First Place, Assigned Feature - Michael E. Keating / Cincinnati EnquirerAudrianna Hahn joins her mother Melissa and brother Noah in a backyard wading pool. Audrianna is profoundly mentally retarded, mute and medically fragile but enjoyed the water. However, she swallowed some water and later got a bacterial infection, spending some time in the hospital.
Second Place, Assigned Feature - Fred Squillante / The Columbus DispatchStudent trainer Eddie Hicks teaches Fonzie to flip a light switch during training at Walnut Springs Middle School. Eddie is one of eleven students at the school with social or emotional difficulties who train service dogs for people who use wheelchairs. Training the dogs is therapy for those students.
Third Place, Assigned Feature - Lori King / The BladeMuddy the Mud Hen is oblivious to the attention of Molson as he signs autographs during the annual doggy parade prior to the Toledo Mud Hens game at Fifth Third Field in Toledo.
Award of Excellence, Assigned Feature - Craig Ruttle / Cincinnati EnquirerClients rest at the Exclusively Male salon in Montgomery. Research shows that all-male salons are popping up around the country but the Exclusively Male salon has been open in Cincinnati for years.
Award of Excellence, Assigned Feature - Dale Omori / The Plain DealerA vacant lot strewn with firewood and an aging truck, and near a busy rail line, serves as a playground for Tabitha Martin. She is one of thousands of children who live and play in the shadows of abandoned factories and waste sites in Cleveland's Kinsman neighborhood.
Award of Excellence, Assigned Feature - Dale Omori / The Plain DealerJataya plays with her brother, Jamarion, and pops a pacifier back in his mouth before they leave the house in the morning. The kids and their mother share a bedroom that is decorated with snapshots and professional photographs of the children and deflated balloons from Jamarion's baby shower. Their mother is 17 years-old and a high school senior. The live in a low-income housing project in Cleveland.
