Spokesman-Review wins six awards in Northwest journalism contest

The Spokesman-Review won six awards in the Northwest Excellence in Journalism contest sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists.

Pia Hallenberg won first place in the Short General Feature Story category for “Solemn Tribute,” a profile of retired Army Reserve Lt. Col. Philip Kowzan, who played taps at more than 1,200 military honor funerals in the Spokane area.

Reporter Erica Curless and photographer Tyler Tjomsland won second place in Health Reporting for their series on rural aging in Ferry County.

Reporter Becky Kramer took second place in Environment, Nature & Science Reporting for “A New Treaty,” an examination of the consequences of the 1964 Columbia River Treaty as the U.S. and Canada prepare to renegotiate the treaty.

In the same category, reporter Nicholas Deshais won third place for a fun feature on the rare mathematical symmetry of Pi Day – 3/14/15, 9:26:53 a.m.

Deshais also won third place in Lifestyles Reporting for “Tour Deshais,” his first-person account of bicycling along U.S. Bicycle Route 10.

Jim Camden won third place in the Long General Feature Story category for “Dispatches from Dachau,” about the late David Wilsey, a Spokane man who had witnessed the horrors of the Nazi concentration camp, and how his children learned about it from reading his letters home.

The contest is open to news outlets in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho. The awards were announced Saturday.