Makes good use of quotes.

Second Place - Madisonville Messenger, Don Perryman
Deft handling of a hot button issue with thoughts and comments from all the right parties. While not breaking news, it’s a excellent reader story.

Third Place - Winchester Sun, Tim Weldon
Outstanding presentation and good in-depth look at an issue affecting many fathers.

Honorable Mention - Harlan Daily Enterprise, Adrienne Steinfeldt
For being so restrained on such a hilarious, ironic story. I laughed out loud.

 

First Place - Frankfort State Journal, Susan Riddell
Clever, but not to cutsy. Strong, clear and effective. Three strong heads.

Second Place - Madisonville Messenger, Tim Kessler
Oh, the places you’d go with these Seuss’ headlines!

Third Place - Ledger Independent, Rusty Zeigler
Inspired ‘doughnut’ headline. Tells the story with style.

Honorable Mention - Harlan Daily Enterprise, Jarrod Sherman
‘Hoosier Daddy?’ got my attention all right!

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Lowell Mendyk
Nice color.

Second Place - Frankfort State Journal, Suzanne Feliciano
Great police access.

Third Place - Madisonville Messenger, Jim Pearson
Heartbreaking moment.

Honorable Mention - Commonwealth Journal, Steve Cornelius
Cute.

 

First Place - Glasgow Daily Times, Jamie Ray
Tough moment.

Second Place - Frankfort State Journal, Amy Wallot
Nice.

Third Place - Richmond Register, Nancy Taggart
Different because it is a little looser, more respectful of couple.

Honorable Mention - Corbin Times Tribune, Nikki Fox
Nice portrait.

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Nancy Taggart
Nice shot of rides.

Second Place - Richmond Register, Nancy Taggart
Great angle and composition.

Third Place - Corbin Times Tribune, Nikki Fox
Well lit.

Honorable Mention - Commonwealth Journal, Dennis Balton
Bonus points for technical goodness!!

 

First Place - Frankfort State Journal, Suzanne Feliciano
Great job! Nice access.

Second Place - Frankfort State Journal, Amy Wallot
Nice art.

Third Place - Winchester Sun, James Mann
Needed to spend more time with subject.

Honorable Mention - Frankfort State Journal, Suzanne Feliciano

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Jim Pearson
Great shot!!

Second Place - Commonwealth Journal, Steve Cornelius
Great job in capturing the moment.

Third Place - Richmond Register, Nancy Taggart
Invokes Michael Jordan.

Honorable Mention - Frankfort State Journal, Susan Riddell
Most photographers would have put camera down.

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Jim Pearson
Good effort.

Second Place - Frankfort State Journal, Suzanne Feliciano

Third Place - Glasgow Daily Times, Jamie Ray
Cute kids sell papers.

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Staff
Well balanced, well written, good layout and photo design.

Second Place - Commonwealth Journal, Staff
Good progress edition, well written.

Third Place - Harlan Daily Enterprise, Staff
Good content. Good layout. Needed more color.

Third Place - Ledger Independent, Staff
Good local stories, good idea.

 

First Place - Madisonville Messenger, Lowell Mendyk
Excellent concept graphic that draws the reader to the page and story. What a feature graphic should do.

Second Place - Richmond Register, Lance Easter
Fun graphic that does an excellent job illustrating and telling a story.

Third Place - Richmond Register, Lorie Love
Simple, easy to read and understand graphics that work.

Honorable Mention - Corbin Times Tribune, Les Dixon
Nice attention-grabbing graphics. Nice use of white space and color.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, LaMar Bryan
Good graphics that help tell the story.

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Nathan Hutchinson
Compelling and expertly done sports fronts give the Register a slight edge. Inside pages not as strong.

Second Place - Frankfort State Journal, Susan Riddell
Also strong fronts and photos.

Third Place - Murray Ledger & Times, Michael Dann
Very good for newspaper in smaller market. Imaginative presentation, good photos.

Honorable Mention - Corbin Times Tribune, Les Dixon

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Jennifer E. Kustes
A good mix of local business news, features and columns combined with national news and stock listings. “Seizing the Opportunity” was the best of the three centerpieces with a clean design and strong photography and writing.

Second Place - Richmond Register, Jennifer E. Kustes
This entry is honored for the same reasons.

Third Place - Corbin Times Tribune, Fred Petke
Good content mix. Nice design on “Ready for Winter” centerpiece.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, LaMar Bryan
Nice centerpiece, local stories with good writing and design.

 

First Place - Ledger Independent, Drew Purcell
Fantastic use of type. The fishing lure headline is outstanding as is the use of the horse training photo as a screen. Even squash seemed exciting. Bravo!

Second Place - Ledger Independent, Drew Purcell
You’ve got to love that goat! Great use of photography and type. Nice design on Willow Oak Farm

Third Place - Richmond Register, Jennifer E. Kustes
Good use of “Last Supper” photo. Pottery layout is the best of the three.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, Lori Harrison
Good use of photography.

Honorable Mention - Richmond Register, Lance Easter
“Pioneering Spirit” page earned this entry its mention. Good use of photography, type and color.

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Jennifer E. Kustes
Very clean design with all local content. Great use of letters. Strong editorials and columns by the publisher. Kudos to the Register for publishing the results (“and the survey says”) from its readership survey and responding to readers’ concerns.

Second Place - Richmond Register, Jennifer E. Kustes
This entry is honored for the same reasons “Comprehensive Plan” column is excellent as are editorials.

Third Place - Corbin Times Tribune, Patrick Ethridge
Strong design, really like “Flips and flops.” Balanced content with strong editorials.

Honorable Mention - Harlan Daily Enterprise, Debbie Caldwell
Good content mix. Nice to see so much room given to letters.

Honorable Mention - Madisonville Messenger, Tom Clinton
Well balanced content. Good “our view” editorial.

 

First Place - Richmond Register, Lorie Love
Clear, organized design with strong reader appeal. Good use of photos and typography. These fonts, design, story selection and organization give a good sense of Richmond. Nice looking, compelling front pages.

Second Place - Richmond Register, Nathan Hutchinson
You can tell basketball rules in Kentucky. Dramatic A1 design for NCAA tourney. Other fronts are clean, easy to read and navigate fronts.

Third Place - Corbin Times Tribune, Jeff Neal

© Kentucky Press Association