and returned with nine awards in the association¹s 2006 Better Newspaper Contest.
The competition, considered the state¹s most prestigious community newspaper contest, received nearly 4,100 entries from 227 weekly newspapers.
In all, Herald Newspapers earned one first-place, five second-place and three third-place honors. Winners included Oceanside Editor Joseph Kellard, Bellmore-Merrick Senior Editor Scott Brinton, East Meadow Editor Hector Flores, Photo Editor Diane Rice, Production Manager Jeff Negrin, free-lance columnist Ron Goldman and free-lance photographer Bill Kelly.
Kellard earned third place in the crime and courts reporting category for an emotional story that he wrote about a murder sentencing. Hired killer Herve Jeannot murdered Long Beach resident Robert Calabrese Jr., a middleman for a bookie, over an unpaid debt. Jeannot received the maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. Judges wrote of Kellard¹s work, ³Uses story-telling writing style to report on crimes and courts.²
Brinton scored a hat trick, earning first place for feature writing, second for column writing and third for news writing.
Brinton¹s winning feature, ³Long road to freedom,² chronicled the trials and tribulations of a Cuban couple, Lucila and Oscar Farias from Bellmore, after they escaped Fidel Castro¹s communist revolution. Feature writing was the contest¹s most competitive category, attracting 355 entries. The judges wrote of Brinton¹s story, ³The writer takes readers on a journey that is both tense and affirming. Well-written and paced. It is a great example of bringing history to life.²
In the column-writing category, Brinton submitted three pieces, including columns on:
n An Iraq war hero, U.S. Army reservist Maj. Al Garbarino from North Merrick, who worried about making his mortgage after he was injured in battle.
n A proposal by developer Donald Trump to build a palatial restaurant at Jones Beach.
n A plan of Brinton¹s to legalize illegal apartments as a way to provide affordable housing. Judges wrote of the columns, ³Author merges issue and opinion, but backs it up with fact to support his positions. Well-researched and well-done.²
Brinton¹s third-place finish for news writing was also on Garbarino. In the story, ³When a family goes to war,² Brinton looked at the effect that the Iraq war had not only on Garbarino, but also on his wife and two young children. Judges wrote, ³Excellent, well-written news feature, poignant and touching. Detail about time spent in Iraq was great - a very good story.²
Flores captured second place in the news category for a story about 4-year-old Matthew Henriques, who was mauled by two Rottweilers and a bulldog in East Meadow last April. Judges wrote, ³Emotional and timely story with good use of pull quote - good job covering all aspects of the story.²
Rice earned a second place in the spot news photo category for a shot of stranded motorists pushing their car out of a flood, as well as a page of flood photos. They appeared in the East Meadow Herald last August. Judges wrote, ³Rain is hard to shoot, but Rice did a great job on this package. Good variety.²
Negrin took home second place in the special section cover category for last October¹s At Home section cover, which appeared in all editions of Herald Community Newspapers. Judges wrote, ³Simple and appealing cover. Using a simple design for a design publication is classy; the greens and yellows are rich in color, and the contrast is great. The relation to the content is apparent. Overall, this cover is very attractive.²
Goldman, who earned a second place in the humor column category, wrote on a variety of subjects. Judges wrote, ³Another superb columnist. No doubt he has a large following.²
And Kelly received third place in the spot news photo category for a shot of a Rockville Centre apartment fire. Judges wrote, ³Wow! Fire victims hanging out the window waiting to be rescued.²
³It gives me great pleasure to see members of the Herald¹s staff, and this year, two of our freelancers’ recognized by impartial judges as doing important work and doing it very well,² said John O¹Connell, the Heralds¹ executive editor. ³I am so proud that the staff won awards in every category that community newspapers do: news, crime and courts, feature writing, opinion columns, humor columns, community photojournalism and special section presentation. Frankly, I am proud of our entire staff every week, for the commitment they demonstrate to bringing our readers news of the people in our communities and information people can use...²
