MISSOURIAN WINS ASSOCIATED PRESS AWARDS

LAKE of the OZARKS - The Southeast Missourian newspaper received two first-place awards and one second-place honor in the Missouri AP Managing Editors News Writing Contest. The awards were presented Saturday at the group's annual convention at the Lake of the Ozarks.

The Southeast Missourian's coverage of the Sept. 26 earthquake, and a subsequent six-part series on quake preparedness garnered two of the awards. Missourian Sports Editor Bill Heitland garnered first-place honors in sports feature writing.

The contest drew 141 entries from 17 newspapers in Missouri.

The Missourian took first place honors for spot news coverage about the 4.6 tremor that shook the region in September. "Earthquake Rattles The Region" articles were written by staff writers David Hente, E.J. Rotert, B. Ray Owen and Mark Bliss.

The judges said the story on an earthquake of a 4.6 magnitude on the richter scale that shook residents along the New Madrid fault zone contained all the facts, details, and community reaction. "It was," they said, "a thorough job."

The Columbia Daily Tribune finished second in spot news, with the (Independence) Examiner earning third-place honors.

Heitland won first place in the sports feature writing category with a story about Michael Minner, a Little League baseball player who overcame physical shortcomings to emerge as one of the best players on his team. The story ran in June 1990.

The judges said Heitland's story about a little leager who was born without a right hand and wears leg braces when he plays ball was "a good human story." They said it was "excellent material for a good sports feature."

The Mexico Ledger finished second in this category, with the (Independence) Examiner finishing third.

The Missourian's six-part series on earthquake preparedness was recognized with second-place honors in the community affairs/public interest category. The articles were written by: David Hente, Jay Eastlick, Mark Bliss, B. Ray Owen, E.J. Rotert, Jim Grebing and Tom Neumeyer, and were published in mid-October. The series also appeared in a special section Oct. 24.

The Columbia Daily Tribune finished first and third in this category.

The Southeast Missourian competed in Division II, which included newspapers with circulation between 10,000 and 35,000. The Missourian awards were accepted by Editor Ken Newton.

The Sikeston Standard-Democrat took two first-place honors in Division III, which includes newspapers with circulation under 10,000. The paper won first place in spot news with a story by Todd Wilson concerning a major fire in downtown Sikeston in May 1990. The Sikeston paper also won first place in spot sports with Todd Wilson's article on a Blue Jay win.

Kansas City Star reporter Martin Connolly won the 1990 Fred W. Moen Sweepstakes Award in the contest for a series on organized labor bombings. The investigative series on union leaders and their connection to labor bombings qualified for the sweepstakes judging after taking first place in the contest's feature writing category for large newspapers.

The sweepstakes award is named in honor of the late Fred W. Moen, bureau chief for Associated Press news operations in Missouri and Kansas from 1971 to 1984.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch was awarded first place in the spot news and spot sports categories for large newspapers, and The (Springfield) News-Leader earned first place awards for sports feature writing and community affairs/public interest.