Better Newspaper Contest

2013 Award Winners

Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest

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Division 6 Headline Writing/Category 7 First place • Good till last shot • Oh Roy, it's a series • All the king's men Good till last shot; Oh Roy, it's a series; All the king's men Kim Rogers The Indianapolis Star Comments: Vivid headline writing at its best. Kim Rogers The Indianapolis Star Second place By Vanessa Renderman The Times (Munster) Dimon in the rough at JP Morgan; Mow-town? Detroiters pitchin in; Garden is a pumpkin patch Lania Rocha The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne) Comments: Great work, especially on the Detroit headline and deck. Third place Organic debate only natural; Voters eat up new poll; King-size growth in mattress stores Staff South Bend Tribune Comments: Nice series of creative, engaging headlines. Best Short Feature Story/Category 8 First place Victims of war: Battle from within Vanessa Renderman The Times (Munster) Comments: There were many great entries and some tough calls to single out the winners, but this one takes the top for the subject matter and the need for help. Great job! Second place Bidding Farewell to Otis Bowen Mary Beth Schneider The Indianapolis Star Comments: What a great story teller on a staff of great writers. Nice flow. We know this man from a different perspective than politician. Nice job. Third place Mother's Day made extra special Abbey Doyle Evansville Courier & Press Comments: Several other entries were deserving of an award, but this one gets it for the emotion we feel for this mother and how happy we are for her. Good job. Best Profile Feature/Category 9 First place A love affair written in stone Jerry Davich Post-Tribune (Merrillville) Comments: This is a warm, well-written piece. I can see the woman's face when she is handed the rock. Beautiful. Second place 4 brushes with death, but husband won't give up Dan Stockman The Journal Gazette (Fort Wayne) Comments: This touched me. Great narrative and great ending. Third place 21-year-old is hitting bass fishing's big time: Broad Ripple man winning events, hundreds of thousands of dollars Will Higgins The Indianapolis Star Comments: Great use of dialogue, mixed in with good story telling makes this piece worth reading. Page 60 Victims of war: Battle from within members is thought to be an impulsive act triggered by one or multiple stressors Army Spc. John Chrzan owski escaped sniper fire and such as relationship the threat of roadside bombs, breakups, legal/disciplinary problems, financial rocket-propelled grenades and countless hazards of war difficulties or physical health problems," it states. in Iraq. From 1998 through 2011, But those near-misses 2,990 service members and his role in the fighting committed suicide while on followed the 22-year-old active duty. Firearms were home. They terrorized the most frequently used his sleep and haunted his conscience, especially when method, according to the report. he had too much to drink, family and friends said. Chrzanowski's mother, Linda Chrzanowski, did not On July 7, 2011, jolted by see any signs. If her son was nightmares, Chrzanowski struggling, it was behind turned a gun on himself in closed doors so he would not his Hammond home. upset her. Since 2010, suicide has "I never saw a tear," she been the second leading said. "He sheltered me from cause of death among (his) pain." American service members, exceeded only by war injury. A former girlfriend of Most active duty service her son later mentioned members who die by suicide he sometimes cried. Or he never deployed, according would wake up and think he to a recent report released was in battle. by the Armed Forces Health "He told some stories to Surveillance Center. some friends," his mother "Suicide among military said. "He never talked about counseling." His mother wants changes. She wants the military to open its eyes and address the culture that views counseling as weakness. "They need to wake up and see it," she said. "They teach them to be Army strong. They don't teach them to be Army weak." John Chrzanowski, a Morton High School graduate, initially joined as an Army reservist and soon learned his girlfriend was pregnant. To be a good father and provider, he joined as an active Army member in 2010. Cody Miller, a 23-yearold Army Reserve specialist who lives in Madison, Tenn., befriended Chrzanowski. He calls Linda Chrzan owski "Mom" and put a label greater than "friend" on her son. For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." A love affair written in stone By Jerry Davich Post-Tribune (Merrillville) Seventy years ago, Betty Grunewald and Homer "Binks" Gettler were high school sweethearts whose love affair was pretty much written in stone. Thanks to a teenage girl they had never met, it still is, with their love transcending time, space and even heartbreaking fate. Everyone at Dyer High School knew them simply as Betty and Binks, and just assumed they would get married, have children and ride off into the sunset together. "He was the only boyfriend I had all through high school," recalled Betty, who now lives in Crown Point. "We passed notes to each other a lot in the hallway in between classes." But World War II was heating up and Binks was drafted, so the young lovers' plans had to be put on hold for Uncle Sam. Binks' plans to be a professional baseball pitcher also had to wait in life's on-deck circle. It didn't matter that he threw a fistful of no-hitters in high school. Or that he was picked up by the Chicago White Sox and played on their farm team. Or that he once pitched in practice to famed New York Yankees slugger "Joltin' Joe" DiMaggio. Or that his Cubs-loving father enjoyed baseball so much he named his only son Homer. Duty called in 1943, so Binks did his civic duty and joined the U.S. Army, where he trained as an infantryman, more specifically, mortars weaponry. He was stationed at different military bases in the U.S. before being deployed overseas with the 35th Infantry Division to fight the Germans. However, before leaving, he told his sister to buy an engagement ring for Betty. Binks' mother, Alma, gave it to Betty. However, during Binks' last brief stay back at home before shoving off for Europe, he personally – and properly – gave it to Betty. The young sweethearts were engaged. It was official. And finally in stone, diamonds to be exact. "We were young and in love," Betty said with a sigh. Betty was 20. Binks was 21. She waved goodbye that day as his train headed east. They wouldn't see each other ever again. 'I prayed every night' Cpl. Homer Binks Gettler ended up in France where, on Sept. 22, 1944, he wrote to his sister, Charlotte, saying that Betty "should know by now that I am thinking of her at all times. All I do is pray for the day to come so we both can be together again, and married." Soon after that wartime missive was sent, Binks' division was invaded by German troops. He and others in his mortar unit were cut off, stranded with only a pistol. Binks made his way back to his mortar position to shoot off a few rounds. For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests."

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