BOSTON, Mass. — The Sun Journal was awarded six New England Newspaper and Press Association awards at the organization’s annual conference Saturday.
Lindsay Tice was honored with a first place award for racial or ethnic coverage for her report on domestic violence among the immigrant population titled “New attitude” (on domestic violence).
The report was prompted by the hit-and-run death of Laudrinha Kubeloso in 2014.
An immigrant from Angola, Kubeloso was four months pregnant and planning to talk to someone about her boyfriend beating her up in their home. Before she could, that man — Evaristo Deus — struck her from behind with a vehicle while she was walking home from her afternoon English language class, killing her.
He was later arrested trying to flee the country. Deus was ultimately found guilty of her murder and sentenced to serve 45 years in prison.
In the shadow of Kubeloso’s death, Lewiston’s immigrant community became more active in addressing issues of domestic abuse. Tice examined the evolution and talked to victims and advocates about the changing attitude toward reporting domestic violence.
The Sun Journal was also awarded a first place Right-to-Know award for its work forcing the Maine Judicial Branch to reverse its policy to seal dismissed court cases.
Former State House reporter Scott Thistle placed second in crime and courts coverage for his report titled “Benefit bartering,” investigating rising fraud and the growing number of drug deals that trade in EBT cards for cash.
Former sports reporter Kevin Mills, who died last year, was posthumously honored for his work covering the Lewiston championship soccer team. The story, titled “Winning one for McGraw,” focused on the community’s obvious love and support for Coach Mike McGraw, the longtime soccer coach at Lewiston High School. It was awarded third place.
The Sun Journal also won a second place award for its daily Sports section and columnist Kalle Oakes won first place in sports column writing for his column, “The Hot Corner.”
NENPA is a professional trade organization for newspapers in the six New England states: Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine and Rhode Island.
Its annual conference offers training for journalists and honors newspapers and individuals for their achievements in journalism, circulation and advertising.
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