Times-News Takes Eight Top Honors in Regional Awards

Source: The Times-News, Twin Falls, IdahoAug.self storage 28--TWIN FALLS -- The Times-News raked in eight first-place awards and 10 other major prizes Tuesday in the Utah-Idaho-Spokane Associated Press Association's annual news contest for spring 2012-13.The newspaper competes in Division 2, for newspapers of 10,000 to 50,000 daily circulation, against nine other papers in Idaho and Utah.Winning first-place coverage in the beat reporting category, for the Times-News' high-profile wildfire coverage, were senior photographer Ashley Smith, veteran wildfires reporter Kimberlee Kruesi, reporters Laurie Welch and Alison Smith, and former Times-News reporter Melissa Davlin.That same team's coverage of the 2012 wildfires also won the Lee President's Award given yearly by Lee Enterprises Inc. as well as the Idaho Press Club's special coverage award. Idaho saw some of the nation's largest wildfires in 2012, which was the state's worst season since 2007.The Times-News photography staff won nine total awards, including three top prizes."We have a very talented and hardworking team of reporters, photographers and editors who do top-notch work every day," Times-News Publisher Travis Quast said Tuesday. "It is great to see them recognized for their efforts by the editors at the Associated Press. I couldn't be prouder of their commitment to covering the important stories in our community."Photographer Drew Nash won first place in the general news photo category for his work on the funeral of Army Sgt. Daniel Brown, 27, of Jerome, who was killed in Afghanistan on March 24, 2012.Nash also won first place in the sports photo category for his images of steer wrestling at a rodeo at the College of Southern Idaho.Ashley Smith won first place for his spot news photo of the Kinyon Road Fire, a photograph that also captured him first place for spot news in the Region 9 National Press Photographers Association monthly clip contest for July. The image showed Shawn Torres, of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, starting a backburn while battling the Kinyon Road Fire, which scorched 216,050 acres that July.Sportswriter Ryan Howe won two first-place awards -- for his spot sports story on six-man迷你倉football's return to Idaho and for his sports feature "The Shot," which looked back at the 75-foot buzzer-beater in the 1998 A-3 boys basketball championship game between Declo and Kimberly.Yet another first-place prize went to reporters Alison Smith and Davlin for their feature story, "Cross to Bear," documenting the stories behind roadside crosses placed throughout the Magic Valley to memorialize accident victims.And Davlin won first place for her spot news story, "State of Emergency," about a massive windstorm that toppled a tree and wiped out power to the city's water pumps, resulting in a city-declared state of emergency.Nash, Ashley Smith and online editor Dan Warner won second place for an online special package, Portraits of Veterans, for a website presentation of veterans' stories and portraits, including audio and video coverage by Warner.Nash also won the second-place portrait prize for his picture of the middle-weights wrestler of the year; and third-place awards for a picture story / photo essay, "Conquering Borah," depicting his ascent to the highest point in Idaho, a feature photograph of pig-wrestling and a sports feature photo, "Pumped," showing a football player pumping on his team at Canyon Ridge High School.Editor Autumn Agar placed second for her editorial, "Crapo's DUI: Why No One is Angry."The staff placed second in general excellence for its online presentation at magicvalley.com.Sports Editor David Bashore won second place for his spot sports story, "Delving for Dollars," about high school athletic departments finding creative ways to raise money for their facilities.Kimberlee Kruesi placed third in the series or special projects category for "Beneath Our Feet," a series on brownfields, environmentally tainted lands in the Magic Valley.And Ashley Smith won a third-place award for the portfolio category for his collection of work.This contest was judged by editors from AP member newspapers in Arkansas. The UISAPA has represented northwestern newspapers for 88 years.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho) Visit The Times-News (Twin Falls, Idaho) at magicvalley.com Distributed by MCT Information Services文件倉