Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/222183
Division 2 Headline Writing/Category 7 First place Physician's assets frozen during probe; Oh, Deer: Shopping center invasion leaves 2 bucks dead; P-O-T-L-U-C-K doesn't spell hodgepodge Staff The Corydon Democrat Comments: None given Second place Class warfare ends (hopefully); sort out success; Royal blush: Two queens and a king; Daly double delivers final 4 Brian Smith The Corydon Democrat Comments: None given Third place In the drink: Proposed riverfront district would make more liquor licenses available; Sock factory plan full of holes; Tree's a crowd Megan O'Bryan Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: None given Best Short Feature Story/Category 8 First place Purple Heart back in the family Stuart Cassidy The Spencer County Journal-Democrat (Rockport) Comments: Great subject for a feature. The feature flowed well and was well-written. Congratulations. Second place Winslow barber's final day is Friday Andy Heuring The Press-Dispatch (Petersburg) Comments: A great look into small-town life. Loved the subject and feature was well-written, interesting and flowed well. Congratulations. Third place Out of the depths Megan O'Bryan Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: The only negative I could say, and it is not really negative, but I would like to have seen more information on the subject's individual survival. Otherwise, well-written, heartwarming and patriotic. Best Profile Feature/Category 9 First place Sole Survivor Marcia Walker The Salem Leader Comments: None given Second place GED first step to better future Alden Heuring The Press-Dispatch (Petersburg) Comments: None given Third place 100-year-old 'never met a stranger' Alan Stewart The Corydon Democrat Comments: None given Page 24 • Physician's assets frozen during probe • Oh, Deer; Shopping center invasion leaves 2 bucks dead • P-O-T-L-U-C-K doesn't spell hodgepodge Staff The Corydon Democrat Purple Heart back in the family By Stuart Cassity The Spencer County Journal-Democrat (Rockport) When Marva Stateler of Rockport packed her belongings Dec. 17, 2000, to embark on a move to Florida, she never believed she would lose one of the last remaining mementos of her father, Joseph S. Stateler. At the time of the move, Marva carefully packed her father's Purple Heart, awarded for his service in World War II, into a jewelry box. The award was earned by her father in 1945 after his body was riddled with shrapnel after a mortar blast. He entered the military in November 1944, and was assigned to Co. C, 112 Infantry Replacement Battalion. He was injured by a bazooka round that also injured several other soldiers. After nearly a half century of safekeeping, neither the jewelry box nor the medal ever arrived at their intended destination. Now again residing in Rockport, Marva claimed the prized parcel was kept separate from other possessions packed for the move and laid atop a box in the garage. She intended to carry it on her lap as she had done during other moves. Stolen or misplaced, the absence was a mystery for more than a decade. After years of heart-aching wonderment, on Nov. 24 Marva and the Stateler family received a welcomed package by mail. A small priority-mail envelope arrived containing the longlost Purple Heart medal. Just how the jewelry box was separated from the rest of the possessions remains unknown. Restoring the belongings to the rightful owner took the part of an Illinois woman cognizant of the medal's significance and some dedicated sleuthing by members of an Illinois-based JROTC squad. In early October 2012 an unidentified woman in Olney, Ill., stopped by the local JROTC classroom and handed over a small, dark blue box to one of the For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." Sole survivor was over; Miller was the sole survivor. "I had never seen a A contractor who worked tornado before … it was a for Hoosier Uplands, Miller huge cloud of rubble coming had just finished a project for … just before it hit Saroyan that organization and stayed Hardwoods is when I saw home from work that Friday. it. I just stood there in shock He said he was glued to the for a minute; it was pretty television set, listening to obvious it was heading updates about the weather. straight toward the house. I Miller sent text messages to don't remember having any friends in both Jasper and fear; I always hoped to be Salem, concerned about their able to see one. I didn't have safety. a healthy fear of it, I just When he heard television stood there." reports of a tornado touching That is about the last clear down in Fredericksburg, the announcer said the storm memory Jason Miller has was headed east. Miller of events that unfolded on thought that meant it was March 2, the day a brutal headed toward Palmyra. tornado ripped through the east side of Pekin. After that, "I thought Salem and Miller's memories come in Pekin were pretty much in bits and pieces, he describes the clear and there was not them as camera flashes. too much to worry about," he said. Five people took refuge in Miller's home, on Hurst But events were about Road, that day as the mighty to take a drastic turn. As twister bore down on them: Miller stepped out on his Moriah Brough and Joseph back porch, he saw the huge Babcock and their three twirling mass as it passed children, Jaydon Babock, 2; over a hill and crossed State Angel Babcock, 14 months; Road 60, about to slam and Kendall Babcock, almost into the lumber company. 2 months. In just minutes, it Then he heard a woman, his By Marcia Walker The Salem Leader neighbor, Moriah Brough, screaming. "I saw Moriah standing outside," Miller recalled. "Jack Brough, her dad, was supposed to pick her up, she was standing there with a baby in the baby seat. She started screaming and at that point, I took off straight over there." Miller knew, from watching television all day, that people should not take refuge in mobile homes. He yelled at Moriah to go to his home, a double-wide. "It never entered my mind that a double-wide would not be much safer," Miller said. "She came down the steps and went straight past me straight to my house. Joe came out carrying both babies, Angel was on his left side; I just grabbed her." Miller believes it was pretty still at that particular moment. His double-wide a short distance away, both he and Joe sprinted toward it. Once inside, Miller set Angel For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests."