First Place, Feature - Chris Russell / The Columbus Dispatch Blaze Keim, rests atop a giant stuffed bear after playing with his sister at the Ronald McDonald House. Blaze is being treated for leukemia at Nationwide Children's Hospital and his sister will be donating bone marrow for his treatment.
Second Place, Feature - Ryan M.L. Young / ThisWeek Community NewsChildren play in a late afternoon rainfall at Heritage Park's Wacky Wild Wednesdays event.
Third Place, Feature - Sam Greene / The Columbus DispatchA juvenile red-tailed hawk chases a young gray squirrel onto the ground as it falls from a black walnut at Fred Beekman Park in Columbus. The hawk stalked the squirrel through the branches of the tree for more than an hour before the squirrel's fatal mistake landed it in the raptor's grasp.
Award of Excellence, Feature - Katie Rausch / The (Toledo) BladeDevin Whaley (left) D.J. Ferrell (center) and Zyaire Whaley play together on their block in South Toledo. The kids had forwent their squirt guns even though the City of Toledo had declared the tap water safe to drink earlier that day after toxic algae in Lake Erie made the municipal water unfit for consumption for several days. D.J.'s mother, Krystalynn Ferrell, said she didn't trust the water just yet. "I'm pregnant, so I'm not taking any chances," she said.
Award of Excellence, Feature - Shelby Lum / 614 Media GroupBucky Cutright sips a beer as he waits at The Ringside Cafe, one of the oldest bars in Columbus. He guides a haunted bar tour through the city and The Ringside Cafe was his launching point.
