Please Bear With Us While We Tell You How Fabulously Wonderful We Are. IN A RIGHT-NICE ceremony hosted by plumb loco Arizona Daily Star cartoonist David Fitzsimmons, the Arizona Press Club had a round-up at Trail Dust Town last weekend to mix, mingle and dish out the results of this year's statewide journalism competition. We're mighty proud to say the Tucson Weekly rustled up nine of them little doggies, including four first-place awards and a sweep of the general reporting category among medium publications. Arts Editor Margaret Regan led the pack with honors in three categories. Regan won first place for commentary and analysis among medium publications with "Fortress U" (Tucson Weekly, August 29), a keen look at opening day at Arizona International Campus. Judge Richard Doak of the Des Moines Register found Regan's article to be "a courageous examination of an important commuity issue. The on-the-scene description combined with the outrageous background of the campus make an interesting weave of fact, impression and analysis that keeps the reader's attention." Regan's "A House Divided" (Tucson Weekly, October 3), which delved into the dispute between restaurateur Janos Wilder and the Tucson Museum of Art, won second place in the general reporting among medium publications. "In-depth and compelling reporting on the future of the Hiram Stevens House made this a brisk and informative piece," said Judge Alex Heard, an editor at The New York Times Magazine. Regan also won a third place in the medium pubs' feature-writing category for "Matisse, Picasso--And Lennon?" (Tucson Weekly, January 11), which judge Hank Stuever, a feature writer for the Austin, Texas, American Statesman, described as "...a charming piece, a good interview." Senior editor Jim Nintzel and automatic-weapons editor Emil Franzi took first place in the aforementioned general reporting category for "Outrageous Fortune" (Tucson Weekly, August 22), which chronicled how a handful of fired Pima County bureaucrats led by former Deputy County Manager Bruce Postil won a multi-million-dollar settlement from the county. "This piece combined solid reporting, vivid detail and a lively writing style to make a potentially dull subject--behind-the-scenes feuding at the county government level--a fascinating read," said The New York Times Magazine's Heard. Columnist Tom Danehy placed first in the sports-reporting category among medium publications for "Hoop Dreams" (Tucson Weekly, June 6), a retrospective of his year coaching high-school girls basketball, which the judge described as an "unorthodox approach to an original idea that is funny and somewhat touching.... Self-deprecating humor keeps the piece anchored. The creative organization not only moves this lengthy story along at a clip, but serves as an underlying reminder of what sports are all about. A compelling read and by far the top story." Frequent contributor Leo Banks won first place in the feature-writing category among medium publications with "A Noble Failure" (Tucson Weekly, March 14), which the judge found to be a "tightly written report on the 'experimental city' of Arcosanti...uses spare but precise details, creates a sense of place...sometimes effortlessness is the most admirable quality." Illustrator Joe Forkan won second-place honors for magazine covers among all publications statewide for his work on last year's "Top 10 Censored Stories" (Tucson Weekly, May 16). "I don't see how an astute reader could ignore Tucson Weekly's 'Top 10 Censored Stories' cover...particularly effective use of the magazine's block art illustration style, and this cover is both disturbing and compellling...," observed judge Jodi Davis of the Palm Beach Post. Rand Carlson took second place in the editorial cartooning category among papers statewide. "These 'Random Shots' have a wry and playful [style], a refreshing lack of pretentiousness, and yet leave a thought to chew on or a smile afterwards--very nice cartooning," said Judge Jim Borgman of the Cincinnati Enquirer. Gregory McNamee completed The Weekly's sweep of the general reporting category among medium pubs with "The Grass That Ate Sonora" (Tucson Weekly, April 18), which detailed the environmental hazards of buffelgrass. "An important problem is carefully, but readably explained, making a subject that is potentially 'too dry' (bad pun here) accessible to everyone," noted judge Alex Heard. The contest drew more than 1,600 entries from around the state. Tony Ortega of the Phoenix New Times won the Virg Hill Journalist of the Year award, while David Sanders of The Arizona Daily Star was named Photographer of the Year. The club also awarded $3,000 in scholarships to journalism students Alexandra R. Moses, Jonathan T. Inge, Christopher Richards and Robert Colbert. Congratulations to the winners.

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