Feature - 1st place - Scarlet, a 12-year-old Weimaraner therapy dog, gives owner Michele Cutler a kiss while the two rest on a pew inside First Congregational Church during the Bethlehem on Broad Street event on Christmas Day. (Tom Dodge / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - 2nd place - Lucy Steinman and her twin sister Olivia of Columbus react as light changes around them in the interactive art piece called Pixel by artist Jamie Ziegelbaum at Franklin Park Conservatory . (Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch)
MTFeature - 3rd place - Colo the Gorilla looks out of her habitat as, counterclockwise from top left, Fady Abdou, 10, Mark Abdou, 5, and Nathan Guirgis, 4, sing "Happy Birthday" during her 60th birthday celebration at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Colo was the first gorilla born in captivity. She is the world's oldest gorilla, exceeding the median life expectancy of female gorillas in captivity, 37.5 years, by more than 20 years. (Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - HM - Amanda Lane, a 2006 Ohio State finance graduate now living in Nevada, attends the Buckeye Bash pep rally at WestWorld in Glendale, AZ. in anticipation of Saturday's Fiesta Bowl between the Buckeyes and the Clemson Tigers. (Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - HM - Guests look at a display during the Ohio Chinese Lantern Festival at the Ohio Expo Center. The event features 39 illuminated displays crafted by Chinese artists as well as nightly performances of jar balancing, kicking bowls on a rolling board, Chinese face-changing, martial arts, and umbrella juggling. (Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - HM - Renee and Kameron Laguna of Prospect Hill play a game together, while waiting for their breakfast at Tucker's Restaurant on Vine Street. Tucker's reopened in October, after being closed since July 2015 due to fire damage. (Meg Vogel / Cincinnati Enquirer)
AGeneral News - 1st place - Marines from Arlington, Virginia stand guard around the casket of astronaut and senator John Glenn as his body lies in honor in the rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus on Dec. 16, 2016. Glenn died on Dec. 8 at the age of 95. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
General News - 2nd place - Santa holds 3-week old patient Silas Squires of Cumberland at Akron Children's Hospital. (Leah Klafczynski / Akron Beacon Journal)
MTGeneral News - 3rd place - Casen Simcox, 9, holds a sign welcoming home Army Spc. Brian Carroll as he waits for Carroll's police escort home at the Sycamore Creek neighborhood in Pickerington. Carroll is a member of an engineering unit that returned home from Kuwait in August 2016, but he was diagnosed with brain cancer before returning home and recently completed chemotherapy at a hospital in San Antonio, Texas. (Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch)
A - Asian noodle bowl with chicken breast, carrots, and bok choy. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
- Pumpkin cheesecake pie with gingersnap crust and meringue crown. (Kyle Robertson / )
- Pad Thai at Portia's Cafe in Columbus. (Kyle Robertson / )
Portrait - 1st place - Alaa Qamar holds his two sons Hussein, 4, left, and Abas, 1, right, in their apartment in Columbus. Not in the photo is his wife, Nisreen. Qamar and his family arrived here in Columbus in September from Baghdad. Qamar was former Badhdad policemen for seven years and the process to get over to the United States took over 4 years. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch)
Portrait - 2nd place - Marysville postman John Burson organizes the mail before heading out on his route around Marysville. Burson has been delivering mail for 45 years and the same downtown route since 1984. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch)
Portrait - 3rd place - Adam Tysinger was injured while building a pole barn in early December. He was crushed under more than 1200 pounds of material, suffering multiple injuries. (Chris Crook / Zanesville Times Reocorder)
Portrait - HM - A veteran looks onward during the 21-gun salute at Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman. Before the ceremony, graves were decorated with 7,500 donated wreaths for the holidays. (Leah Klafczynski / Akron Beacon Journal)
SSports Feature - 1st place - Xavier guard Trevon Bluiett (5) smiles and cheers to Edmond Sumner (4) as he rolls away after making a shot and being fouled for an and-one in the second half of the Big East Conference game against the Providence Friars. (Sam Greene / Cincinnati Enquirer)
Sports Feature - 2nd place - Columbus Blue Jackets right wing Josh Anderson (34) scores the go a head goal against New York Islanders in the 3rd period of their game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. The goal made it 3-2. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports Feature - 3rd place - Port Clinton's Donte McClure is consoled after losing 44-7 to Bishop Hartley. (Molly Corfman / The News-Messenger)
SSports Feature - HM - Triniti Jones cheers on her father Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam Jones (24) during introductions before the first quarter of the week 15 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. (Sam Greene / Cincinnati Enquirer)
Spot News - 1st place - Lisa Sine, a neighbor to the family of four who passed away in a house fire at 266 E Tallmadge Ave. in Akron walks up the path of to the home to place stuffed animals for the two young girls who died. "They were a very good family," she said as tears ran down her face. (Leah Klafczynski / Akron Beacon Journal)
Spot News - 2nd place - Firefighters are battling a gas line blast on the city's west side. An explosion rocked an area near Broad Street and Hague Avenue at about 3 p.m. Firefighters are aiming their hoses at huge flames in the parking lot at a Nationwide Children's Hospital clinic and Dominos Pizza on W. Broad Street. (Tom Dodge / The Columbus Dispatch)
Spot News - 3rd place - David D. Fronius Jr., 37, of New Springfield was the driver of a Jeep Grand Cherokee that ended up parked in the east branch of the Middle Fork of Little Beaver Creek in the village of Leetonia. Patrolman Alan Shaffer photographs the Jeep in the creek. (Patricia Schaeffer / The (Lisbon) Morning Journal)
SSports - 1st place - Texas Southern forward Derrick Griffin (23) is upended over Cincinnati's Tre Scott (13) as the two battle for a rebound in the second half at Fifth Third Arena in Cincinnati. (Kareem Elgazzar / Cincinnati Enquirer)
Sports - 2nd place - Darius Daniels III scores Port Clinton's only touchdown of the game against Bishop Hartley in a regional semifinal. (Molly Corfman / The News-Messenger)
Sports - 3rd place - Dayton's Darryl Davis and Payton Willis of Vanderbilt get tangled up chasing after a loose ball during the first half of action at UD Arena. The Dayton Flyers went on to win the game 68-63. (Erik Scelkun / Elsestar Images)
SSports - HM - Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Cody Core (16) stiff arms Philadelphia Eagles free safety Rodney McLeod (23) as he runs with his first career catch in the first quarter at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. (Sam Greene / Cincinnati Enquirer)
Story - 1st place - Jerry's mother, Leah Miller, Dr. John Crow and Jerry's father, Dwayne Miller examine Jerry's burns during an appointment at Akron Children's Hospital. Jerry has had 23 surgeries with 22 of them performed by Dr. Crow, who originally used cadaver skin and Integra, which allows the body to grow new skin, as a temporary solution before the idea to use his identical twin brother John's skin. (Leah Klafczynski / Akron Beacon Journal)
AStory - 2nd place - Annie Glenn, widow of former astronaut and senator John Glenn, pays her respects to her late husband as his body lies in honor in the rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse. Glenn died on Dec. 8 at the age of 95. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
MTStory - 3rd place - Portraits of native son John Glenn sit on a table as members of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at Muskingum University sing during a memorial service commemorating Glenn's life at Westminster Presbyterian Church in New Concord, Ohio. Glenn, a native of New Concord, was the first man to orbit the Earth and later served as a U.S. Senator from Ohio. (Joshua A. Bickel / The Columbus Dispatch)
