Express staff garners 54 press awards

The Idaho Mountain Express has received the award of General Excellence in competition against the state’s weekly newspapers for the second straight year.

In addition to the highest possible honor of the award for general excellence, the Mountain Express received the Sweepstakes award, also for the second straight year, for the most awards for journalism excellence achieved by a single newspaper.

The honors were presented at the Idaho Press Club awards banquet Saturday night in Boise, where the Express collected more than half of all awards possible—53 of 95-- in the weekly newspaper category. Express Publishing’s twice yearly magazine, the Sun Valley Guide, also was recognized for General Excellence in the magazine division.

"The staff worked very hard for these awards," said editor Barbara Perkins. "We are extremely proud of them all."

An honorable mention received by arts editor Marilyn Bauer for her coverage of the Arts in Idaho was impressive in an arena that encompassed all print media, including the large daily papers, and where only one other award was presented to category winner the Idaho Statesman.

For her constant vigilance of community issues, Idaho Mountain Express publisher Pam Morris took first and second place in the editorial writing division.

Nearly half of all first place awards, 13 of 28 possible, were bestowed on Express staff members.

The Idaho Mountain Express team swept the Sports News Coverage with sports editor Jeff Cordes taking all three places and the Sports Photography category with Willy Cook taking first and third and Charmaine McCann collecting second and honorable mention.

Local columnist Adam Tanous took first and second places in his category, while reporter Andrew Scutro, currently writing for the Boise Weekly, took first and second places in the series category for his work while at the Mountain Express. Scutro also took firsts in Outdoor Feature and Crime Reporting for the Express.

Other first place awards went to arts editor Marilyn Bauer for Headlines, photographer Willy Cook for Feature Photography, photographer Charmaine McCann for Photo Essay, artist Gavin McNeil for graphics and reporter Amy Spindler for Education.

Rookies of the Year, with only a month tackling local issues under their belts, were the Express’s newest staffers reporters Kevin Wiser and Greg Stahl, taking second and third place respectively. Amy Spindler received honorable mention.

Collecting second place awards were Andrew Scutro for General News, Alyson Wilson for Watchdog/Investigative Reporting, Alyson Wilson for Serious Feature, Gavin McNeil for Page Design, Willy Cook for Spot News Photography and Amy Spindler for Health Reporting.

Third place awards were presented to Amy Spindler for Serious Feature, Evan Alexander for Outdoor Feature, Jeff Cordes for Sports Feature, Wendy Hall for Page Design, Charmaine McCann for Spot News Photography, Willy Cook for Photo Essay, Richard Trevellian for Graphics, Andrew Scutro for Politics, Amy Spindler for two stories that tied in the Business category, Marilyn Bauer for Environment and Amy Spindler for Health.

Honorable mentions were received by Andrew Scutro for Light Feature, Amy Spindler for Outdoor Feature, Willy Cook for Spot News Photography, Willy Cook for Feature Photography, Charmaine McCann for Sports Photography, Charmaine for Photo Essay, Robert Wray for Graphics, Greg Stahl for Environment, along with Alyson Wilson and Evan Alexander in the same category.

The second highest award-winning weekly was the Boise Weekly with 13 awards, followed by the Wood River Journal with 12 total awards.

The Sun Valley Guide, a magazine produced by the Express staff, received second place for General Excellence in its first outing in competition against the magazines in the state.