Herald staff wins several awards

SEATTLE – With eight first-place trophies, The Herald won a Sweepstakes Award in a regional journalism association’s annual competition.

Reporters, columnists, photographers and others with The Herald were presented with several awards in the 2006 Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Excellence in Journalism Contest, for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska were announced at the Seattle Hilton.

The Herald’s Sweepstakes award was for newspapers in the Western Washington region with circulations between 25,000 and 65,000.

First-place awards were earned for The Herald by:

Sharon Salyer, for health reporting for her “Kids and obesity” series;

The Herald staff, for business reporting for “Wal-Mart, love it or hate it”;

Mike Benbow, for business column;

Scott North, for long feature for “Heartbreak and hope”;

Scott Morris, for arts and arts criticism for “Common wealth: A story about a play”;

Scott M. Johnson, for sports feature for “The best and brightest”;

John Sleeper, for sports column; and

Judy Stanley for feature page design.

Second-place awards were earned by:

Scott North, Diana Hefley and Lukas Velush, for investigative reporting for “I-5 cable barriers fail to stop deaths”;

Bryan Corliss, for business column;

Jennifer Warnick, for lifestyle reporting for “On or off the ice, Tips are hot”;

Jeff Switzer, for social issues reporting for “War, peace and doughnuts”;

Kevin Nortz, for general news photography for “Union on strike”; and

Donna DeCesare, for photopage for “Heartbreak and hope.”

Third-place awards were earned by:

Jennifer Warnick and Krista Kapralos, for consumer reporting for “Tourist traps”

Amy Rolph and Mike Benbow, for business reporting for “The buzz is back at Boeing”; and

Eric Fetters, for specialized Web log for “Biotech blog.”

Honorable mentions were presented to:

Scott North, for comprehensive coverage (single day) for “Heartbreak and hope”;

Eric Zoeckler, for business column;

Debra Smith, for consumer reporting for “Into the fire”; and

Melissa Slager and Eric Stevick, for comprehensive coverage (multiple days) for “Dropouts lost in the shuffle.”