Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Vilas County News-Review Entry Title: Vilas courts left in disarray after Overbey, Soltow affair Entry Credit: Douglas Etten Judge Comment: Comment Good job springing facts to prove deniers are lying. Goes to show how much of good reporting depends on the ability to obtain information which, in turn, is often due to building trust with knowledgeable sources. I’ve never known of a love affair that “festered.”
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Wausau Pilot and Review Entry Title: Questions emerge over Wausau lead pipe replacement partnership Entry Credit: Shereen Siewert Judge Comment: Lead pipe replacement is an important matter for every community. Fortunately for the people of Wausau, an alderman raised questions about a questionable contractor which the newspaper largely answered.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: The Lakeland Times Entry Title: A year later, serious questions remain about Presque Isle computer caper, Questions about access, destruction of records linger..., In curious repair, Dell Inc. deleted town data from Presque... Entry Credit: Richard Moore Judge Comment: Using the word, “caper,” is cutesy and too close to a criminal accusation to be used in a story where no charges are lodged against a seemingly meddling in government business by people whose time is over. But generally well written. Good work opening the matter to public purview.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: The Press Times Entry Title: What lies beneath downtown Green Bay Entry Credit: Kris Leonhardt Judge Comment: I wish I’d reported, “city work crews discovered a leg, hand and rib cage while … performing utility work.” I would have placed that higher in the story, tied it to the cemetery walk, and then dived into the generations-old retrospective. Interesting story about local history.
