June 6, 2007

Works by the Hood River News staff in 2006 were honored Saturday by the Society of Professional Journalists Oregon and Southwest Washington Chapter.

The 12-part series on Measure 37, “Where Do We Go From Here,” garnered first place in the Comprehensive Coverage category among weekly newspapers with circulations under 8,000.

“The series was a true team effort, in the planning and the doing,” Editor Kirby Neumann-Rea said. “The people in news and production know the high importance of the Measure 37 issue, and we worked hard to provide balanced and detailed coverage for our readers.”

He added, “We also want to thank the families and agriculture sources who spent so much time with our reporters.” Articles were by staff writers RaeLynn Ricarte, Janet Cook, Sue Ryan, and freelancer Sam Lowry. General Manager Joe Deckard took the lead photos, Editor Kirby Neumann-Rea oversaw the project, and Micki Chapman provided extensive design work.

In other SPJ awards, staff writer Ricarte took second place in the Comprehensive Coverage category for “Trials of Addiction,” her three-part series on three people who went through the Hood River County Drug Court process.

Cook took second place in Food and Consumer Issues for her Kaleidoscope feature on the Gorge Grown Food Network.

Cook also took third place in the Business Feature category for her article on the 30th anniversary of Waucoma Bookstore.

Deckard took second place in Spot News Photography for his November 2006 photo of a Hood River County School District bus going over the edge of a hillside.