Times San Diego Edition Wins Five 1st-Place Awards in Press Club Competition

Astory about a gunman stalking and killing two executives at a Miramar electronics company has won a first-place award for the San Diego Edition of the Los Angeles Times.

The award, for best news story by a news team, was one of five first-place awards presented to The Times Wednesday evening by the San Diego Press Club in ceremonies at the Mission Valley Marriott.

The story, on the shooting of two Elgar Corp. executives by a former technician who had been laid off, was reported by Times staff writers Amy Wallace, H.G. Reza, Nora Zamichow and Alan Abrahamson.

Tom Gorman of The Times took first place in the series category for his four-day report on the growth of the biotechnology community in San Diego. The series focused on the people in the industry--the lab technicians, the scientists, the executives and the venture capital financiers.

Times sports writer Scott Miller won first place in sports for his story on Joan Kroc’s career as the owner of the Padres and the team’s farewell to her, run shortly after it was announced she was selling the team.

Staff writer Michael Granberry was tapped for best consumer writing for a series he wrote after the National Football League announced it would scramble its telecasts with the start of the 1990 season. The action would have prohibited sports bars, restaurants and other businesses from receiving NFL games via satellite dish.

In response, a local restaurateur initiated a boycott of two breweries who were also two of the NFL’s biggest sponsors. The league backed off from its decision, ordering a moratorium on scrambling for the 1990 season. The moratorium was renewed this year.

Times writer John Glionna garnered both first and second place for feature writing.

The first prize was for his story about a former professional boxer now crippled by a rare spinal disease and his attempt to teach a group of Latino teen-agers from a gang-ridden North County neighborhood about boxing and life.

Glionna’s story about “Father Rad,” an Anglo priest who is also an accomplished surfer, took second place. The priest, who is still trying to master Spanish, created a stir as pastor of a Latino parish in Chula Vista.

The Times took five other second-place awards.

The San Diego Tribune won nine first-place writing awards, and the San Diego Union two top writing awards in the 100,000 circulation division. The Times-Advocate, based in Escondido, took three first-place awards for papers under 100,000 circulation.

The Tribune’s Mark Sullivan won first place for best news feature story. Sullivan and David Hasemyer won the paper an award for best investigative reporting.

S. Lynne Walker of The Union took first place for best news story by a single reporter, and Dwight Daniels garnered a first for best business-financial writing.

Among papers of less than 100,000 circulation, Times-Advocate winners were Jeffrey Bean for best political-governmental writer, best feature story and best arts story.

Other first-place winners were: David Moye of the Rancho Santa Fe Review for best news story by a single reporter; Robbie Whitt of Vista Press for best news feature story; D. Wade Booth of the Star News, based in Chula Vista, for best investigative reporting and best business-financial writing.