Feature - 1st place - Grant Herman heads back out to play hockey as his friend Ben Marra warms up his gloves before returning to the ice at Blendon Woods Metro Park. Grant who belongs to a club team said he played yesterday outside and likes playing hockey this way without all the gear. (Eric Albrecht / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - 2nd place - Sitting inside a warm D. P. Dough, on a freezing night, new employee Paul Porter of Columbus studies training manuals behind frost-covered windows. The time and temperature sign at Ohio State said it was -4 degrees outside when this photo was taken. (Fred Squillante / The Columbus Dispatch)
Feature - 3rd place - Justin Mitchell, 8, lines up a shot while playing glow-in-the-dark mini golf at Sylvania Playland. The third grader was enjoying another day off from Stranahan Elementary School. (Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade)
Feature - HM - Vanessa Lacich, 6, of Columbus, sleds down a hill after a push from her father Dom Joshua Lacich, at Schiller Park in the German Village neighborhood of Columbus. (Sam Greene / The Columbus Dispatch)
General News - 1st place - Landon Fuel, 2, and Hannah Fuel, 4, of Greensburg, Indiana, wait on large tires during a lull in the action while attending the Hilliard Tractor Club's 35th Annual Columbus Winter Championship Pull at the Ohio Expo Center. The event, which is billed as the largest garden tractor pull in the nation, features over 500 competitors. (Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch)
General News - 2nd place - Independent home health care worker Juanita Bobo has her hands full helping Amber Radune with her college studies. Juanita has to position the pen in Amber's hand, turn the pages and hold open the text book for Amber who has a congenital illness that severely affects her joints and motion. New Medicare rules may cause Amber to lose benefits that allow her to live at home. (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch )
General News - 3rd place - A group of about 50 Ohio State students march nearly three miles from campus to Columbus City Hall as part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration. Many in the group sang songs and yelled chants harkening back to the civil rights movement of the 1960s. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
General News - HM - Members of the media and auto industry attend the unveiling of the Volkswagen Beetle Dune at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. (Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade)
General News - HM - Nelson Gotay gets a kiss from pit bull mix Leo while standing with his other two dogs Face (left) and Hera as his girlfriend Shelia Billings discusses housing options with Thom Adams of Maryhaven after being evicted from the Red Carpet Inn. The two planned to stay with a friend because Nelson was concerned about having to give up his dogs if he went into a shelter. The Red Carpet Inn was closed after Judge Daniel R. Hawkins signed an order to close the motel, which was deemed a "nuisance." City police officers swept rooms and doors were secured against re-entry. A COTA bus was on hand and shelter coordinators from the Maryhaven Collaborative Outreach Team were available to assist the displaced with short term housing needs. (Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch)
Portrait - 1st place - Twins Nick (left) and Cody Notestine are wrestlers at Pickerington North. They recently faced each other in a match that went into overtime. Cody won 35-33. (Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus Dispatch)
Portrait - 2nd place - Sean Eaton is a semi-finalist for the Mars One Project to send humans to the planet Mars. (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch )
Portrait - 3rd place - Community Leader Beau Bayliss makes a point of letting neighbors and potential troublemakers know that his home is protected by security cameras. Bayliss lives in Vassor Village on the south side and is leading an initiative to install 65 security cameras in his neighborhood. (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch )
Portrait - HM - Richard Fisher poses for a photo with Lucy, his border collie, at his house in Prospect. Fisher has been in treatment for 7 years for colon cancer and is about to start a clinical trail at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Lucy has helped Richard get through colon cancer the last 3 years. (Kyle Robertson / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports Feature - 1st place - Dayton's Devin Oliver slams the ball in frustration after St. Joseph's Langston Galloway hits a shot at the last second to beat Dayton 60-57 at UD Arena. (Erik Schelkun / Elsestar Images)
Sports Feature - 2nd place - Fans erupt as Columbus Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner (38) and center Artem Anisimov (42) congratulate right wing Nathan Horton (8) on scoring a goal during second period of their NHL game at Nationwide Arena in Columbus. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports Feature - 3rd place - Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Evan Spencer (6) is ready to go as the team heads into the locker room after warmups before the start of the 2014 Discover Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports Feature - HM - Ohio guard Nick Kellogg reacts after missing the what would be tying shot after the Akron Zips defeated the Ohio Bobcats 83-80 in double overtime at the Convo. (Daniel Kubus / Ohio University)
Spot News - 1st place - Firefighters battled flames, below freezing temperatures, smoke and steam as they fought to control a fire at 9808 Shelley Road in Thornville. A neighbor believed that the fire started in a chicken coop next to the home that was being heated with a space heater. (Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch )
Spot News - 2nd place - A Columbus firefighter assists Martin Cordero, who is wheelchair-bound, across Gay Street to his car. Cordero works at the Ohio Attorney General's Office and was stranded by the icy water after a water main break occurred. Police closed the intersection and surrounding streets due to flooding and ice buildup. Workers in nearby buildings had to be evacuated by members of the fire department in order to get back to their vehicles. (Barbara J. Perenic / The Columbus Dispatch)
Spot News - 3rd place - Waverly residents (from left) Loren Oyer, Steve Topping, Tracy Murray and Blake Murray stop to get a glimpse of the ice-blanketed remains of the Emmitt House as it still smolders a day after being destroyed by a fire. The restaurant, which was built in 1861 as a hotel by entrepreneur James Emmitt, had just reopened in August after being purchased and renovated by new owner Pam Ison. One of numerous residents to survey the damage, Tracy came to see the remains of the establishment in which she met her husband. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
Sports - 1st place - Dayton's Skoochie Smith blurs past the VCU defense during the 2nd half of action at UD Arena. VCU rolled past the Flyers for a 80-66 win. (Erik Schelkun/Elsestar Images / Erik Schelkun/Elsestar Images fo)
Sports - 2nd place - Ohio State guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. (32) grabs a rebound in front of Iowa guard Anthony Clemmons (5) during the 1st half of their game at Value City Arena in Columbus. (Kyle Robertson / )
Sports - 3rd place - Ohio University redshirt sophomore Spartak Chino (left) grapples with Eastern Michigan University redshirt senior Brandon Zeerip. (Isaac Hale / Ohio University (The Post))
Sports - HM - Iowa State University freshman goalie, Peter Alexander, stares at the puck in anticipation as it rockets towards him. The Bobcats defeated the Cyclones 4-2 at Bird Arena. (Isaac Hale / Ohio University (The Post))
Story - 1st place - Paige Dickman, 3, daughter of Toledo firefighter James Dickman, holds American and Ohio flags while sitting on the lap of her mother Jamie, as she is consoled by his father Greg Dickman during the Last Alarm funeral service at SeaGate Convention Centre for Toledo firefighters Stephen Machcinski and James Dickman. (Andy Morrison / The (Toledo) Blade)
Story - 2nd place - Pastor Greg Ford (right) gets a kiss from his wife Shaylyn Ford while match referee and former olympian Jerry Page tapes his hands in the locker room before "The Fight", a charity boxing match presented by One Church at New Albany High School. Ford, the lead pastor and founding member of One Church, organized the match to "Inspire people who are in a fight with the message of Christ." Ford's opponent Brown, a former Ohio State University football lineman, has a 7-1 boxing record as an amateur boxer. (Brooke LaValley / The Columbus Dispatch)
Story - 3rd place - The ice-blanketed remains of the Emmitt House in Waverly, Ohio still smolders a day after being destroyed by a fire. The restaurant, which was built in 1861 as a hotel by entrepreneur James Emmitt, had just reopened in August after being purchased and renovated by new owner Pam Ison. (Adam Cairns / The Columbus Dispatch)
