Times Orange County Staffers Win 60 Awards From Press Club

Staff members of The Times Orange County Edition won 60 of 91 awards presented at the annual Orange County Press Club banquet Saturday, including best news story and best magazine story.

Jeanne Keevil, longtime editor of the Irvine World News, won the John (Sky) Dunlap award for life achievement in journalism and devotion to the community.

In all, Times staffers captured 21 first-place awards, 17 second places and 22 honorable mentions.

The Orange County Register won 18 awards, including nine for first place, five for second place and four honorable mentions. Register reporters also won special awards for investigative reporting and in the government watchdog category.

The awards were given at a banquet at the Westin South Coast Plaza hotel in Costa Mesa. Kirstie Wilde, co-anchor of KTTV News at 10, was the emcee.

Times reporter Eric Lichtblau won the award for best news story for his account of a judge’s surprising reversal of a jury conviction of Sheryl Lynn Massip, who was accused of killing her child.

Times writer Dave Lesher won first place in the best magazine award category for a profile of Orange County Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez.

The best feature story award went to Long Beach Press-Telegram reporter Andy Rose, who described the saga of a troubled young man.

Times reporter Nancy Wride won the Marjorie Freeman Award for best humorous story and took a second-place award for best column or commentary.

Times staffers swept the photography competition, with Ken Hively winning two first-place awards for best sports photograph and best photographic portfolio. Times photographer Gail Fisher also won first-place awards in the best-pictorial and best-portrait categories.

Other Times first-place winners in photography were Don Tormey for best news photograph, Mark Boster, best feature photograph, Kari Renee Hall, best photographic essay, and Gary Ambrose, best photographic illustration.

Other Times staffers who picked up first-place awards include Eric Schine for best business story; Mark Landsbaum for best column or commentary; Dianne Klein, best story on law; Richard Beene, best story on social issues; Don Angel, best editorial, and Michael L. Boehm, best entertainment story.

Times news editor Dave Galloway won a first-place award for best news-page layout, while editors Chuck Nigash won for best feature-page layout and Mike Spencer for best headline portfolio.

Register writers Larry Welborn, Dan Weikel and Donna Wares took top honors in the special government watchdog category, while Edward Humes won the investigative reporting award and took first place for beat coverage.

Other first-place winners for the Register were Chris Knap, best story on public affairs; Marla Cone, best story on science and technology; Jon Lansner, best series or package of stories; Martin J. Smith, best sports story; Jeff Goertzen, best graphics portfolio, and Kevin T. Boyd, best informational graphic.

Times staff members who won second-place awards and honorable mentions were Steven Churm, Michael Flagg and George Frank for a story on public affairs; Marcida Dodson, magazine story; Dennis McLellan, science and technology; Jeffrey Perlman, Marcida Dodson, John Spano and Laura Kurtzman, for a series or package of stories; Steven Churm, Anne Roark and Steve Low, in the sports category; Peter Harrigan, news-page layout; Steven D. Nelson, feature-page layout and informational graphic, and Tom Penix, informational graphic.

Also winning awards were Dana Parsons, feature story; Bill Billiter, beat coverage; Joseph N. Bell, column or commentary; James V. Granelli, law story; Dianne Klein, public affairs story; Richard Beene, Dianne Klein, Maria L. La Ganga, Leslie Berkman and Michael Flagg, series or package of stories; Lynn Smith, social issues; Pat Gerber, sports story; Leavett Biles, graphics portfolio, and Steve Lopez, illustration.

Other Times photographers who won awards were Richard Koehler, news photograph and sports photograph; Mark Boster, portrait, pictorial, photographic portfolio, photographic illustration; Don Tormey, sports photograph, photographic portfolio, portrait; Gary Ambrose, pictorial, feature photograph; Henry DiRocco, news photograph; Don Kelsen, photographic essay; Gail Fisher, photographic essay, photographic portfolio.

Other Register writers winning awards were Larry Welborn, news story; James V. Grimaldi, Janine Anderson, Steve Eddy and Carroll Lachnit, feature story; Susan Peterson, beat coverage; Martin J. Smith, science or technology story and social issues; Gary A. Warner and Jane Glenn Haas, series or package of stories; Melissa Balmain Weiner, feature story; Kevin T. Boyd, illustration.

Orange Coast Daily Pilot reporter Greg Klerkx captured a first-place award for best news story in a publication with less than 100,000 circulation. Pilot reporter Robert Hyndman won the second-place award in the same category.

The Daily Pilot also won three second-place awards in general categories, with Tom Tait winning for editorial, Robert Hyndman, entertainment, and Bob van Eyken, law story.

Other winners of second-place or honorable-mention awards were Orange Coast Magazine staffers Scott R. Hays, Sharon Cohoon, Robert Ray, Eve Belson, Leslie Freidson Lawicki, and Daniel Fort; Newport Center News reporter Tom Vasich; Laguna Niguel News reporter Maureen O’Haren; William Melton, of the La Habra Daily Star-Progress; Greg Hardesty, Orange County Business First; Peter Hund, Orange County Business Journal; Curt Seeden, San Clemente News, and William Lobdell, World Trade Magazine.

First-place winners in the public relations awards categories were Tracy Childs, Nelson/Ralston/Robb Communication, best news release; Jim Carnett, Orange Coast College Information, best feature release; Koll Centerlines, by Patricia Johnson, best internal publication; and UCI Journal, by Linda Granell, best external publication. Other public relations winners were Randall Black and Colleen Bently-Adler of UCI; Mary Jane Foster, Saddleback Hospital; Elaine Beno, of Dale Eastman; Kay Carver, Roundup; Bob Nelson, Lee Ann Buchanan and Adrienne Miller, Heads Up, and Yvonne M. Martin, Business Update.