A little preamble:  As a weekly newspaper Regional Editor, Columnist, Feature Writer, Sports Writer, Investigative Reporter, News Hound, Photographer and General Public News Lackey from 1988 to 1995 {and, oh yeah, I worked for a daily for several weeks before I ticked off the managing editor because he didn't know how to write a headline if his life depended on it and was otherwise a psychotic idiot - the worst kind, but the publisher at that time was worse.  Ask me over a drink}.  But despite four different newspaper publishers, including one who also headed a daily, had me call/fax the Illinois Press Association attorney a headline story I did in my weekly about a year-old, at-that-time unsolved murder and included an interview with the victims fiance/witness, which his daily did not pick up until I beat their publication deadline.  Because I quoted the fiance's viewpoint of the DEA investigation, the publisher said we'd probably get sued.  I was able to tell the publisher that the IPA attorney said he saw nothing wrong with what he called "...a helluva story.  I'd say it's a good reporting job."  By the way, the publisher's owner out of Canada awarded that story (me) a 3rd place for Best Hard News Story within their North American-owned publications.  At the company's Christmas party, the still-pissed-off publisher awarded me a roll of toilet paper for Most Likely to Write for the Enquirer magazine.  Ya gotta love it! 

By the way, The Blade has not won an IPA award since my "position was eliminated."

Awards won include: