PLATTSBURGH — The Press-Republican has won seven awards in the New York State Associated Press Writing Contest for 2008-09.

DEPTH REPORTING
The newspaper won first place in Depth Reporting for "Crisis Comes Home," an eight-part series that looked at how the economic recession is affecting the lives of people in the North Country.

The series, which appeared Jan. 4 to 12, 2009, was conceived and coordinated by News Editor Lois Clermont and written by Staff Writers Jeff Meyers, Andrea VanValkenburg, Dan Heath, Robin Caudell, Stephen Bartlett, Kim Smith Dedam, Lohr McKinstry, Alvin Reiner and Denise Raymo.

The series covered the local struggles of a single dad, a disabled man with health issues, a retired couple, small-business owners, a man who had been laid off from his job, a senior citizen and others.

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT
Kim Smith Dedam won first place in the Arts/Entertainment Writing category for "Exhibit Highlights Soldier's View of War," which covered works done by Saranac Lake photographer SSG Gregory J. Moore, a member of the Army National Guard 2nd Battalion-108th Infantry, who documented everyday life during a tour of duty in Iraq from a soldier's point of view.

HEADLINE
Editor Bob Grady won first place in the Brightest Headline category for "Peanut Butter in a Jam Locally," which appeared on an article telling how local stores were pulling peanut butter off their shelves due to a salmonella scare.

FEATURES
Features Editor Suzanne Moore took second place in the Features category for "Inspiration for Family, Country," a touching Veterans Day reminiscence about a local man, as a small boy, having his father and four uncles all fighting in different hot spots around the globe in World War II. All five were in combat and survived to return home, cementing his own loyalty to America and its military.



ONLINE CONTENT
Robin Caudell garnered second place in the Online Content category for "Frozen River: Backstory," a video story on the shooting of the Academy Award-nominated movie "Frozen River," part of which was filmed at the Conroy Farm in Beekmantown.

Over three days, amid other assignments, Caudell created "Frozen River Backstory" as an online article to preview the Lake Placid Center for the Arts Film Series event, as well as to screen after the feature film.

EDITORIALS
Grady won third place in the Editorials category for "Government Has No Stake." The April 23, 2009, editorial argued that government had no business trying to dictate whether two people of the same gender have the right to marry.

BLOGGING
Design Editor Jack Downs won third place for "GreenThink," his column that appears exclusively on the Press-Republican's Web site: www.pressrepublican.com.

In "GreenThink," Downs discusses grassroots issues surrounding climate change, sustainability and the green movement in the North Country.