Local & State Headlines

Herald earns nine AP awards

• The Albany Herald wins nine awards in the annual Georgia Associated Press Association contest.

Staff Reports

ATLANTA — Albany Herald photographer Joe Bellacomo won Picture of Year on Saturday in the Georgia Associated Press Association’s annual news writing and photography competition.

The Herald won a total of nine awards for work produced in 2007, including three writing, two illustration and four photography awards. The awards were announced Saturday in Atlanta.

“We’re always happy to see hard work recognized,” said Michael J. Gebhart, executive vice president of Triple Crown Medic Inc. and publisher of The Herald. “We’re especially proud of Joe Bellacomo, whose photo was selected as the best one submitted this year in our circulation category.

“The Herald is fortunate to have this group of talented journalists who are dedicated to providing our readers with news and information that impacts their lives.”

Bellacomo’s photo was the top one of those submitted in The Herald’s category of daily newspapers with circulation of 15,000-40,000. The picture, which depicted an attempt by Albany firefighters to rescue a cat during an apartment complex fire, won first place in the spot news category.

Bellacomo also won first place for photo illustrations with “Glimpse Through the Rain,” and photographer Travis Hatfield took second place in that category for “Don’t.” Both were photos used to illustrate stories published last summer in The Herald’s annual amateur fiction-writing contest.

Several members of The Herald’s writing staff shared a second-place award in non-deadline news coverage for a package of articles dealing with the aftermath of the deadly tornadoes that slammed into Sumter and Baker counties in March 2007. Contributors to the story package were staff writers J.D. Sumner, Joshua Brown, Susan McCord and Barbara Rivera Holmes, Metro Editor Carlton Fletcher and Editor Jim Hendricks.

Sumner individually received a second-place award in the Freedom of Information category for his work on “Talking points” in which he utilized Georgia Open Records requests in exploring communications issues between the Albany Police Department and other law enforcement and court agencies.

In sports, staff writer Scott Chancey took second place for “Back in the Game,” a feature on 31-year-old Patrick Cuff winning a job as place kicker for Albany State University’s football team.

In graphics and illustrations, Hendricks won second place for “Will Swim for Food,” and editorial cartoon illustrating the funding plight that faced the Flint RiverQuarium last summer. Hendricks also won third place in the category for “Quail Hunting,” a political cartoon depicting the presidential campaign.

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