Times, 4 Reporters Receive Awards

Four Times Orange County reporters were honored Saturday by the California Newspaper Publisher’s Assn., which also gave the Los Angeles Times its top award for general excellence for large newspapers in 1993.

Staff writer Davan Maharaj won first place in investigative and enterprise reporting among California newspapers with a daily circulation of more than 200,000. Maharaj reported about Laguna Hills attorney James D. Gunderson, who is under investigation for receiving millions of dollars in inheritances from elderly clients at Leisure World.

Reporter Nancy Wride won first place for feature writing among dailies between 75,000 and 200,000 circulation for stories that appeared in The Times Orange County.

Columnist Dana Parsons received second place for columns, commentary or criticism, and sports writer Barbie Ludovise won second place for sports stories in the same category.

Seventy-five California daily and 75 weekly newspapers among the association’s 400 members were honored at CNPA’s annual Better Newspapers Contest awards luncheon Saturday, the final day of the association’s three-day annual convention in Beverly Hills.

In the large newspaper category, in addition to the top general excellence and investigative awards, The Times also won second place in public service, local spot news, design, illustrations and informational graphics, columns, commentary and criticism and business or financial stories.