Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/222183
Division 2 Best General Commentary/Category 4 First place Alan Stewart The Corydon Democrat Comments: Clear, concise, got to the point. Well-constructed. Photos never forgotten heartfelt, intolerance right on target. Second place Modern Attitudes Amy Hillenburg The Mooresville/Decatur Times Comments: Real life issues faced by everyday people. Legislative pot is completely on target. Politics for politics sake without the best interest of the people is the norm. Third place Judy O'Bannon The Corydon Democrat Comments: Nice flow, positive without being too sweet. A call to the ordinary person to take the forward direction in life. Best Editorial Writer/Category 5 First place Bryce Mayer North Vernon Plain Dealer Comments: Logical, cogent commentary. Facts to back up opinion. Clearly the best in category. Second place Kevin Koelling Perry County News (Tell City) Comments: Makes its voice heard on local issues. Reasoned opinions. Third place Stephanie Taylor Ferriell The Salem Leader Comments: Mark your editorial as such. What you say is good, but clarity needed that it is the paper's voice. Best Business/Economic News Coverage/ Category 6 First place Tiff over TIF Sara Clifford & Megan O'Bryan Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: Best of a very competitive category. Second place Sock factory plans full of holes Staff Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: None given Third place Drought conditions worst many have seen Ross Schulz The Corydon Democrat Comments: None given General category comments: This was a very competitive category. There were good stories across the board, and it was difficult to select the winners. Some images never forgotten By Alan Stewart The Corydon Democrat By now, the field for the 103rd annual Indiana High School Athletic Association boys' basketball state tournament is down to the final 64 teams, spread across four classes. Though we've long since passed the hey-day of the high school basketball tournament, the sport still intertwines Hoosiers across the state. A few years ago, between the morning and night sessions at the state finals at Conseco Fieldhouse (now Bankers Life Fieldhouse), a friend of mine and I were eating at a restaurant near the basketball facility. We were watching the NCAA tournament on television and struck up a conversation from a fellow who lived in the Hanover area and said he followed Southwestern High School basketball. I quickly thought back to the 1997-98 season in which the Southwestern Rebels advanced to the RCA Dome for the inaugural Class 2A state championship, which I attended. The squad battled through injury but came up on the short end of a 57-43 score to Alexandria. As the final seconds ticked off the clock in that game, I turned from my seat on press row and saw a 7-year-old girl whose eyes were full of tears as she looked up at the scoreboard that was over center court. As she stood there in her Southwestern gear, sobbing in the game's final few seconds, I snapped a photo. Photographers take thousands upon thousands Statehouse blinkers By Bryce Mayer North Vernon Plain Dealer The Indiana General Assembly started its 2013 session last week at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. The state's new chief executive, Gov. Mike Pence, took office this week after being sworn in on Monday. The Republican Party has a super majority in both the Indiana Senate and House. Pence, of course, is also a Republican. That obviously means the GOP has the clout to enact most any measure it wants. Elected officials must always be cognizant of their constituencies, however, and the Republican caucuses in the two bodies of the legislature say they are. They have announced their priorities this session will be on jobs, the economy and education. Let's hope this goal stands up. The legislators would be foolish to bring forward social issues. The two Indiana House members representing Jennings County, Jim Lucas (R-Seymour) and Randy Frye (R-Greensburg) told the Plain Dealer that their intentions are to concentrate on the biennial budget, which the legislature must adopt this session, and other more important matters related to the economy and education. Already, however, there have been some very questionable bills introduced, including ones allowing public schools to Tiff over TIF By Sara Clifford & Megan O'Bryan Brown County Democrat (Nashville) The town, through its tax increment financing district, stands to benefit from two major projects planned north and south of downtown: Big Woods Brewing Co. and the Little Nashville Opry. The TIF allocation area currently includes properties in town limits that are zoned business (B1, B2, B3) or residential buffer (RB). The area includes two properties that have been mentioned as candidates for possible development: the field across State Road 46 from Casa del Sol, where the Blue Elk retirement community might go someday, and the land where Creek Side Apartments stand. But those aren't where tax dollars could be captured the quickest. The redevelopment commission voted in October to add a portion of State Road 135 North within town limits to the TIF area, where Big Woods Brewing Co. has announced plans to spend more than $150,000 to reconfigure the old Brown County Historical Society building into a bigger beer brewing and bottling facility. The board also wants to take in the Opry property, where an estimated of photos. Most photos are forgotten. Some images they capture, however, are burned into their minds. The photo of this girl was the latter. I'd often wondered what ever happened to the youngster. Did she grow up to play sports at Southwestern? Why did the game mean so much to such a young girl? What's she doing now? I asked the man if he knew her. He said that he did, that she'd graduated from SHS. One day recently I turned to Facebook to see if I could find her. A few keystrokes later, through the miracle of technology, there she was. I sent her a message and, before long, I had the For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." have organized prayers and permitting students to carry guns on college campuses. Lucas himself put a bill in the pipeline last month, before the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, that would change a state law that forbids people licensed to carry a concealed weapon to do so while attending church at a facility that also includes a school. With the challenges facing the state, legislators should not waste their time on these measures. Neither should the General Assembly press forward on a proposed state constitutional amendment banning samesex marriage. The process For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." $4 million new concert hall is slated to be built by next fall. The Opry, however, is on county property, outside of town limits. The town must get permission from the Brown County Commissioners to capture the new tax dollars that will come from improving that property. Who's to gain? The Nashville Redev lop e ment Commission's job is to spur economic development by directing property tax dollars toward projects that will benefit the community. For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on "Contests." Page 23