First Place, General News - Jeff Hinckley / The Columbus DispatchFormer Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev (center) and Les Wexner (right) owner of The Limited stores, seem distracted as they sit with Ohio State President Karen Holbrook (left) obscured, during a symposium. Interpreter Pavel Palazchenko, behind Gorbachev, assists him.
Second Place, General News - Eric Albrecht / The Columbus DispatchRon Jaynor in his house, his television is wired as a monitor to see outside on to his street. Ron is always on the lookout because the high amount of criminal activity in his neighborhood.
Third Place, General News - Fred Squillante / The Columbus DispatchApril Williams cries as she sits with her father, Dennis Congdon during the arraignment of Elwood Henry Jr. (right foreground) who is accused of killing his four-month-old baby that April Williams is the mother of.
Award of Excellence, General News - Brandi Stafford / The Cincinnati Enquirer Lynn Watts of Evendale yells some last words into the microphone while being arrested by Evendale Police officers as her husband Wyndel Watts attempts to stop them during a city council meeting. Mrs. Watts went over her allotted time limit of one minute and a half to speak and was warned by the mayor then arrested immediately. Mrs. Watts, along with other Evendale residents, were upset with the return of Stephen Roach, a former Cincinnati police officer who killed an unarmed black man last year, onto the police force in Evendale.
Award of Excellence, General News - Dale Omori / The Plain DealerDorothy Mikula, 76, (left) a parishioner at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, tears up during candlelight vigil Dec. 9, 2002, Cleveland. The vigil was held in memory of Rev. William Gulas who was found murdered in the church rectory.
Award of Excellence, General News - Michael E. Keating / Cincinnati EnquirerCincinnati Police officers, accused of abusive behavior against African American males, share a joke in the background as protestors gather at the police memorial to remember Timothy Thomas and Roger Owensby, Jr.. The two were among several black males that died from gunshots and/or alleged abuse while in police custody.
Award of Excellence, General News - Scott Heckel / The RepositoryTerry Cannon, Shana Kendle, Alex Kalaitesides, Dee Ostrov and Hannah Smart mourn the loss of Christopher Goshorn at the Ostrov home outside North Canton. The National Guardsman was one of four soldiers involved in a crash near Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Warren, Michigan. Friends gathered at the Ostrov home to remember him and pray after learning of his death earlier in the day.
Award of Excellence, General News - Bill Kennedy / The Plain DealerDennis Bowsher of Tallmadge, a former Goodyear Aerospace employee, watches the four Goodyear blimps circle Wingfoot Lake Park in Suffield Township, September 5, 2002.
