S-R Honored For Investigation Of N-Waste Problems At Hanford

The Spokesman-Review and The Olympian won the top awards for distinguished investigative reporting Thursday in the C.B. Blethen Memorial Awards competition.

The Spokesman-Review and reporters Karen Dorn Steele and Jim Lynch won among newspapers of more than 50,000 daily circulation for the series “Wasteland,” which documented problems at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. The Olympian and reporter Bob Partlow won first place among newspapers with less than 50,000 circulation for a series on timber.

Winners were announced by Frank Blethen, publisher of The Seattle Times, during a luncheon held as part of the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association annual meeting of newspaper publishers and circulation directors. This is the 20th year the awards have been given in the name of C.B. Blethen, publisher of the Times from 1915 until his death in 1941.

Daily newspapers in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Alaska, British Columbia and Alberta that are members of the PNNA are eligible for the contest. It is administered by the PNNA Foundation.

First-place winners receive $500, while second-place winners get $250. The Seattle Times donated the $6,750 in prize money.