First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerFeature
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerThe Cincinnati Public School system suffers from a 50% drop out rate in their eight High Schools. Nearly 800 students attend Robert A. Taft High School in the West End of Cincinnati, OH. If the recent past is any indication, most will not graduate. More than half the student body is in the ninth grade; this includes "new" ninth graders and many second and third year students who lack credits to be promoted.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerSandy Houck tries to get Denise Duskin to do her work during English class at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End. Sandy Houck's 9th/10th grade English class is for students who failed 9th grade English and need to pass this class to get credit for both years.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerYolanda Battles, 15, listens to Mrs. Womack during her parenting class at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End. Yolanda is 6 months pregnant and will have her baby during the school year in February.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerSandy Houck's attendance book for her 2nd bell English class. The checks represent abscenses. Only four students showed up this day. This class failed 9th grade English and needs to pass this class to get credit for both years.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerTeachers Ms. Houck and Mr. Solomon try to get Maurice Brewster into his classroom after a disruption in the hallway at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End. Maurice is in Sandy Houck's 9th/10th grade English class. Students in this class failed 9th grade English and need to pass this class to get credit for both years.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerThe student body and the teachers react to a motivational speaker during a school assembly at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerYolanda Battles, who is 8 months pregnant, goes to class after lunch at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End. Yolanda is in Sandy Houck's 9th/10th grade English class. Students in this class failed 9th grade English and need to pass this class to get credit for both years.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerSubsitute teacher Robert Rollinson and security guard Stan Cash pull Dezmond Knaff away from Josh Jacobs during a fight in the stairway of Robert A. Taft High School in between classes Thursday morning. Both boys were suspended for ten days because of the altercation. Josh Jacobs, who was in Ms. Houck's 9th/10th grade English class never returned to school and dropped out.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerLarry Myers doses off in English class instead of doing his assignment at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End. Larry is in Sandy Houck's 9th/10th grade English class. Students in this class failed 9th grade English and need to pass this class to get credit for both years.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerDanielle Isham, Vivianna Price, Brian Gentry, and Denise Duskin take the common exam to graduate the 9th grade during Ms. Houck's English class. The exam was given to students who either failed or did not take the exam last year. Danielle and Vivianna passed Sandy Houck's English class. Brian and Denise did not.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerJohnny Watson smiles during choir class at Robert A. Taft High School in the West End. Johnny passed Sandy Houck's class.
First Place, Feature Picture Story - Steven M. Herppich / Cincinnati EnquirerYolanda Battles takes home study with tutor Deborah Seay while she is having her baby. Oliviana was born February 23rd and Yolanda plans to be back in school on March 19th. Yolanda failed Sandy Houck's 9th/10th grade English class.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain Dealer
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerWith Cleveland's LTV steel going under many wondered what other countries were doing to survive the hard economic times for steel manufacturing. Russian steel was indicted by the US for dumping steel in this country. This group of photos, taken in Cherepovets, Russia examines and compares the realities of US steel versus Russian steel. On the banks of a river that was once black because of pollutants from the steel mill a mother and daughter bask in the warm afternoon sun with Severstal steel dotting the landscape.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerInside Severstal worker safety issues are no where as strict as in the United States.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerRussian steel workers toast at a retirement party for two Severstal workers.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerJobs are scare in Cherepovets. Young men are considered lucky to get hired by Severstal
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerThe martin furnace is the last of its kind in the world. Much of the steel used in the Soviet military was made her.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerThe largest blast furnace in the world is operated at Severstal. Emissions from the plant are allowed to escape through vents in the building.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerA worker is reflected in a puddle along with a few of the towering smoke stacks of the Martin furnace at Severstal.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerA Russian blast furnace worker wears only a wool coat for protection from the heat.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerSeverstal steel workers blow off steam during competitive recreational football games.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerA man sweeps soot from coke furnaces at Severstal.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain DealerBesides working in the kitchens at Severstal the only other job women can get are operating cranes in the blast furnace.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon Journal
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalTobie Reed has to prepare her family for a life without her as she loses her life to cancer. In photo: Julia Cozy, 5, likes those pancakes as mom Tobie say's "open wide". The pancake breakfast was to raise money for Tobie Cozy Reed and it was sponsored by Stow Rotary club.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalTobie Cozy Reed and her husband Matt wait for Dr. Rheamus (the oncologist). Tobie just had radiation therapy and is experiencing a lot of pain today.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalRadiation therapist John De'Angelo helps Tobie Cozy Reed get comfortable and stay still during treatment for breast cancer.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalBruce Redmon at left watches as Tobie Cozy Reed decides on a casket. Tobie's husband Matt is in background. Tobie chose this cherry wood casket.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalHarold Justice the Stow Cemetery sexton points out to Tobie Reed her plot as her husband Matt Reed stands at right.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalTobie Cozy Reed's copy of her "Do Not Resuscitate" order. Her husband Matt has a copy also.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalTobie helps her daughter Julia get ready for bed. After brushing her teeth, Julia goes to the potty as mom prepares her for bed.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalLakeview Elementary School fifth grade teacher Julie Gulley was a good friend to Dare officer Tobie Cozy Reed. Gulley made an announcement to her class about Reed losing her bout with cancer. After sharing the news, Gulley needed a moment outside her classroom. The sign on the door reflects how the school feels about Tobie Cozy Reed.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalTobie's five-year-old daughter Julia Cozy rests on her father's chest Mark Cozy, Tobie's first husband, during her mother's funeral.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalMatt Reed takes a moment with his late wife at the conclusion of her wake at Holy Family Church in Stow.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalJulia Cozy, 5, kisses her mom goodbye as she is being held up by her dad Mark Cozy (Tobie's first husband) at Holy Family Church in Stow.
Third Place, Feature Picture Story - Jocelyn Williams / Akron Beacon JournalA fellow police officer whispers words to Tobie and taps her casket at the end of the graveside service.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon Journal
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalThey are Ohio's invisible people. They gut chickens, pour molten metal, load fertilizer. Poverty brought them here. False papers keep them here. They are undocumented Hispanic workers. Illegal aliens. And there are tens of thousands of them living and working here year round. Meat processing plants rely on Hispanic workers to fill their work force, many of who are not in this country legally. These workers report for work on the second shift at Freshmark in Canton. They claim that all their employees have proper documentation.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalGuillermo and Santos prepare dinner at their apartment where living conditions are less than ideal by American standards.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalA rosary hangs on a television set in the three room apartment Santos shares with four others. The Catholic Church plays a large role in their lives and most of the men send money to their church in their homeland as well as their families.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalLiving conditions for most of the illegal immigrants are less than ideal as many landlords take advantage of them knowing they have no place to turn for legal help.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalAbel and Daniel get on their bikes to go to work at a foundry in a small northeast Ohio town. Few immigrants risk driving a car trying to stay under the radar of law enforcement.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalMichael and Victor identify color flash cards during English class at a local church. Language is the biggest hurdle facing immigrants as they try to blend into society.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalJavier and his brother Eric, play tic tac toe while their mother Marie takes English lessons at a local church. The children attend public schools and are fluent in English.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalJuan Diego makes a save during an league soccer game. Soccer is one of the few activities outside of church they take part in. They usually have little free time working 60 hours or more per week. The sport is so popular they have formed a league complete with uniforms.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalFelipe misses his family in Guatemala and hopes to return home. He is now working long hours in a foundry sending the majority of his income to his family. He shares an apartment with four others to keep living expenses to a minimum.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalA U.S. Marshal points the way for a group of 38 illegal immigrants being deported back to their homeland as they board a plane. Workplace enforcement is a low priority for INS agents. If the illegals can avoid breaking the law they will probably go undetected.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalReynaldo, two year-old son of Jose and Marie. Born in the United States, he is a legal citizen unlike his parents, and isn't old enough to know his family's fear of deportation.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Bob DeMay / Akron Beacon JournalLike most in his shoes Juan has no dreams or thoughts to the future. His only hope is be able to find work and elude deportation.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / The Plain Dealer
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERIt's as old as the oldest profession and as infamous. Graffiti has been both a blight on the urban landscape and also an important barometer of the underground, a means of artistic expression. Art or vandalism? The question remains but despite the laws graffiti continues. Bob Lost poses with one of his works along the RTA line on the west side of Cleveland. Mike Levy / The Plain Dealer.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALEROctober 7, 2000, Sano takes a tour of the east side RTA line where he and his crew have put up lots of work. Mike Levy / The Plain Dealer.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERPolk tags a freight parked under a bridge in the flats.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERPolk paints a freight car in Cleveland.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERNovember 6, 2000, At Bob Lost's birthday party, not only was their graffiti artists, DJ's and hip hop dancers, there also was a collection jar for a buddy of Lost's that got arrested in Cleveland doing graffiti.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERGraffiti goes legit as it is displayed at an opening at Utrecht's at Coventry, in the window is an aerosol painting by Sano.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERSano completes a piece inside a friends warehouse in downtown Cleveland.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERSano and his crew.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERA lost piece of graffiti along the RTA tracks on the westside of Cleveland.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERPerhaps people can think of graffiti as wallpaper for drifters like John Henry who found a room with a view under a bridge off of W. 25th street.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALER Addressed freight car, area code 216.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Mike Levy / THE PLAIN DEALERGraf writers on the way to a mission.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain Dealer
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerComing To America-Forty young Sudanese men have escaped their country's 19 year civil war, surviving starvation, lions, soldiers and Kenyan refugee camps. They have made an amazing journey from their pre-industrial past, landing in hip-hop, urban Cleveland to begin new lives.-- Daniel Nhial Peter, left, and James Matheer Akok are two of the 40 Sudanese men who arrived in Cleveland, OH, from a refugee camp in Kakuma,
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerIn canvas sneakers and secondhand clothes, Peter Awol (left) and Peter Alier wait on the common threshold for refugees to America, the Social Security office. On his first morning in Cleveland, Alier watches for danger, and for cars, already wondering when he will get a chance to drive.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerDinkas are among the tallest and most slender ethnic group. Wrestling is a common diversion in Sudan, and in the refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya. From left, Peter Alier, Daniel Mabuoi, Daniel Peter, Akol Madut and NgorAguen set down their cares on the shores of Lake Erie.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerWith each newly arriving Sudanese, the men become more of a family in their new homeland. Those already in Cleveland strain for a first glimpse of familiar faces coming off the plane from Kakuma, Kenya. This day will reunite Makol with his cousin, Peter Alier.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerLooking to replace the canvas shoes they were issued in Nairobi before their flight to the US, Peter Kelei, Anthony Akuak Nhial, Peter Awol and Peter Alier Reech are overwhelmed with the many choices at Wal Mart in Cleveland Heights.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerNgorAguen helps his Sudanese brothers move from their transition house into a new apartment in Cleveland's inner city.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerAkol Madut helps his downstairs neighbor, "Mama" Sarina Samochin, a recent widow, water the flowers on her front porch and steps. The men, especially Madut, try to help the Italian refugee as often as possible. She says she feels safer because they are there.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerHome alone at Father Albert House, Makol Mach Makol watches a soap opera with closed captioning to help him with his reading.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - LYNN ISCHAY / THE PLAIN DEALERDeng Mel helps John Garang learn to ride a bike in the parking lot of St. Agnes Church on Garang's second day in his new homeland.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerReligion is a comfort for Ngor Akok Aguen, right, who worships at St. Agnes Church every Sunday. Aguen is the first of 40 Sudanese refugees brought to Cleveland from Kakuma, Kenya, by Cleveland Catholic Charities.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerAppearance is important to the Sudanese men. Dominic Mel cuts Akol Akol's hair outside their temporary home in Father Albert House in Cleveland's Hough neighborhood.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerDaniel Peter confides his elation to Daniel Mabuoi as the men strike up summer conversations and share cigarettes with American beachgoers. Eighteen-year-old Kristina Walker agrees to meet the men again.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / Cincinnati Enquirer
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAlaina always took care of her little sister Gina. When cancer made it impossible for Gina to have a baby, Alaina took her place. Alaina pushes an IV cart as she and Gina walk the hall at Christ Hospital.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAlaina and Gina hug and cry after reading a poem Gina wrote for her sister.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAt the Feb. 4 shower, Alaina's daughters help Gina measure Alaina's belly.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAlaina holds hands with her husband Kevin during labor.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAlaina, exhausted from five hours of contractions, tries to rest.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerGina reads while Alaina tries to sleep in the birthing room.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerGina's husband Don comforts her as they watch the birth in a mirror above Alaina's bed.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAs the birth begins, Gina sobs and Alaina reaches out to her husband Kevin.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerAllison kisses her new baby sister while Gina changes her diaper.
Award of Excellence, Feature Picture Story - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati EnquirerA few hours later, Alaina sits alone with the baby she delivered.
