Times’ Ventura County Edition Wins 57 Press Club Awards

The Ventura County Edition of the Los Angeles Times has won 57 awards for excellence in the fifth annual Ventura County Press Club contest--including top honors for community service.

Times photographers won 24 of 29 awards in the daily newspaper category for news, sports, feature, portrait photography and photo illustration.

The Times also won the coveted Community Service Award for an ongoing series by Fred Alvarez on the sometimes-difficult birth of the Cal State Channel Islands campus. The Times has received the award each of the three years it has been given.

Other top honors won by Times reporters were for stories about politics, business, sports, medicine, law enforcement and human-interest subjects.

Of the 57 awards won by the paper, there were 18 first-place honors, 26 second-place and 13 honorable mentions in reporting, editing, photography and graphics categories.

Times staff writer Hilary MacGregor won the top award for medical and health writing with a series on the toughest time in the lives of many doctors--the residency year. MacGregor followed a class of residents at Ventura County Medical Center as they took their exhausting plunge into modern medicine. MacGregor also won in the profile category for a story on Brian Lee Rencher, a homeless candidate for Ventura City Council.

In sports news, first place went to Times reporters Steve Chawkins, Vince Kowalick and Dawn Hobbs, who collaborated on articles about Ventura College canceling its basketball season after a prolonged scandal left the team in tatters.

The Times’ reporting staff was given first place for its continuing coverage of the decline and fall of Ventura County Superior Court Judge Robert Bradley. After alcohol-related arrests, probation violations and failed attempts at recovery, Bradley is now serving a jail sentence.

Times reporters Fred Alvarez and Patrick Goldstein took top honors in deadline features for a story on the death of screenwriter Paul Jarrico. Jarrico died in a crash on Pacific Coast Highway the day after four Hollywood talent guilds formally apologized for blacklisting him and others during the McCarthy era.

First place for non-deadline lifestyle features went to staff writer Daryl Kelley for a look back at the Carranzas, a 43-member Oxnard family who had been burned out of their small home. Times photographer Carlos Chavez shared the award.

Nick Green was awarded first place in politics and government reporting for a story on the U.S. Forest Service’s controversial fees at Los Padres National Forest. Green also received top honors in business writing for an article about Limoneira Co., the citrus giant of Santa Paula.

Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo’s profile of colorful Thousand Oaks attorney Ed Masry took first place in the law-and-order category.

In photography, Spencer Weiner took first place in feature photo, multiple feature photos and photo illustration. Bryan Chan won first place in sports photography, Steve Osman first place for news feature photography, and Anne Cusack, first place in the portfolio competition.

In addition, Times news editor Dan Santos came in first for design of a broad-sheet page, and Times graphic artist Perry Perez took first and second places in the illustrations category.

Times reporters who took second-place awards are: Miguel Bustillo (business); David Wharton (sports feature); Daryl Kelley (education, environment); Lisa Fernandez (in-depth reporting); Scott Hadly (series); Brenda Loree (deadline feature); Hilary MacGregor (non-deadline lifestyle feature); Steve Chawkins (column); Chris Chi (government, arts and entertainment).

J.D. Crowe took a second place in editorial cartooning, Mike McKay in headline writing, Ian Botts in graphics, and Dan Santos in page design.

Times photographers who won second-place awards are: Alan Hagman (spot news, El Nino photo); Bryan Chan (news feature, sports feature, portrait); Anne Cusack (sports); Spencer Weiner (photo illustration, multiple feature photos, portfolio).

Times winners of honorable mention are:

* Photographers Anne Cusack (news feature, portrait); Carlos Chavez (sports); Spencer Weiner (multiple feature photos); Steve Osman (sports feature, El Nino); Bryan Chan (portfolio).

* Reporters Daryl Kelley (health); Chris Chi (non-deadline lifestyle feature); Lisa Fernandez (environmental); Scott Hadly (law and order).

Copy editor Melinda Brown received honorable mention for broad-sheet page design. Awards will be presented at the press club’s Oct. 23 banquet at Wedgewood Banquet Center in Ventura.

Doug Adrianson, editor of the Ventura County Edition’s editorial page, will serve as master of ceremonies, and veteran broadcast reporter Sander Vanocur will give the keynote speech.