John Lantigua, Christine Evans and Christine Stapleton of The Palm Beach Post won the top award for public service for their report, A Cloud Over Florida: Hidden Pesticide Problems, it was announced at the April 29 Sunshine State Awards dinner in Deerfield Beach.
In presenting the James Batten Award, keynote speaker Bob Edwards, host of XM Public Radio’s flagship program and a judge in the category, said the entries all were strong and a credit to the health of Florida journalism. “I wanted to give five awards,” he said. “I was enormously encouraged by this good work.”
The Gene Miller Award for Investigative Reporting for large newspapers went to Debbie Cenzipur of The Miami Herald for Blind Eye, about problems in hurricane forecasting. Donna Wright of The Bradenton Herald won the investigative award for small newspapers for Exposing Pollution, Coverup in Tallevast.
Sally Kestin, Megan O’Matz, John Maines and Jon Burstein of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel won the Hurricane/Disaster Reporting honors for FEMA: A Legacy of Waste.
See the list of winners on the South Florida SPJ Web site here.