Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/425501
Page 42 Division 4 Headline Writing/Category 7 First place View to a career; In his element; Glowing with pride Scott Bacon Daily Journal (Franklin) Comments: No comments given. Second place Aw, Shucks; Tae Kwan Duo; They left the lights on for him at the jail Elliot Tompkin & Steve Dickerson The Madison Courier Comments: No comments given. Third place Artist's works Framed locally; Students know where the beef is; Not all wounds heal with time Staff Palladium-Item (Richmond) Comments: No comments given. Best Short Feature Story/Category 8 First place 'If he hadn't found me, I would have died' Bill Engle Palladium-Item (Richmond) Comments: This is an incredible story. The reporter did a great job tracking down the people involved and keeping the focus where it should be, on the man who found the baby and his search to find her again, not on the mystery that led to her being abandoned in the first place. Second place Shared grief, new life Ryan Trares Daily Journal (Franklin) Comments: Conveys the emotion of the story without being overly dramatic. Well-done. Third place Almost famous Noelle Steele & Maribeth Vaughn Daily Reporter (Greenfield) Comments: This was a fun read from start to finish. Best Profile Feature/Category 9 First place A family on edge Annie Goeller Daily Journal (Franklin) Comments: This was the most important of the 37 stories I read for this category, and one of the most compelling. It pro- files not only a family, but also a seemingly unsolvable situ- ation. The emotion of the situation is clear but not exploited. It's a case study in caring, audacity, and, ultimately, frustra- tion. That there are no easy answers makes the story the one in the bunch that stuck with me. Second place Letting Sarah soar Jason Recker The Herald (Jasper) Comments: In the profile category – the arena of artists, the sick, veterans and centenarians – mostly people who have done something they can look back on, comes a story that hinges on striving and potential. Best for me is not knowing how all of this will pay off for her. Third place 'Our happiness was now their sadness' Mishele Wright Chronicle-Tribune (Marion) Comments: This is a case of the story selling itself, but the writer did do a good job layering detail, so that I had answers before I needed them. Just as I would wonder, 'How wouldn't they have known?,' I could think back through and see that I'd been given clues throughout. The structure is satisfying. Also, who makes this much of a talk at the public library. A reporter who does that should take home a prize. 'If he hadn't found me, I would have died' • View to a career • In his element • Glowing with pride Scott Bacon Daily Journal (Franklin) A family on edge Bill Engle Palladium-Item (Richmond) Dave Hickman remembers it like it was yesterday, the day 58 years ago that changed his life forever. The 73-year-old Tennessee man was then a 14-year- old Richmond kid, hunting with his grandfather, Clay Smith, in woods just west of Boston, Ind. He and his grandfather, a man he idolized for the doting care he brought to their relationship, had just finished hunting and had begun skinning squirrels in a field off Indiana 122. It was shortly after 6 p.m. Sept. 22, 1955. A noise interrupted their post-hunt reverie, like a soft cry or coo. They heard it again. Hickman decided to find out what it was, a harmless, curious decision that saved a human life. He walked the fence row for about 25 yards to where the noise seemed to emanate. Then he started to climb the fence. "When I was on top of the fence I saw her," Hickman said. It was a tiny baby, alone, chilled, drenched from the overnight rain, wrapped in a towel, umbilical cord coagulated to the fabric of the towel. Police later said she was there for 12 to 24 hours. Doctors said she was no more than 5 or 6 days old. There was no doubt she had been left there to die. "Every day I see that vision of her laying in the brush and sticks, and she was looking up at me. She wasn't crying. It was more like she was cooing. You could tell she had been there a while," Hickman said. "It was a shock. You just would never think you would find a baby laying out there. I remember thinking, 'What kind of person would do something like this?' " The two rescued the infant and called the Wayne County Sheriff's Department, and the baby was whisked away to Reid Hospital, where she was treated. She was named Roseann Wayne, Roseann because the people in the Wayne County Welfare Department, in whose custody she was placed, liked the name and Wayne for Wayne County. Authorities never determined who dumped the baby along the roadside. A faint laundry mark on the towel in which she was wrapped was their only clue. The welfare department fielded a dozen calls from For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." Annie Goeller Daily Journal (Franklin) The mother still shudders when she thinks of what could have happened. For 30 years, Brenda Rogina's top concern has been her daughter Shannon, who was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis after she began having seizures as a baby. The disorder caused multiple tumors to form all over Shannon's brain, which eventually took away her ability to walk and speak. Now her parents, along with any help they can get, take care of her every need, feeding her, dressing her, moving her position every hour and knowing what all her sounds mean – from a happy laugh to a frustrated grumble. Last year, Brenda and Mike Rogina wanted a short break – some time with their other daughter, their friends and each other. They planned a trip to a beach in Florida, an impossible task with Shannon's wheelchair and need for a rigid schedule. They asked their home care company to schedule enough hours of care so they could take their weeklong trip. That's when their nightmare began. They came home to find a stranger's underwear in their room, their collector car damaged and their daughter in distress. The woman who was supposed to feed, clothe and bathe their daughter left in their car, drank their beer and had her boyfriend sleep with her in their bed. She was fired by the agency but did not face criminal charges. The family left that home health care agency, but now they trust no one and soon will put surveillance cameras in their home, Mike Rogina said. In May, Shannon had to have a tooth pulled that was damaged by her grinding her teeth. The issue was noticed after the couple returned from their trip, and Brenda Rogina is convinced being left alone was the cause. Thinking of those days still nearly brings Brenda Rogina to tears. Anything could have happened. Shannon could have had a seizure or aspirated and not be here today. Brenda Rogina is bitter about what happened, but partly because that wasn't the first time a caregiver hurt their family. In the years since Shannon received a government waiver that made her eligible for in-home care, caregivers have stolen from them, fallen asleep on the job or simply not shown up. Their most recent home health care agency, Individual Support Services, sent one caregiver to their home with a theft conviction and another who was convicted of a conversion charge, according to police reports and court records. The company would not comment. Under state law, a person is prohibited from being a home health aide if they have been convicted of rape, criminal deviate conduct, For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests."