Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: The Cambridge News and Deerfield Independent Entry Title: Living in a war zone Entry Credit: Madeline Westberg Judge Comment: An expansive coverage of a former exchange student who returned to his nation of Ukraine and became involved in the war there. He remembers being in the USA and is now heavily involved in raising contributions to assist Ukraine residents. Nice local stories on the Ukraine war. The stories have a local angle, are relevant and timeliness, and writing and clarity show through. Much thought and interviews went into these stories. A significant work effort to produce the stories.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Northwoods River News Entry Title: Paying it forward: Olympic champion Baumgartner using victory tour to inspire next generation Entry Credit: Jeremy Mayo Judge Comment: Excellent story. The writer caught my attention at the beginning of the story and kept it throughout. The story of the 46-year old Olympic champion and what all he had to go through for several years was worthwhile and interesting. And now he is telling others what it took and how they should keep trying. Obviously the story meets the criteria outlined for the entry and shows some good questions and taking of notes for the reporter.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Tribune Press Reporter Entry Title: Son of WWII veteran visits Glenwood City to honor Ellen Ainsworth Entry Credit: Carlton DeWitt, LeAnn Ralph Judge Comment: A man doomed to die in World War II was saved by the action of a woman who was killed while helping him visited in Wisconsin to honor the woman. The man, whose side was ripped out and his insides damaged, survived due to Ellen Ainsworth and travelled over several states to visit the woman's hometown and tell his story. An interesting local angle with community relevance, timeliness, quality of writing and clarity. The story became a major local news.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Washington Island Observer Entry Title: Where are they now? Island upbringing inspires innovative policing strategynsland Entry Credit: Emily Small Judge Comment: Good story. Police and law enforcement are a national story, and in this case a policeman has come up with a solution that seems to work. Instead of being a warrior, be helpful and kind, and he outlines a program of doing this. It is receiving a national recommendation and been introduced elsewhere. Clearly, this story shows the criteria of community relevance, local angle, timeliness, quality of writing and clarity. I like the information provided and was drawn to the story.
Competition Comment: Some excellent stories, and I had to read several again in choosing the winners. In some contests, the three or four winners automatically stand out. Not so in this contests. Several stood out, so congratulations to those stories. Interesting in the contest is the number of stories that involve a local person coming to town or living there briefly and leaving to become a part of national story. Some writers did excellent work in questioning people and gathering information to make the local story something to read. Those are seen in the winners and also occurred in some other stories. Some interesting stories.
