, and returned with nine awards in the association's 2006 Better Newspaper Contest.
The competition, considered the state's 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 Bellmore-Merrick Senior Editor Scott Brinton, East Meadow Editor Hector Flores, Photo Editor Diane Rice, Production Manager Jeff Negrin, Oceanside Editor Joseph Kellard, free-lance columnist Ron Goldman and free-lance photographer Bill Kelly.
Brinton scored a hat trick, earning first place for feature writing, second for column writing and third for news writing.
Brinton's winning feature, "Long road to freedom," chronicled the trials and tribulations of a Cuban couple, Lucila and Oscar Fariñas from Bellmore, after they escaped Fidel Castro's communist revolution. Feature writing was the contest's most competitive category, attracting 355 entries. The judges wrote of Brinton's story, "The 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."
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 Brinton's to legalize illegal apartments as a way to provide affordable housing.
Judges wrote of the columns, "Author merges issue and opinion, but backs it up with fact to support his positions. Well-researched and well-done."
Brinton's third-place finish for news writing was also on Garbarino. In the story, "When a family goes to war," 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, "Excellent, well-written news feature, poignant and touching. Detail about time spent in Iraq was great - a very good story."
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, "Emotional and timely story with good use of pull quote - good job covering all aspects of the story."
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, "Rain is hard to shoot, but Rice did a great job on this package. Good variety."
Negrin took home second place in the special section cover category for last October's At Home section cover, which appeared in all editions of Herald Community Newspapers. Judges wrote, "Simple 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."
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 Kellard's work, "Uses story-telling writing style to report on crimes and courts."
Goldman, who received a second place in the humor column category, took on on a variety of subjects. Judges wrote, "Another superb columnist. No doubt he has a large following."
And Kelly earned third place in the spot news photo category for a shot of a Rockville Centre apartment fire. Judges wrote, "Wow! Fire victims hanging out the window waiting to be rescued."
"It gives me great pleasure to see members of the Herald's staff, and this year, two of our freelancers’ recognized by impartial judges as doing important work and doing it very well," said John O'Connell, the Heralds' executive editor. "I 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."
