On Friday, April 20, Boulder Weekly left the Denver Press Club with 27 awards — including 10 first-place honors — from the Society of Professional Journalist’s Top of the Rockies contest. Boulder Weekly competed in the 30,000 to 75,000 circulation category against news media from Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
First place
Boulder Weekly took home a first place award in the Special Section category for our 2017 anniversary feature, “Celebrating local people who make the world a better place,” written by editorial staffers Joel Dyer, Matt Cortina, Angela K. Evans and Caitlin Rockett, with contributing writers Amanda Moutinho, John Lehndorff, Sarah Haas, Rob Jackson, Michael J. Casey and Christi Turner.
Angela K. Evans took first place in Arts & Entertainment and Food: Enterprise Reporting for a package of pieces that focused on art and immigration. She also won the News Feature category for her three part series “Here and There,” a story that took Evans to Mexico, following a Colorado family that was forced to move their U.S.-citizen children to Mexico after their father was deported.
Billy Singleton won for General Business Reporting with his piece about how Utah lost the Outdoor Retailer show because of the state’s opposition to the recently-created Bears Ears National Monument.
Writer Betsy Welch won for General Reporting in the Health category for her piece, “At peace with myself,” which looked at how MDMA-assisted psychotherapy could become a prescription treatment for PTSD.
Former columnist and current contributing writer Sarah Haas won in the Science and Technology General Reporting category for “Until our dying day,” a piece that took her in search of the tallest tree on Earth.
Editor Joel Dyer took the top prize for News Column for DyerTimes. Dyer also nabbed first place in Political Enterprise Reporting for his story “Why Putin chose Trump to get even with Clinton,” an in-depth investigation that broke national news using WikiLeaks and the Panama Papers.
Adventure writer Michael Levy won Sports: Columns for his climbing coverage, including a piece on the “quasi-exclusive, semi-secret, pseudo-underground Satan’s Minions Scrambling Club” in Boulder.
Josh Schlossberg took home a first place honor in Environmental writing for “Buried in the past,” which looked at rising heath concerns as the Rocky Flats Wildlife Refuge prepares to open to the public.
Second place
Susan Moran took second place in Health: Enterprise Reporting for “Warning: Oil and gas development may be hazardous to your health.” Moran’s piece looked at whether the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is providing the public with accurate information about the known and potential health impacts of oil and gas development.
Angela K. Evans won a second place award for Religion General Reporting for “Hate and hope,” about the rise in threats against Muslim, refugee and Jewish communities in the days following Donald Trump’s controversial “travel ban.”
In Politics Enterprise Reporting, Matt Cortina took second for “How the West was lost,” a recount of Cortina’s road trip to several national monuments after an executive order from Trump put all 27 national monuments at risk of losing protection.
Sara Hass took second place in A&E and Food: Enterprise Reporting for “Yet to be decided,” looking at the walkout at BMoCA and the question it raises about how the City of Boulder supports the arts.
Art Director Susan France took a second place honor in Feature Page Design for her work designing John Lehndorff’s weekly “Nibbles” column.
Boulder Weekly’s entire editorial staff also took the second place slot in the Special Section category for our 2017 Vote Guide.
Caitlin Rockett won second place in Education: Enterprise Reporting for “Roots and Shoots,” which took Rockett to the Boulder County jail to speak with inmates about how a program started by Jane Goodall is helping them rehabilitate and move forward.
Christi Turner’s “Requiem for a digester,” which looks at the slow death of a $100 million waste-to-energy project in Weld County, placed second in Business Enterprise Reporting. Turner took another second place in General Business Reporting for “Opening doors,” about Blue Star and Eco-Cycle teaming up to employ adults with autism.
Ximena Leyte won second place in Legal: Enterprise Reporting for “Immigratoin policies spark debate between Colorado state representatives.”
Third place
Matt Cortina won three third place awards: in General Politics Reporting for “COGCC budget in peril;” in Education Enterprise Reporting for “CU sociology department discrimination claims highlight university-wide issues;” and General Education Reporting for “Colorado to give charter schools ‘equal’ share of local public education funds.”
Longtime Boulder Weekly sportswriter Tom Winter took third in Sports: Columns for his skiing coverage.
Eliza Radeka placed third in Religion General Reporting for “Alcoholics Anonymous struggles to stay relevant as secular programs gain momentum.”
Caitlin Rockett, in A&E and Food: Single Story, won third for her critiques on local dance troupes.
And Josh Schlossberg took third in the Science and Technology: General Reporting category for “Will Colorado communities adapt to climate-driven wildfire?”
Congratulations to all our winners and special thanks to our readers, who keep us doing what we do.
