Congratulations to my colleagues Karen Robes Meeks and Greg Mellen.
Thanks to their fine work, the Press-Telegram won first- and second-place awards in the Associated Press California and Nevada Newswriting and Photo Contest. The contest honors work produced in 2008.
Meeks, a staff writer, took first place in the Business Writing category for a series of stories, "Pain on Pine," that chronicled the fits-and-starts efforts to revive Long Beach's downtown shopping district.
Mellen, our neighborhoods reporter, won second place in Feature Writing for "Davik's Heart," a series about a poor Cambodian girl who travelled to Los Angeles for life-extending heart surgery.
The awards honor newswriting and photography produced by Associated Press members in the two states.
The Press-Telegram competed in Division II, which is for newspapers with circulations ranging from 75,000 to 150,000.
