First Place, Team Picture Story - / The Columbus Dispatch
First Place, Team Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchLondon Middle School seventh-graders Isabel Lynch (left) and Darby Fisher (both 12) make their way east on Elm Street in London after London City Schools were closed early on March 7, 2008.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Craig Holman / The Columbus DispatchA record snow fall began on Saturday, March 8 and continued to cause driving problems on Sunday. This multi car accident on I 70 eastbound out of Columbus stopped traffic for hours.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Neal C. Lauron / The Columbus DispatchShannon Keller of Cincinnati gets comfortable for the long wait for a friend to pick her up at Port Columbus, March 7, 2008. Keller was set to fly out to Kansas City for her niece's birthday, but her flight was cancelled.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Neal C. Lauron / The Columbus DispatchColumbus firefighters work to clear off access to fire hydrants on 4th Street the day after record snows fell on Columbus.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Karl Kuntz / The Columbus Dispatch An empty parking space shows the contrast between the snowfall and the recently emptied spot. Many downtown workers went home early to avoid the a record 12 inches of snow .
First Place, Team Picture Story - Lisa Marie Miller / The Columbus DispatchCandy Canzoneri makes her way through the record snowfall in Westerville by cross country skies on College Avenue during the mid morning hours.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Doral Chenoweth III / The Columbus DispatchAs the recovery efforts continue from the weekend blizzard, Jovan Karcic carries away snow from the front of his coffee shop on Indianola Avenue. He had to clear the sidewalks from several feet of snow that had been pushed from the snowplows clearing the streets.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Craig Holman / The Columbus DispatchThe snow storm of March 8 provided great opportunities for tubing at Mad River Mountain Ski Resort near Bellefontaine, on March 9, 2008.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Neal C. Lauron / The Columbus DispatchThe neighborhood hills throughout Central Ohio including this hill at the YMCA in Grove City were filled to capacity with parents and children alike taking in the fresh powder and making the best of yesterday's blizzard. The school districts decided early Sunday not to open school and the extra hour of daylight made for extended fun in the snow.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Chris Russell / The Columbus DispatchDeep snow and unplowed sidewalks made sledding the best possible mode of transportation for this family in Upper Arlington. Darren Richard and daughter Ava Richard, 3, help pull his wife Mary Van Haaften and their other daughter Madeleine Richard back home.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Eric Albrecht / The Columbus DispatchCecil Collins, 11, along with neighborhood friends dig out a mound of snow for a igloo and a sledding hill next to their Hilltop homes. The snow was piled up in a parking lot belonging to dentist office.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Eric Albrecht / The Columbus DispatchDays after the record snowfall, Tom Greene and his son Owen Greene ,19 months, were able to hide inside their igloo. Tom figured it would be years before he ever saw this much snow again so he wanted to do something memorable.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - / The Columbus Dispatch
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Doral Chenoweht III / The Columbus DispatchCROSSING GUARD KILLED--Authorities investigate the crosswalk where a man driving a dump truck hit and killed Dianna Sharp, an elementary school crossing guard, and injured Scioto Darby Elementary School second-grader Christian Engle as they crossed the street. Christian, 8, spent two weeks in Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Doral Chenoweth III / The Columbus DispatchAn Ohio Highway Patrol Trooper talks with dump truck driver George Watkins after he hit an elementary school crossing guard and a child in front of Scioto Darby Elementary School.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Doral Chenoweth III / The Columbus DispatchAs his fiance comforts him, authorities talk to George Watkins, who was driving a dump truck that hit an elementary school crossing guard and an eight-year-old child in front of Scioto Darby Elementary School.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Doral Chenoweth III / The Columbus DispatchAs school releases on the day of the accident, Hilliard Police officer Tom Morris steps in to protect students at the spot where a school crossing guard was killed.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Eric Albrecht / The Columbus DispatchAlaina Wickersham, 8, along with parents Cinda and Mark Wickersham, offer a prayer for crossing guard Dianna Sharp at a makeshift memorial at the school. Alaina is a student at the school.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Tom Dodge / The Columbus DispatchGeorge Watkins pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide and other misdemeanor charges in the death of Hilliard school crossing guard Dianna Sharp. Watkins listens as his attorney Dave H. Thomas explains the six-day jail term he was given. Watkins also lost his driver's license for five years.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchAfter about 300 people attended the funeral of Dianna Sharp, a dove is released outside the Tidd Funeral Home in Hilliard.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchAronn Sharp is consoled after the funeral of his wife Dianna Sharp. Dianna left behind her husband of 18 years and a 10-year-old daughter.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchChristian Engle’s aunt gathers outside the funeral of Dianna Sharp. Sharp is credited with saving the life of Engle, who was crossing the street with Sharp when she was hit by the truck.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Shari Lewis / The Columbus DispatchBob Harden rode his bike to watch the funeral procession of Dianna Sharp. Harden did not know Sharp well, but he lived down the street from her and would see her when he brought his nephew to school at Scioto-Darby Elementary School.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - / The Plain Dealer
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerA True-Blue FriendEarly Sunday morning on July 13, Twinsburg Patrolman Joshua Miktarian, 33, was gunned down after making a traffic stop. There was a confrontation in a driveway and his assailant fired four shots into the officer's head. The senseless killing sparked an outpouring of grief for Miktarian, whose wife is also a police officer. A family photo of Miktarian, his wife, Holly, and their 3-month-old daughter Thea.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain DealerMembers of Miktarian's band visit the site of their bandmate's death. Miktarian was the first officer killed in the line of duty in the the Twinsburg police department's 56 year history.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Scott Shaw / The Plain DealerHundreds of people gathered in front of Twinsburg City Hall to honor slain Patrolman Joshua Miktarian by candlelight. Mourners, one-by-one, took a microphone and shared their thoughts on the officer. Among them were Miktarian's cousins, co-workers and police officers from other departments.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerMembers of Boy Scout Troop 223 from the First Congregational Church of Twinsburg, salute the funeral procession of Twinsburg police officer Joshua Miktarian.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerLaura Powaski reacts as the funeral procession for Twinsburg Patrolman Joshua Miktarian passes by. The motorcade passed children on bicycles, young mothers with babies in strollers, and elderly men an women using canes.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Tracy Boulian / The Plain DealerTwinsburg police officers walk the casket down the center aisle of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Oakwood Village. More than 4,000 people filled the church to remember the slain patrolman.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Tracy Boulian / The Plain DealerMiktarian's canine partner, Bagio, was brought to the funeral.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Tracy Boulian / The Plain DealerJason Robinson reacts for a moment as he talks about his long-time friend. Said one close friend: "He was the first person to call when you were depressed. He would say, 'Aw, come on. Let's go have a beer. It'll be OK."
Third Place, Team Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerHolly Miktarian is escorted to a car after the funeral service.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - John Kuntz / The Plain DealerAn Ohio state trooper, left, offers condolences to a Twinsburg officer after the internment ceremony.
Third Place, Team Picture Story - John Kuntz / The Plain DealerThe ceremony drew to a close when Twinsburg retired Miktarian's badge number, 45. A single officer spoke: "Last call for officer Joshua Miktarian."
