MISSOURIAN RECEIVES 10 AWARDS IN CONTEST

JEFFERSON CITY -- The Southeast Missourian took 10 awards in the 1995 Missouri Press Foundation's Better Newspaper Contest, including first place for general excellence among Missouri dailies.

Representatives of the newspaper accepted the awards on behalf of the staff Saturday at a ceremony in Jefferson City.

Members of the Texas Press Association judged 2,190 entries in the contest, which examined everything from humorous columns to advertising design.

The Missourian took three first-place awards, one second place, two third places and four honorable mentions.

Besides the one for general excellence, another first-place award went to Peggy Scott and Managing Editor Joni Adams in the Best Coverage of Government category for their examination of expense abuses within the Cape Girardeau School District.

Marc Powers also received a first-place award for his sports column. Powers now writes a non-sports column that runs every Wednesday.

The Missourian's second-place award was for best family living coverage. The Missourian was complimented for some of the life-saving information it presents.

The third-place awards were for the newspaper's annual Progress Edition and for Heidi Nieland's examination of AIDS through the eyes of Ted Fedler, who contracted the disease in the 1980s and succumbed to it last month.

Honorable mentions were awarded for best use of local photographs and best sports coverage. The judges' critique mentioned that the Missourian's local sports coverage was above average and complimented the action photos.

Marty Mishow received an honorable mention for his sports column, and graphic artist Chris Rimel also received an honorable mention.

Rimel now works at the Dyersburg News in Dyersburg, Tenn.

The Kansas City Star narrowly beat the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to win the Missouri Press Foundation's Gold Cup, its top award for daily newspapers. The Owensville Gasconade County Republican won the Gold Cup for weekly newspapers.