(30 entries)

Judge: Andrew Julien, reporter, Hartford Courant
Julien was on a team of reporters who won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news for coverage of a shooting spree at state lottery headquarters by a disgruntled employee. He has also won several awards from the Connecticut Society for Professional Journalism, including citations for his column on the problems faced by working people during the recession of the mid-1990s.

First Place
GRACIELA SEVILLA
The Arizona Republic
"A People in Peril: Pimas on the Front Line of an Epidemic"
"This series was double-edged, shocking and compelling at the same time. The terrible price being paid by Pima Indians devastated by diabetes was drawn in painfully human terms. But the detailed reporting on the failures of the government and the NIH to follow up their research on the Pimas with an attempt to stamp out the epidemic added a layer of shock and outrage. It was impossible to walk away from the project without feeling sad and outraged at the same time. A thorough piece of journalism."

Second Place
TIM STELLER and IGNACIO IBARRA
Arizona Daily Star
"Lives on the Borderline"
"This series puts the reader smack in the middle of a thorny conflict, a murky world where allies turn into enemies and trust can be a deadly virtue. It rises on powerful reporting, including interviews with Mexicans hoping for a better life, the smugglers who help -- and betray -- them, as well as countless others. What emerges is a vivid portrait of a place and a time and the people whose lives change dramatically each night when the sun goes down."

Third Place
MAREEN GROPPE, GUY WEBSTER and DAN NOWICKI
The Tribune
"At the Crossroads"
"Roads -- we love them and hate them. We desperately need them, but don't really want to know about how they get there. This series, through focused and thorough reporting, vividly demonstrates how personal and political agendas interfere with one of the fundamental roles of government -- making it possible for people to get from one place to another. The series ties the politician on the obscure board to the commuter stuck in traffic, and then ties the knot tight around the problem. A series local leaders will not be able to ignore."