Hoosier State Press Association - The Indiana Publisher - Better Newspaper Contest
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/96748
Division 3 Headline Writing/Category 7 First place ��� Reading fine print ��� Going, going, gown ��� Meriting attention Reading fine print; Going, going, gown; Meriting attention David Hill, Daily Reporter (Greenfield) Comments: Puns that worked, since they told the story. Had to think a bit on the ���Reading fine print��� but it works. Grad head works because it���s on a story done every year, so creativity is key. David Hill Daily Reporter (Greenfield) Second place Phil Smith Columbia City Post & Mail It was a really big bang; Being correct on corrections; LiGHT is turned on David Schultz, The News-Banner (Bluffton) Comments: ���Bang��� headline was the most upfront, telling headline in this entire category. With photos, it really works. Third place H-2-No: Knightstown to halt bulk water sales; Swine Song: 4-H���ers show off their prized pigs; Babes in Mooreland Staff, The Courier-Times (New Castle) Comments: Water headline works with support from rest of the headline but a bit wordy. Best Short Feature Story/Category 8 First place ���He was a one-man army��� Phil Smith, Columbia City Post & Mail Comments: This feature was brought to life with vibrant words and the ability to see deeper into a person���s story than what is obvious. Excellent! Second place A long-awaited meeting Craig Mauger, The Courier-Times (New Castle) Comments: This was a sweet story that was done justice in the way it was told. The author nailed in when including the lady���s nerves and then ending it in an interesting way before it got too bogged down. I loved it! Third place Struggling for excellence Rob Cox, Greensburg Daily News Comments: A shining example of how a writer doesn���t always need the cookie-cutter material to produce a touching story. I suspect many readers connected to this very well-written piece. Best Profile Feature/Category 9 First place Toddler���s cancer battle nearing end Jamie D. Barrand, Journal Review (Crawfordsville) Comments: The story and accompanying picture were absolutely fantastic. The writer did an excellent job. I had a lump in my throat for this one. ���He was a one-man army��� Frank Kirkpatrick became, first by necessity, then as a means of mental selfpreservation, an escape artist. The noises and smells of his Churubusco auto body shop ��� the grating metal-on-metal screech of the grinder and the acrid stench of fiberglass ��� were they the sensory smoke screens he used to drown out the sounds of war? If they couldn���t muffle the sounds of rifle fire and exploding artillery shells, there was always alcohol or a good old-fashioned fisticuffs. His fists were the lockpicking nail file that provided escape from the horrors he experienced in Europe while helping the Allies battle Hitler���s minions. As a seasoned soldier in the U.S. Army, Kirkpatrick had to evade capture by the Germans. At home in Indiana, he tried to flee the vivid memories of World War II any way he could ��� an escape attempt that would occupy the rest of his life. Jamie D. Barrand Journal Review (Crawfordsville) Second place Third place What they couldn���t have known then was how short that life would be and how many people���s hearts Jasmine would touch. Marianne the Marine Donna Cronk, The Courier-Times (New Castle) Comments: The writer did an excellent job of showing readers both the military side and the softer side of Marianne. It was fun to read. his heroism had been hidden by a man who would rather take action than boast of its possibility. He was enigmatic, a living, breathing contradiction both in war and throughout the rest of his life, which was finally extinguished Feb. 10, 2004 in a Veterans Administration hospital bed from Alzheimer���s disease and colon cancer. The man who earned the Silver Star for leading eight men against 50 Germans, repelling that enemy attack and eventually taking prisoners the following morning, could also not be trusted as a prison guard because in the words of his lieutenant ���he doesn���t have the right personality for being stern with prisoners.��� The man who often repaired vehicles for people free of charge when they couldn���t afford to pay him, was quick to lift a glass at the local watering hole and subsequently raise his fists at the first sign of conflict. For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.��� Toddler���s cancer battle nearing end When their daughter Jasmine was born on May 22, 2009, Jodie and Stephanie Uhl were filled with hope and anticipation for the little girl���s life. Fight of her life Noelle Steele, Daily Reporter (Greenfield) Comments: The writer did a very good job of drawing me in right from the start and then telling the story of this little girl. When Kirkpatrick returned from the war, his chest was as ornate with medals and ribbons as his legacy would become legendary in the northern Whitley County town. Mark Herendeen knew Kirkpatrick for his skill repairing car fenders. But he also knew of the man who was known as one of Churubusco���s toughest brawlers. ���He���s somewhat of a local legend for being a harddrinking, hard-fighting man,��� said Herendeen. ���He was pretty tough.��� Among many military citations, Kirkpatrick earned both the Bronze and Silver Stars for valor. He was also awarded the Purple Heart for wounds sustained in combat. ���I know he handed out a couple of Purple Hearts around here,��� said Herendeen, referring to Kirkpatrick���s knack for winning bar fights. Kirkpatrick���s daughters, Sharon Geiger and Gloria Maggart, said that while they knew of their father���s service during the war, the extent of Since she was only 6 months old, Jasmine has been battling a rare brain cancer known as atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor. Only about 30 new ATRT cases are reported in the United States each year, and the mortality rate is 90 percent. ���At this point it���s probably a matter of days,��� said Jodie, 27, a Crawfordsville High School graduate and U.S. Army veteran who now resides in Augusta, Ga. Jasmine���s medical troubles began in November 2009. Jodie and Stephanie took her to the doctor thinking she had an earache, but several days later they learned their daughter had two brain tumors ��� one the size of an adult fist and one the size of a golf ball. Doctors gave Jasmine only days to live. On Nov. 24, 2009 Jasmine���s heart stopped and she had to be resuscitated. A day later, the large brain tumor was removed and Jasmine stabilized. The biopsy of the tumor revealed it was an ATRT. Jasmine had already begun a course of chemotherapy, and a shunt was put in her head to relieve intercranial pressure. An MRI in February 2010 showed the remaining tumor had shrunk, but in July a second MRI showed it was growing again. In October 2010 Jasmine underwent a hemispherectomy ��� the removal of the right half of the brain. She has also endured three rounds of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation treatments. The following March, tests revealed that although a tumor on Jasmine���s brain stem was gone, two more small tumors had developed. In the last couple of months, more tumors have appeared. They have spread to Jasmine���s spinal column and stomach. Jasmine���s health is declining quickly. She is now receiving hospice care and is not expected to live through the end of October. ���God has been so merciful,��� said Mike Uhl, Jodie���s father, who resides in Crawfordsville with his wife Pam and is the pastor of the Crawfordsville Nazarene Church. ���As sick as she is, she���s not really suffered a lot. She would get blood taken and everyone else in the room would be crying, but she���d go right back to smiling and laughing and cooing. She is so patient.��� Jasmine is Mike and Pam���s only granddaughter and the youngest of their three grandchildren. They are in Georgia now, and will likely remain there until the inevitable happens. ���It���s a 720-mile trip down here,��� Mike said. ���I can���t even tell you how many times we���ve been back and forth and how many miles we���ve put on our car over the past two years.��� Jodie and Stephanie have grown closer as a couple as they have dealt with their daughter���s illness. ���It���s been an emotional roller coaster,��� Jodie said. ���But my wife has been just amazing. We can go to each other and For complete story, see www.hspafoundation.org. Click on ���Contests.��� Page 33