This weekend the results of the Arizona Newspaper Association's Better Newspaper Contest were officially announced. Jim Nintzel, who gave us the results from the association's annual dinner, confirmed the Tucson Weekly won eight awards with wins in the category of non-daily newspapers with a circulation of more than 10,000.
Staff writer Maria Ines Taracena won first place for the Best News Story for "The Never-Ending Scrutiny," which detailed how state officials were continuing to monitor TUSD ethnic-studies classes. Taracena won third place in the same category for "The Waiting Game," a look at how undocumented immigrant Rosa Robles Loreto has spent more than half a year in sanctuary at Southside Presbyterian Church to avoid deportation. Taracena also took second place for Best Feature or Criticism Column for "Legal Theft," which examined how the Tucson Police Department was pursuing forfeiture charges against a medical marijuana clubhouse on Fourth Avenue. I won first place in Best Feature Story for "La Vida Bonita," a profile of painter David Tineo. I also won third place for investigative reporting for "Reefer Research Madness," a look at researcher Sue Sisley's fight with the University of Arizona over a study to determine whether medical marijuana can help veterans cope with PTSD. Staff writer Heather Hoch won third place for "Bored at Barrio," her review of downtown's Barrio restaurant. Our political guru, senior writer Jim Nintzel won third place Best Commentary Column for his work on The Skinny. The Weekly's 2014 edition of Best of Tucson won third place in the special section category due to the good work of our production manager Brandon Hays. As we've said before, sometimes it's hard for us to get excited about these contests even when we win. However, in this day and age, I'll take every certificate and plaque we get and pause to celebrate and thank everyone I work with for a job well done.
— Mari Herreras, mherreras@tucsonweekly.com
