Wednesday, May 5, 2004

Press Club names Express best in state

Newspaper and Web sites stand draw kudos

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By KEN RETALLIC
Express Editor

The Idaho Press Club recognized the Idaho Mountain Express, the Wood River Valley’s only locally owned and operated newspaper, as the best in the state Saturday. The paper received the top two awards for weekly newspapers as well as a host of others.

The Idaho Press Club recognized the Express as number one in General Excellence and gave its staff the Sweepstakes Award for garnering more awards than any weekly newspaper in the club’s "Best of 2003" contest.

The Express brought home 47 newspaper awards out of a total of 109 given. They included seven first-place, 12 second-place, 18 third-place, and seven honorable mention awards. Express reporters swept the Watchdog/ Investigative report category.

Judges wrote, "This newspaper stands out from the crowd in the sense of place it provides for its community, in part, for its fine action photos and the breadth of topics it undertakes."

Staff members of Express Publishing, Inc. the newspaper’s parent company, also received four Web site awards for the Sun Valley Guide magazine, The Real Estate Guide, the valley’s web portal Sun Valley Central, and the newspaper. One received a magazine award for feature writing.

In total, staff members garnered 52 awards.

The Wood River Journal, located in Hailey, received 17 awards.

See the complete list of awards to weekly newspapers, web sites and magazines below.

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Idaho Press Club Best of 2003 Annual Awards

GENERAL EXCELLENCE Weekly Newspaper: 1st Idaho Mountain Express; 2nd THRIVE; 3rd Ag Weekly

SWEEPSTAKES for most awards won in 2003: Weekly newspaper, Idaho Mountain Express; Daily newspaper, Idaho Statesman; television station, KTVB, Channel 7.

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Weekly Newspaper Awards

GENERAL NEWS STORY: 1st Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal – "Danger: deer crossing"; 3rd Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal – "Torched Dreams"

SPOT NEWS COVERAGE: 1st Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Hailey Chamber Director Killed"; 2nd Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Blaze consumes Ketchum businesses"

WATCHDOG/ INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: 1st Greg Stahl – Idaho Mountain Express – "Ketchum, mayor sued for freedom of speech infraction"; 2nd Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Does Elkhorn asbestos pose health threat?"; TIE 3^rd Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Making sense of East Fork merge" and Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Healthcare costs weigh down Ketchum budget"

SERIOUS FEATURE REPORT: 2nd Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Ambassador to E.U. says relations are strong"

LIGHT FEATURE REPORT: 2nd Kristan Kennedy – Wood River Journal – "The Illustrated Man"; Honorable Mention: Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Glad to be ‘Plaid’"; Jennifer Liebrum – Wood River Journal – "Cowboy Dad"; Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Giving back the night"

SERIES: 1st Jennifer Liebrum – Wood River Journal – "A disordered life & a public unmasking"; 2nd Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal – "Challenge; Economic Woes of the Wild"; 3rd Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "Wolves return to Sawtooth Valley"

SPORTS NEWS: 1st Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal - "Baughman wins BMT"; 2nd Michael Ames - Idaho Mountain Express – "Ski joring hooks and horses"; 3rd Jeff Cordes – Idaho Mountain Express – "Gooding’s defense a real showstopper"

SPORTS FEATURE STORY: 2nd Jeff Cordes – Idaho Mountain Express – "Kitty Marcroft takes an ultra adventure"; 3rd Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal – "Residents Take a Hike"

GENERAL COLUMN: 1st Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal – "Eye on the Valley"; 3rd Adam Tanous – Idaho Mountain Express – "Amid the silence; Sex, marriage…; Life & Death"

SPECIALTY COLUMN: 1st Pat Murphy – Idaho Mountain Express – selection of 3; 3rd Dana DuGan – Idaho Mountain Express – selection of 3

EDITORIAL: 2nd Pam Morris - Idaho Mountain Express – "No joke; House Democrats flunk horsetrading; Coming to your landfill"; 3rd Pam Morris – Idaho Mountain Express – "Leave Bellevue speeds alone; Train wreck; Price of penny-pinching"; Honorable Mention: Pam Morris – Idaho Mountain Express – "Four day school week; The buzz in Copper Basin; Where’s Blaine County’s buyoff"

HEADLINES: 2nd Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – selection of six; 3rd Dana DuGan – Idaho Mountain Express – selection of six

PAGE DESIGN: 3rd Tony Barriatua – Idaho Mountain Express – "Idaho Dance Theatre performs"

SPOT NEWS PHOTOGRAPHY: 1st Willy Cook – Idaho Mountain Express – "East Fork flames squelched"; 2nd Dev Mukh Khalsa – Wood River Journal – "Burning desire rare opportunity"; 3rd David N. Seelig – Idaho Mountain Express – "Arson"

SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY: 3rd Willy Cook – Idaho Mountain Express – "Spurred into action"

PHOTO ESSAY: 1st Dev Mukh Khalsa – Wood River Journal – "Last night to a new beginning"

GRAPHICS: 3rd Gavin McNeil – Idaho Mountain Express – "Road kill hotspots"

ARTS / ENTERTAINMENT REPORTING: 1st Karen Bossick – Wood River Journal – "Artist for all season"; 2nd Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Wagon builder spins more than his wheels, Honorable Mention: Karen Bossick –Wood River Journal – "All that Jazz"; Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Jeweler Peterson returns to SV Arts"

POLITICAL REPORTING: 2nd Greg Stahl – Idaho Mountain Express – "Apathy pervades for some local voters; 3rd Greg Stahl – Idaho Mountain Express – "Idaho Democrats, Republicans claim Internet name

EDUCATION REPORTING: 2nd Pedro Salom V – Wood River Journal – "Stimulating Spanish", Honorable Mention: Dana DuGan – Idaho Mountain Express – "Legislature’s cuts to education budget may have long-term consequences"

BUSINESS REPORTING: 3rd Gregory Foley – Idaho Mountain Express – "What Are Economic Values of Wilderness"

AGRICULTURE REPORTING: 1st Greg Moore – Idaho Mountain Express – "Ranchers try more natural approach"; 3rd Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Counting the trees"

CRIME / COURTS REPORTING: 1st Greg Stahl – Idaho Mountain Express – "16-year-old charged with murder"; 3rd Greg Stahl – Idaho Mountain Express – "Two rapes reported this week", Honorable Mention: Pedro G. Salom, Kristan Kennedy – Wood River Journal – "Judge may issue gag order"; Greg Stahl – Idaho Mountain Express –"Coroner sued for failing to complete death certificates"

RELIGION REPORTING: 3rd Dana DuGan – Idaho Mountain Express – "Valley spiritual center makes community debut", Honorable Mention: Dana DuGan – Idaho Mountain Express – "Valley priest attends Episcopal Church Convention

ENVIRONMENT REPORTING: 1st Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Snake River Plain pressured for water"; 2nd Greg Moore – Idaho Mountain Express – "Greenfire Ranch promotes conservation"

HEALTH/MEDICAL REPORTING: 1st Dev Mukh Khalsa – Wood River Journal – "Camp Rainbow Gold"; 2nd Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Feldenkrais Method is in the bones"; 3rd Matt Furber – Idaho Mountain Express – "Facing the "Final Mystery", Honorable Mention: Dana DuGan – Idaho Mountain Express – "Cancer survivor trains others"

SPECIAL SECTION: TIE 2nd Ken Retallic, editor – Idaho Mountain Express – "Sun Valley Center Arts & Crafts Festival" and Kristan Kennedy, editor – Wood River Journal – "Wood River Journal’s Women in Business"

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: 2nd Pedro G. Salom – Wood River Journal

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WEBSITE – GENERAL EXCELLENCE: 2nd Richard Trevillian, Greg Boyer – Express Publishing – www.sunvalleycentral.com"; 3rd Richard Trevillian – Idaho Mountain Express – "www.mtexpress.com/index2.htm"

WEBSITE – SPECIAL PURPOSE: 1st Richard Trevillian – Sun Valley Guide – "www.svguide.com; 2nd Richard Trevillian, Greg Boyer – Sun Valley Real Estate Guide – "www.sunvalleyrealestate.com"

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MAGAZINE GENERAL EXCELLENCE: 1st Laurie Sammis, Karen Oswalt, Drew Furlong – Sun Valley Magazine –Summer/Fall 2003 issue; 2nd Laurie Sammis, Karen Oswalt, Drew Furlong – Sun Valley Magazine – "Home 2003"; 3rd Laurie Sammis, Deb Gelet, Kim Woodland – Sun Valley Magazine – Winter/Spring 2004 issue

MAGAZINE WRITING – SERIOUS FEATURE: 1st Van Gordon Sauter, Diane Josephy Peavey, Clarence Stillwill, Judith Freeman –Sun Valley Magazine – "Sense of Place"; 2nd Andrew Slough – Sun Valley Magazine – "A Mid-Winter’s Dream"; 3rd Kathie Rivers – Sun Valley Magazine – "The Lure of Fire Lookouts"

MAGAZINE WRITING – LIGHT FEATURE: 1st Betsy Andrews – Sun Valley Magazine – "Notes from the Painted Page"; 2nd Marcia Mode-Stravos – Sun Valley Magazine – "Speaking in Textiles"; 3rd Greg Stahl – Sun Valley Guide – "Working with the mysteries of sound"

MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPHY: 1st Kristen Shultz – Sun Valley Magazine - "Speaking in Textiles"

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.