Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/96748
Division 2 Best News Coverage Under Deadline Pressure/Category 1 First place Tornado devastates Pekin Stephanie Taylor Ferriell, Kate Wehlann & Marcia Walker, The Salem Leader Comments: This covered many issues surrounding a story of this magnitude. This format gave the reporter a good venue for telling the whole story. Second place Local men survive crash of small plane in South Sara Clifford & Joseph Pete, Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: I liked the use of quotes in this story. The people were like my neighbors, and the reporter did a good job getting their personalities across along with their ordeal. Third place Fire at For Bare Feet factory Sara Clifford & Megan O���Bryan, Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: This story gave the reader not only the details of what happened but also gave us an interesting history of the business and why it should continue. It was well-written and interesting to read. I liked all of the people involved and would like to work for a company like this. Best News Coverage With No Deadline Pressure/Category 2 First place Not appropriate for school Amy Hillenburg, The Mooresville/Decatur Times Comments: This is a great story about a great kid. I would love to meet him and learn more about him, his violin and bagpipes. I wish him the best, and if he wants to wear a kilt to school, more power to him! Second place 10 years later: Flying the safer skies Amy Hillenburg, The Mooresville/Decatur Times Comments: This lets us know what is really going on at an airport. Informative and well-written. Makes me glad those guys are all behind the scene keeping tabs on us. Third place Supreme Court cases consideration in Conley appeal Chandra L. Mattingly, Dearborn County Register (Lawrenceburg) Comments: Reporter gave a balanced look at the problems with this case. Good job of writing and getting all sides of the discussion. Best Ongoing News Coverage/Category 3 First place Spengler double murder trial Stephanie Taylor Ferriell & Kate Wehlann, The Salem Leader Comments: This ongoing coverage did not come as part of the paper���s ongoing coverage of a board or council. It took a valiant effort and reporting time to sit through a double murder trial. The Salem Leader was the only media there. Its coverage included twice-daily web updates as well as print stories. The story was difficult to tell, but readers are better for knowing how these drug-addicted people took the lives of two others. Second place Deadly tornado claims 5 Stephanie Taylor Ferriell, Marcia Walker & Kate Wehlann, The Salem Leader Comments: Ongoing takes on a special meaning when it includes printing a special Extra Saturday issue. The deadly tornado coverage also took sending stories via text messages during the aftermath when no other Internet service was available. This entry should win in the breaking news category too. Third place For Bare Feet sock factory burns Sara Clifford, Megan O���Bryan & Kevin Lilly, Brown County Democrat (Nashville) Comments: The Brown County paper used great photography, timelines and stories to let readers know about the loss of a large employer through a dramatic fire, which turned into a welcomed, or unwelcomed, gift of the property to the city. Great job telling and presenting this series of stories. Page 22 Tornado devastates Pekin Stephanie Taylor Ferriell Salem Leader & Democrat A devastating tornado ripped through Pekin���s east side around 3 p.m. Friday afternoon, leaving businesses and residences twisted beyond recognition. Four members of one young family were killed. The sole remaining member of that family, 2-year-old Angel L. Babcock was critically injured. mobile home next door, where they felt they would be safer, when they were caught by the deadly twister. They were all discovered lying in an open field, near Worley���s Sawmill. An estimated 10 to 12 people were injured, some of them seriously. Numerous air ambulances flew patients to regional hospitals until about 7 p.m. Friday. Dead are her father, Joseph L. Babcock, 21 and her mother, Moriah L. Brough, 20. The couple���s other two children also died in the tornado. They are a son, Jaydon L. Babcock, 2, and a daughter, Kendall J. Babcock, 7 weeks. The family resided in a mobile home at 5803 E. Hurst Rd. Many others were treated at St. Vincent Salem Hospital. Tornado warnings were issued before school was dismissed. East Washington Schools went on lockdown, holding students in safe locations inside the building. Once the tornado was over, children were released to those parents who could make it to school to get them. Saroyan Hardwoods, at the corner of State Road 60 and East Voyles Road, was destroyed. They were reportedly attempting to move to a larger Twisted metal beams covered scattered piles of She was flown by air ambulance to Kosair Children���s Hospital in Louisville. lumber after the twister passed through. Across the road, Burnett���s Welding was also destroyed. Just minutes after the devastation ended, Rhonda Burnett was walking about, surveying the damage almost in disbelief. ���If not for those studded walls, I don���t know,��� she said, looking at the damaged building. ���I saw a black whirl, debris and thought, ���Are we gonna survive?��� ��� Rhonda, her husband Steve and two employees huddled inside the building and rode out the storm. Jeanie Lewellyn, 5769 E. Old Pekin Rd., came back to what remained of her home shortly after the storm. She was in Pekin and saw the storm approaching. Driving east and crossing the old iron bridge, she realized, ���I knew I couldn���t For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.��� Not appropriate for school Amy Hillenburg The Mooresville/Decatur Times Keegan Seyerle, 17, is proud of his tartan plaid kilt that comes with belonging to the well-known Gordon Pipers in Indianapolis. Seyerle, a violinist with the Mooresville High School Orchestra and co-captain of the swim team, was surprised when he wore the kilt to school the week before Thanksgiving and was asked to change his clothes. ���We were going to the Scottish Symphony on a field trip,��� Seyerle said. ���It was third period, and we were leaving with the orchestra. Mr. Vanwanzeele (Assistant Principal Tim Vanwanzeele) told me I needed to go change my clothes.��� He received no discipline for wearing the kilt, but went and changed his clothes. Dawn Seyerle, Keegan���s mother, said her son did as he was told and didn���t argue. She is a teacher at Manual High School in Indianapolis and says she knows the complexities of school dress codes. But she didn���t think Keegan was out of line wearing the outfit. The kilt is below his knees, and he wore a proper shirt and a kilt belt with it. He just wanted to show it off because he was going to a Scottish event. ���Keegan���s father is Irish and both my daughters have red hair, so it���s not a far cry for him to be interested in Scottish culture,��� Seyerle said. She added that Keegan wants to wear it again, but she and her husband want him to be respectful of school authority and do it in more of an educational manner. Keegan said this might be a good idea to have a class program where he explained the kilt and its meaning to the Gordon Pipers and their founder, Dr. Wallace Gordon Diehl. Vanwanzeele said he was taken aback by the outfit, and people were joking to him that one of the students was wearing a skirt and going on a field trip. ���I didn���t think that was a proper thing to do, but if Keegan had told us about it before he came to school, we probably would have allowed it,��� Vanwanzeele said. The assistant principal said that in his eight years with the school corporation, this was For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.��� Spengler double murder trial Stephanie Taylor Ferriell & Kate Wehlann The Salem Leader The story of Tammy Spengler and Timothy R. Orman is a love story. But this love story didn���t end with happily ever after. According to the state, this love story ended in a brutal, gruesome double murder. Spengler is on trial in Washington Circuit Court, accused in the murder of her boyfriend���s father, Timothy M. Orman, and his uncle, Roy ���Bum��� Orman. She faces two A felony murder charges, as well as aiding in murder and invasion of privacy. In his opening statement Thursday morning, Prosecutor Dustin Houchin said, ���Tammy and Timothy loved each other. They did everything together ��� including murder.��� On June 5, 2011, Houchin told the jury, ���Tammy and her boyfriend blasted to death his father and uncle with shotguns, then lived together in the victim���s own home after they wrapped the bodies in plastic, sheets and blankets and dragged them to a shed.��� Together, Houchin, said, the couple attempted to clean up the bloody murder scene and ���made themselves at home. They lived in the victim���s home for two weeks.��� Defense attorney Dave Smith said, ���It is a love story of sorts. ... Love is a strange thing; people make bad choices, thinking they can protect another, trying to shelter them from the consequences of their own actions.��� Smith attempted to paint a picture of a vulnerable young woman under the spell of a manipulative boyfriend who was anything but a good influence.���It���s a very safe statement to say that Timothy was not a good or positive influence on her life. The evidence will show just how unsavory an influence he was.��� ���We anticipate Timothy is going to testify ��� I���m gonna call him,��� he told the jury. And when he does so, Smith promised, ���Timothy will tell you he did it. He���s gonna tell you Tammy didn���t do it.��� Houchin, however, told the jury Spengler told numerous people she had killed two For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.���