Finalists for the 2017 Ohio APME contest

COLUMBUS — Finalists have been announced in the Ohio Associated Press Media Editors’ 2017 newspaper contest.

The awards in actual order of finish — first, second and third places — will be announced at the Ohio APME annual awards banquet March 24 in Columbus. The General Excellence, Hall of Fame, Rising Star and First Amendment winners also will be announced at the meeting.

Sixty-four daily newspapers submitted 1,922 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports stories, features, editorials, columns, graphics and photos from 2017.

Entries for Division V (newspapers with daily circulation of more than 60,000) were judged by editors from The Detroit News.

The finalists for Division V newspapers (The Blade, The (Cleveland) Plan Dealer, The Columbus Dispatch, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Akron Beacon Journal and The Dayton Daily News) are:

Best Headline Writer: Heather Denniss, The (Toledo) Blade; Danny Goodwin, The Columbus Dispatch; Skip Hall, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

Best Business Writer: Jon Chavez, The (Toledo) Blade; Alexander Coolidge, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Michelle Jarboe, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

Best Columnist: Theodore Decker, The Columbus Dispatch; Bob Dyer, Akron Beacon Journal; Phillip Morris, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

Best Editorial Writer: Kevin Aldridge, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Michael Douglas, Akron Beacon Journal; Wynne Everett, The (Toledo) Blade.

Best Feature Writer: Geoff Burns, The (Toledo) Blade; Carol Motsinger, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Holly Zachariah, The Columbus Dispatch.

Best Graphics Artist: Tom Fisher, The (Toledo) Blade; Andrea Levy, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer; Chris Morris, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer.

Best Sports Columnist: David Briggs, The (Toledo) Blade; Paul Daugherty, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Rob Oller, The Columbus Dispatch.

Best Sports Feature Writer: Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch; Nicholas Piotrowicz, The (Toledo) Blade; Marla Ridenour, Akron Beacon Journal.

Best Sports Writer: Zach Buchanan, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch; Jim Owczarski, The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Best Photographer: Sam Greene, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Brooke LaValley, The Columbus Dispatch; Kyle Robertson, The Columbus Dispatch.

Best News Writer: Terry DeMio, The Cincinnati Enquirer; Amanda Garrett, Akron Beacon Journal; Lauren Lindstrom, The (Toledo) Blade.

Best Sports Enterprise: Zach Buchanan, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “In the Name of the Father”; C. Trent Rosecrans, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Great American Dream”; Kyle Rowland, The (Toledo) Blade.

Best Special Sports Section: Tony Lariccia and Andrea Levy, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “Frayed & Forgotten”; The (Toledo) Blade, “High School Football Preview“; The Columbus Dispatch, “College Basketball 2017.”

Best Daily Sports Section: Dayton Daily News; The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer; The Columbus Dispatch.

Best Illustration or Informational Graphic: Justin Gilbert, The Columbus Dispatch, “Firefighter Gear”; Justin Gilbert, The Columbus Dispatch, “Wind Energy”; Tony Lariccia, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “Among Scarlet & Greatness.”

Best News Photo: Eric Albrecht, The Columbus Dispatch, “Beheaded Among the Dead”; Lori King, The (Toledo) Blade; Dave Zapotosky, The (Toledo) Blade.

Best Feature Photo: Lisa DeJong, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “Big Bubble”; Lisa DeJong, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “Bubbles”; Brooke LaValley, The Columbus Dispatch, “Moonrise.”

Best Sports Photo: Brooke LaValley, The Columbus Dispatch, “Expressive Effort”; Phil Masturzo, Akron Beacon Journal, “Toppled and Tagged”; Barbara J. Perenic, The Columbus Dispatch, “Fantastic Finish.”

Best Photo Story: Liz Dufour, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Saving Dominique”; Jonathan Quilter, The Columbus Dispatch; The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Seven Days of Heroin.”

Best Video: Courtney Hergesheimer, The Columbus Dispatch; The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Cincinnati Reds Opening Day.”

Best Public Service: John Caniglia and Jo Ellen Corrigan, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “A Critical Choice”; Katie Wedell, Dayton Daily News, “Terrible Mistakes”; The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Seven Days of Heroin.”

Best Spot News Coverage: The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Cameo Nightclub Shooting”; The Columbus Dispatch, “Kirkersville Shootings”; The Columbus Dispatch, “State Fair Tragedy.”

Best Explanatory Reporting: Mark Ferenchik and Rita Price, The Columbus Dispatch, “Dividing Lines”; Anne Saker, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Otto Warmbier”; Katie Wedell, Dayton Daily News, “Prescription Drugs – Ohio Issue 2.”

Best Enterprise Reporting: Dan Gearino and Marion Renault, The Columbus Dispatch, “Ohio Coal — Digging for Hope”; Carol Motsinger and Scott Wartman, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Beverly Hills Supper Club Fire”; The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “Drug addiction.”

Best Investigative Reporting: James Pilcher, The Cincinnati Enquirer, “Fatal Shootings by Cincinnati Police Officers”; Dayton Daily News, “Jailhouse Investigation”; The (Toledo) Blade, “Local Man Crashes into Crowd at Charlottesville Rally.”

Best Full Page Design: Jeff Basting, The (Toledo) Blade; Mary Lou Sneyd and Bill Krohn, The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer, “Bottom Line on Tax Trimming”; The Columbus Dispatch.

Best Digital Presence: Dayton Daily News; The (Toledo) Blade; The Columbus Dispatch.