The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies announced the winners of the AltWeekly Awards today at a luncheon at the annual convention in Portland. The luncheon also included a special tribute to Molly Ivins presented by her friend and radio commentator, Jim Hightower.

AAN president and The Memphis Flyer publisher Kenneth Neill kicked off the event with an explanation of the newly created Molly Ivins Award, which the association presented to Keith Olbermann in May. In a video acceptance, Olbermann shared how Ivins inspired him by continuing to pursue the truth despite frequent, and often personal, attacks.

When Hightower took the stage in his cowboy hat, he shared stories about how Ivins started her career at The Texas Observer, her conflicts with The New York Times, and a few Texas sayings. Hightower encouraged editors to continue to serve readers by telling it like it is, and keep up the courage to serve readers in ways that mainstream papers don't. "The opposite of courage isn't fear, it's conformity," he said. "Even a dead fish can go with the flow."

Westword editor Patricia Calhoun presented this year's AltWeekly Awards in what must be record time: She made it through all 23 categories and both circulation divisions in under a half hour.

L.A. Weekly dominated the large circulation division and took home seven first-place awards, including Cartoon, Column, Photography, Special Section, Website Design, News Story -- Short Form, and Food Criticism. The paper also received two second-place awards for Blog and Cartoon, and two third-place awards for Arts Feature and News Story -- Long Form.

Style Weekly of Richmond, Va., similarly dominated the small circulation division. The paper received five first-place awards for Editorial Layout, Photography, Arts Criticism, Website Design, Arts Criticism, and this year’s wild card category, Immigration. It also took home two second-place awards for Media Reporting/Criticism and Photography, as well as two third-place awards for Ad Design and Food Writing/Criticism.

Two new association members received AltWeekly Awards in their first year of eligibility. The Portland Mercury received a third-place award for its blog, Portlandmercury.com. Lousiana's Independent Weekly received two awards: a first-place finish for its special section, "Katrina and Rita: One Year Later" and a third-place finish in Investigative Reporting for Leslie Turk's series on a college land scandal.

Fiona Morgan of North Carolina's Independent Weekly and Kevin Uhrich of Pasadena Weekly tied for first-place in the smaller circulation section of the Media Reporting/Criticism category, earning them the Connye Miller Award. They will split the cash prize of $300. Matt Spaur endowed the award in the memory of his wife, who was the founding editor of The Local Planet Weekly in Spokane, Wash., and, along with him, its co-publisher. She died in June 2003 of porphyria.

This is the 12th year of the annual awards contest, which recognizes the best work from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' 125 member papers. First-place winners receive a trophy and their work is collected in a book, Best AltWeekly Writing and Design 2007, which will be released in the fall.

To see the winning design work, check out AAN's Flickr photo gallery. When available, writing/reporting winners' work linked below.

For more information about judging the AltWeekly Awards, click here. ---



Ad Design (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: The Coast, The Coast staff, "Free Online Classifieds"

Second place: Mountain Xpress, Mountain Xpress staff, "Mountain Xpress House Ads"

Third place: Style Weekly, Jeffrey Bland, "The Music Issue Launch Party"



Ad Design (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Washington City Paper, Jason Hutto, Ben Claassen and production staff, "Crafty Bastards Campaign"

Second place: Creative Loafing (Atlanta), Katie Kaiser, Jane Earle, "Georgia Music Directory"

Third place: Austin Chronicle, Karen Barry, Cassidy Frazier, Dan Hardick, Erin Collier and Aubrey Edwards, "Trade Up"

Honorable mention: Chicago Reader, Godfrey Carmona, "Chicago Reader Book Swap"



Arts Criticism

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Style Weekly, Thomas Peyser, "Out on the Prairie," "Towers of Babble," "'The Queen's a Human Being?"

Second place: The Texas Observer, Steven G. Kellman, "Levy Does America," "Dissenting from the Work Ethic," "Cormac McCarthy Imagines the End"

Third place: The Independent Weekly (N.C.), David Fellerath, "Bait and Switch," "The Coming of the Lord," "Profits on a Plane"



Arts Criticism

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Chicago Reader, J. R. Jones, "Young Americans," "Mourning Edition," "Teenage Noir"

Second place: Boston Phoenix, Jeffrey Gantz, "Good Vibrations?" "Strong, Silent Type," "Shifting Shakespeare"

Third place: The Village Voice, J. Hoberman, "Anarchy in the UK," "The New Disaster Movie," "Mel Gibson is Responsible for All the Wars in the World"

Honorable mention: Salt Lake City Weekly, Scott Renshaw, "Pulp Diction," "Guts and Glory," "Cancelled Trip"



Arts Feature

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Folio Weekly, John E. Citrone, "Unipsycho" (download PDF file)

Second place: Arkansas Times, David Koon, "Good as Gold" part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Third place: Santa Barbara Independent, DJ Palladino, "Stick Figure Masterpiece"



Arts Feature

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Miami New Times, Lee Klein, "Foie Wars"

Second place: Houston Press, John Nova Lomax, "Stealing the Show"

Third place: L.A. Weekly, John Albert, "Death, Drugs, Rap and Redemption"

Honorable mention: Chicago Reader, Nicholas Day, "Alpana's Revenge"



Blog

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Charleston City Paper, Patrick Sharbaugh, Spoletobuzz: "A Director (or Two) with a Concept," "A Preference for Pentameter," "Parsing Spoleto '06's Most Memorable Moments"

Second place: Arkansas Times, Max Brantley, Warwick Sabin, Arkansas Blog: "Huckabees Registered For Gifts," "Let Me Say," "A Word"

Third place: The Portland Mercury, The Portland Mercury staff, Portlandmercury.com: "Smokescreen: Saltzman's Ban on Smoking (and Street Kids)," "Schumacher Fur Protestors Celebrate Anniversary," "There's Nothing Finer Than Sharing a Pig's Head With Your Loved One"



Blog

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Dallas Observer, Dallas Observer staff, Unfair Park

Second place: L.A. Weekly, Nikki Finke, Deadline Hollywood Daily: "Hollywood Minorities Complain to Me," "Why Hollywood Gets No Work Done," "'Blood Diamond' Director Ed Zwick Blasts Gossip as Appalling ..."

Third place: Boston Phoenix, Carly Carioli and web staff, On the Download



Cartoon (click for gallery)

Cartoons in 3 or less publications



First place: L.A. Weekly, J.T. Steiny, "Native's Notebook"

Second place L.A. Weekly, Dwayne Booth, "Mr. Fish"

Third place: Washington City Paper, Ben Claassen, "DirtFarm"



Cartoon (click for gallery)

Cartoons in 4 or more publications



First place: Ruben Bolling, "Tom the Dancing Bug"

Second place: Ted Rall, "Search and Destroy"

Third place: Derf, "The City by Derf"

Honorable mention: Shannon Wheeler, "How to Be Happy"



Column

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Tucson Weekly, Tom Danehy, "Danehy": 1, 2, 3

Second place: Mountain Xpress, Mark Jamison, "A Stitch in Time," "In Memory of Memories," "Kelsey's Bell"

Third place TIE: Jackson Free Press, Casey Parks, "Pity Would Be No More," "Mississippi: America's Africa," "There Is No Other"

Third place TIE: Orlando Weekly, Steve Schneider, "Dog Playing Poker": "Sketching For Fun and For Prophet," "Rush to Judgement," "Atomic Prom"



Column

Circulation > 60,000



First place: L.A. Weekly, Seven McDonald, "24/7": "Remember to Smile," "After the Rapture," "Onward American Soldier"

Second place: OC Weekly, Gustavo Arellano, "¡Ask a Mexican!": 1, 2, 3

Third place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Kia Gregory, "'Round About": "Faheem, We're Sorry," "Ghetto Fiction," "Blown Hopes"



Column - Political

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Folio Weekly, Anne Schindler, "Editor's Note": "Eyes Wide Shut," "Hard Truths," "The Perfect Storm" (download PDF files)

Second place: Nashville Scene, Liz Garrigan, "Be Very Afraid," "A Valentine to Bill Covington," "Van Hilleary for Senate"

Third place: Weekly Alibi, Jim Scarantino, The Real Side: "The Popsicle Prophecy," "The Belly of the Beast," "Staying the Course is Not a Strategy"

Honorable mention: Orlando Weekly, Happytown staff, Happytown: 1, 2, 3



Column - Political

Circulation > 60,000



First place: New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Bob Norman, "Who Crowned Michael Brown," "A Politician Weeps," "Mayor Al Has to Go, Bad"

Second place: Boston Phoenix, Adam Reilly, "Kennedy Loathing," "Romney's Greatest Gaffes," "Citizen Arrest"

Third place: Los Angeles CityBEAT, Andrew Gumbel, "American Babylon": 1,2, 3



Cover Design (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: San Antonio Current, Chuck Kerr, "The Race Issue," "Be Your Own Luchador," "Welcome to the New Drug War"

Second place:Orlando Weekly, Shan Stumpf, "Happiness is a Concealed Gun," "Murder in the City Beautiful," "Conventional Love"

Third place TIE: Oklahoma Gazette, Oklahoma Gazette cover crew, "Crosstook," "The Watchers," "Vote"

Third place TIE: The Texas Observer, Matt Omohundro, "The Immigration Issue," "Overrated," "Guber-Land"



Cover Design (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place TIE: City Pages (Twin Cities), Nick Vlcek, "The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much," "I Am a Camera," "Pitchfork Conquers the World"

First place TIE: Riverfront Times, Tom Carlson, "One Swill Game," "Brave New Town," "St. Louie Chop Suey"

Second place: Miami New Times, Michael Shavalier, "Bad Seed Awards," "Foie Wars," "These Could Be Yours"

Third place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Sara Green, "Screw Fatso," "Kick Me," "The Sexy Food Issue"



Editorial Layout (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Style Weekly, Ed Harrington, "State of the Plate"

Second place: Metro Santa Cruz, Kara Brown, Tabi Zarrinnaal, "Cats (They're Not as Bad as You Think)"

Third place: Honolulu Weekly, Ilsa Enomoto, "Fear Factor"

Honorable mention: C-Ville Weekly, Bill LeSueur, "So Much to Say"



Editorial Layout (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Boston's Weekly Dig, Paul McMorrow, Joe Keohane, Paul Maybury, "Slumber Party"

Second place: Washington City Paper, Pete Morelewicz, Alice Lewis, "Mind Your Manors"

Third place: Miami New Times, Michael Shavalier, "Death by the Pound"

Honorable mention: Boston Phoenix, Kristen Goodfriend, "Big Drinkers"



Feature Story

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Jackson Free Press, Brian Johnson, "Deepest Midnight: Cedric Willis and the Failure of Mississippi Justice"

Second place: Pasadena Weekly, Joe Piasecki, "Throwaway Kids," "Family Business, "No Place Like Home," "In Search of Brian," "Now What?" "A Long Way From Home"

Third place: Eugene Weekly, Kera Abraham, "Flames of Dissent," "Part II," "Part III," "Part IV," "Part V"

Honorable mention: Boulder Weekly, Pamela White, "AIDS: 25 Years in Boulder County" series



Feature Story

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Houston Press, Todd Spivak,"Hog Wild"

Second place: L.A. Weekly, Matthew Fleischer, "Navahoax"

Third place: New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Ashley Harrell, "Rebreathe Deep the Gathering Doom"

Honorable mention: Metro Times, Curt Guyette, "Pulp Friction"



Food Writing/Criticism

Circulation < 60,000



First place: North Bay Bohemian, Daedalus Howell, "Swirl 'n' Spit": "Gloria Ferrer," "Bartholomew Park," "Wilson Winery"

Second place: Tucson Weekly, John Peck, "The Modern Maitre d'," "Cheese With Care," "In the Kitchen"

Third place: Style Weekly, Joseph W. Cates, "Almost Fetching," "Blind Date," "Pride of Place"



Food Writing/Criticism

Circulation > 60,000



First place: L.A. Weekly, Jonathan Gold, "Out of the Flames," "Flesh and Bone," "Bring the Funk"

Second place: Willamette Week, Zach Dundas, "Bean Town"

Third place: City Pages (Twin Cities), Dara Moskowitz, "Have It All, Eat It Too," "Urban Fishing," "Carrot Invitational"

Honorable mention: Westword, Jason Sheehan, "Mama's House," "Sum More, Please," "Wedded Bliss"



Format Buster (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: New Haven Advocate, Hugh Elton, "Smash It Yourself"

Second place TIE: Orlando Weekly, Shan Stumpf, "Hey Dems!"

Second place TIE: Folio Weekly, Maia Ferrell, "Scariest People"

Third place: Portland Phoenix, Sara Donnelly and Mike Gorman, "Ugly Portland"



Format Buster (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Washington City Paper, John Metcalfe, Robert Ullman and Pete Morelewicz, "Black Guide to Georgetown"

Second place: NOW Magazine, Enzo DiMatteo, "Throwing a Curve ...," Clean Coal's Dirty ...," "Stroke of Meanness"

Third place: Creative Loafing (Atlanta), Doug Monroe and Josh Latta, "The Book of Ralph"



Illustration (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Syracuse New Times, Michael Heagerty, "Fits Like a Dove"

Second place: The Independent Weekly (N.C.), Tyler Bergholz, "Prince George"

Third place: Seven Days, Thom Glick, "Down to Earth"



Illustration (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Riverfront Times, Rick Sealock, "The Split From Hell"

Second place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Tim Gough, "Savage and Santorum"

Third place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Karen Klassen, "Reading"

Honorable mention: Washington City Paper, Greg Houston, "Impressions of Adams Morgan, Saturday Night"



Immigration

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Style Weekly, Scott Bass, "Alienated"

Second place: Tucson Weekly, Margaret Regan, "Back to Mexico"

Third place: Colorado Springs Independent, Naomi Zeveloff, "Out of Sight"



Immigration

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Kate Kilpatrick, "Mi Casa, Su Casa"

Second place: Miami New Times, Emily Witt, "Mock Trial"

Third place: Creative Loafing (Tampa), Roxanne Escobales, "Slaves Among Us"



Investigative Reporting

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Santa Fe Reporter, Dan Frosch, "The Wexford Files": 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

Second place: Jackson Free Press, Brian Johnson, Donna Ladd and Adam Lynch, "On the Road Again," "Melton May Face Felony Charges," "Nightmare on Ridgeway Street," "D-Day For Mayor Frank Melton," "Frankie's Got a Gun," "Can Melton be Removed?" "Another Melton Mentee Back in Jail"

Third place: Independent Weekly (La.), Leslie Turk, "Authement Yanks Rezoning Request," "Access Denied," "Independent Weekly Sues Ray Authement's Office," "University Land Grab," "Buying the Farm," "Rubin Rules," "Ind. Get Copy of Appraisal," "Cover Up,", "Independent Awarded Legal Fess," "Unsolved Mystery,""Independent Weekly ...," "University Land ...," "Rubin Rules...," "Independent Weekly ...," "Cover Up"



Investigative Reporting

Circulation > 60,000



First place: The Village Voice, Kristen Lombardi, "Death by Dust"

Second place: Los Angeles CityBEAT, Michael Collins, "Real Hot Property," "Where the Bodies are Buried," "Digging Up the Dirt," "Nuclear Reactions"

Third place:Houston Press, Todd Spivak, "Run Over By Metro"

Honorable mention: Baltimore City Paper, Edward Ericson Jr., "Collapse": 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6



Media Reporting/Criticism

Circulation < 60,000



First place TIE: Pasadena Weekly, Kevin Uhrich, "Uncovering Project Censored," "And Now the News," "Dead Men Do Tell Tales"

First place TIE: The Independent Weekly (N.C.), Fiona Morgan, "Inside the Herald-Sun," "Technobarons of the 21st Century," "Tangle of Telco Law"

Second place: Style Weekly, Greg Weatherford, Greg Lohr, Melissa Scott Sinclair and Brandon Walters, "Tumult at the Richmond Times-Dispatch" series

Third place: Nashville Scene, Liz Garrigan, "Sad Brad Made Glad," "Quitting and Firing," "Fake News"



Media Reporting/Criticism

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Willamette Week, Angela Valdez, "Meth Madness"

Second place: L.A. Weekly, Daniel Hernandez, "Stirring the Other LA," "Can't We All Calm Down," "Shades of Brown"

Third place: Austin Chronicle, Kevin Brass, Media Watch: "Snoring Out Loud," "KUT By the Numbers," "Are You Being Served?"



Music Criticism

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Creative Loafing (Charlotte), Kandia Crazy Horse, "Singing Cowboys & Englishmen," "Mystery Black Boy," "The Black Atlantic"

Second place: San Antonio Current, Gilbert Garcia, "Highway 281 Revisited," "High School Confidential," "Fed-Ex Delivery"



Third place: Memphis Flyer, Chris Herrington, "World of Their Own," "Twenty Years Ago Today," "Justify Your Love?"

Honorable mention:Illinois Times, René Spencer Saller, "Rediscovering Kate Bush," "Case of the Missing Heart," The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of"



Music Criticism

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Houston Press, John Nova Lomax, "Racket": "Just Say No Mas," "Screw October," "The Hype of March"

Second place: Boston Phoenix, James Parker, "Evil Incarnate," "For Pete's Sake," "Bliss and Oblivion"

Third place: The Village Voice, Rob Harvilla, "Down in Front": "Crazy For You, But Not That Crazy," "Get Busy Living," "Spankmaster and Servant"



News Story - Long Form

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Missoula Independent, Jessie McQuillan, "What's Wrong With This Picture?"

Second place: Nashville Scene, Sarah Kelley, "Denied"

Third place: Metroland, Rick Marshall, "Convention Wisdom"



News Story - Long Form

Circulation > 60,000



First place: Washington City Paper, Ryan Grim, "The Painmaker"

Second: Houston Press, Craig Malisow, "The Plane Truth"

Third place: L.A. Weekly, Christine Pelisek, "Scourge of Skid Row"



News Story - Short Form

Circulation < 60,000



First place: San Antonio Current, Dave Maass, "The Material Curl," "Tommy Pitches a Tent," "Is No MySpace Sacred?"

Second place: Nashville Scene, Sarah Kelley, "To Serve and Skedaddle," "Justice Denied," "To Answer Perry March"

Third place: New Haven Advocate, Andy Bromage, "Bush Nuts," "Metal Defectors," "Closet Conservatives Storm State Elections"

Honorable mention: Weekly Alibi, Marisa Demarco, "Downtown Fights Back," "Through the Cracks," "Path to a Cure"



News Story - Short Form

Circulation > 60,000



First place: L.A. Weekly, Jeffrey Anderson, "Heap Of Trouble," "Sex, Justice and the D.A.'s Office," "The Steve and Bob Show"

Second place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Steve Volk, "We Have a 2-Year-Old Daughter," "If You Get Shot, We'll Show Up," "Do We Not Bleed?"

Third place: Pittsburgh City Paper, Charlie Deitch, "Lots From Slots?" "Betting on Addiction," "Private Dick"

Honorable mention: Salt Lake City Weekly, Ted McDonough, "Crossing the Line," "Beware the Fly," "A Bridge Too Far"



Photography (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Style Weekly, Scott Elmquist, Stephen Salpukas, "Hidden Richmond"

Second place: Style Weekly, Scott Elmquist, "The Mourning After"

Third palce: The Independent Weekly (N.C.), Lissa Gotwals, "Central Park South"

Honorable mention: Nashville Scene, Eric England, "Songs From the Workbench"



Photography (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place: L.A. Weekly, Kevin Scanlon, "People Issue"

Second place: Philadelphia Weekly - PW, Jeff Fusco, "The Out of Towner"

Third place: Riverfront Times, Jennifer Silverberg, "Going Down Slow"

Honorable mention: Boston Phoenix, Tanit Sakakini, "Horror Couple With Spooky the Hairless Cat"



Special Section (click for gallery)

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Independent Weekly (La.), The Independent Weekly staff, "Katrina and Rita: One Year Later"

Second place: North Bay Bohemian, North Bay Bohemian staff, "The Bohemian's Best of the North Bay 2006"

Third place: Nashville Scene, Nashville Scene staff, "Best of Nashville"

Special Section (click for gallery)

Circulation > 60,000



First place: L.A. Weekly, L.A. Weekly staff, "Best of L.A."

Second place: Boston's Weekly Dig, Boston's Weekly Dig staff, "A Freshman's Guide to Boston"

Third place: Willamette Week, Byron Beck, "Restaurant Guide"



Website Content Feature

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Seven Days, Cathy Resmer, Matthew Thorsen, Don Eggert, "Bombs Away"

Second place: Weekly Alibi, Jerry Cornelius, "Ecstatic Technology"

Third place: The Independent Weekly (N.C.), Derek Anderson, "Me Against Me"



Website Content Feature

Circulation > 60,000



First place:Creative Loafing (Atlanta), Mara Shalhoup, Alejandro Leal and Edward Adams, "BMF: Hip-Hop's Shadowy Empire"

Second place: Austin Chronicle, Austin Chronicle staff, "Am I McMansion or Not?"

Third place: Baltimore City Paper, Tim Hill, "No Cover: The Baltimore City Paper Local Music Guide"



Website Design

Circulation < 60,000



First place: Style Weekly, Style Weekly staff, Copeland Casati and Chris Hull, www.styleweekly.com

Second place: Seven Days, Don Eggert, www.sevendaysvt.com

Third place: Tucson Weekly, Tucson Weekly staff, www.tucsonweekly.com



Website Design

Circulation > 60,000



First place: L.A. Weekly, L.A. Weekly staff, www.laweekly.com

Second place: Metro Times, Metro Times staff, www.metrotimes.com

Third place City Pages (Twin Cities), City Pages staff, www.citypages.com