First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerJust hours after being released from prison in January, Blaine Murphy, 46, tries out his new air mattress he just got from Target in his frigid upstairs bedroom at the house where he will live for the next 18 months in the Slavic Village neighborhood. Judge Richard McMonagle released Murphy today to serve the remainder of his 18-month prison term from a fixed-up home he owns on Beyerle Road in Slavic Village. Until he completes 3,000 hours of community service - the equivalent of a full time job for the next 18 months - and pays his remaining $250,000 in restitution, he will be shackled to Slavic Village. A proud, working-class neighborhood still anchored with original Polish immigrants, Slavic Village is straining to recover from the foreclosure crisis, an unnatural disaster that left it littered with thousands of vacant and abandoned homes. Murphy made the neighborhood worse, according to prosecutors. Murphy's crimes involved buying hundreds of rundown homes sight-unseen from banks then flipping them to another buyer at a profit, ignoring code violations and failing to pay taxes. The homes would often sit vacant, contributing to neighborhood decay and acting as magnets for crime. Murphy begged to go back to prison instead of living among the people who would blame him for their ruined neighborhood. He feared for his safety. Worse yet, McMonagle wanted Murphy to answer to Tony Brancatelli, the Cleveland councilman elected to serve the area. Brancatelli publicly painted him as a careless carpetbagger who greedily scooped up properties in the neighborhood, only to let them rot. Little did Murphy know, Slavic Village needed him just as much as he needed them. As Slavic Village neighbors surprisingly opened their arms to him, Murphy learned more about their forgiving character then he thought he deserved. Long-time neighborhood activists like Lynda Lewis knew Murphy was the catalyst Sla
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerOn their first working day together, Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli, left, tries to get to know convicted felon Blaine Murphy, right, during lunch at his favorite Polish spot in Slavic Village called The Red Chimney. Judge Richard McMonagle released Murphy to complete his 3,000 of community service with Councilman Brancatelli serving as his de facto probation officer. Brancatelli vocally testified against Murphy as a careless carpetbagger who greedily scooped up properties in the neighborhood, only to let them rot. Brancatelli grew up in the Slavic Village neighborhood and gave Murphy his first tour today and will work with Murphy closely throughout his community service.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerSensing some hostility, Blaine Murphy, left, keeps his distance as he talks with a neighbor who came out to see what Blaine was up to. As the neighbor warmed up to the charming Murphy, he tells Murphy that this porch just caved in last week. The neighbor said the guy abandoned his home just the week before. Blaine gave a Slavic Village Development card to him and to call if he sees more dumping or looting. Blaine Murphy visits this OVV property, or open, vacant and vandalized properties, on his endless code enforcement tours of Slavic Village, part of his community service.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy walks through illegally dumped tires behind a garage on E. 78th Street. Murphy counts over 100 tires in just one location. This is one of Murphy's stops on his endless code enforcement tours of Slavic Village.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain Dealer" I don't even know how to fix this ", says Blaine Murphy. "This was not a victim of the housing crisis. This was something that was falling apart for years and years." Murphy refuses to believe he is the only one to blame for properties like this. Murphy records what he sees illegally dumped behind a vacant home on E. 76th Street. Blaine Murphy visits this OVV property, or open, vacant and vandalized properties, on his endless code enforcement tours of Slavic Village.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerLittle did Murphy know, Slavic Village needed him just as much as he needed them. Long-time neighborhood activists like Lynda Lewis knew Murphy was the catalyst Slavic Village craved. Blaine Murphy and some neighbors have tried to turn this vacant corner lot into a tiny park, erecting a flagpole and building a walking path to a seated area. Vandals keep coming back, time after time, destroying the flagpole as well as defacing the stones with graffiti. Knowing they were on borrowed time, Lewis and Murphy started the momentum by boarding up houses, cleaning up over 2,000 tires, hauling away dumpsters of junk from vacant homes, creating parks, planting trees. Life-long friendships blossomed.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy boards up yet another abandoned house on Huss Avenue in Slavic Village. Vandals tore the old boards off. Murphy is working with the Slavic Village Development Corporation and combing the neighborhood for code violations, such open vacant homes.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy, left, takes pictures of neighbor Mary Hess blowing out her birthday candles at Lynda's house. As Slavic Village neighbors surprisingly opened their arms to him, Murphy learned more about their forgiving character then he deserved. Little did Murphy know, Slavic Village needed him just as much as he needed them. Murphy, who lives a couple blocks away, is struck by the ironic friendships with people he now considers family.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy gets creative as he tries to fit in to the small-town, working-class neighborhood. Murphy's attempts to get people to like him endears Murphy to many of the old-time activists in Slavic Village. Wearing a Dalmatian suit for his ride on the fire truck, "Sparky" waits for the start of the Cleveland May 3 Polish Constitution Day Parade. The parade celebrates the Polish constitution in 1791, a great source of pride and independence for Poland. Blaine Murphy was instrumental in organizing a Forest City group to march in the parade.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy gets creative as he tries to fit in to the small-town, working-class neighborhood and rents a dunk tank. Blaine Murphy plunges into the dunk tank after a young girl throws the softball onto the bullseye. Blaine Murphy, "The Flipper" and Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli both volunteered to be dunked during the annual "Feet on Fleet" festival in Slavic Village. Murphy's attempts to get people to like him endears Murphy to many of the old-time activists in Slavic Village.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy, right, gives Lynda Lewis a Halloween gift of a haunted house at her home in Slavic Village. As Slavic Village neighbors surprisingly opened their arms to him, Murphy learned more about their forgiving character then he deserved. Long-time neighborhood activists like Lewis knew Murphy was the catalyst Slavic Village needed. Her home was his punishment, his prison. Knowing they were on borrowed time, Lewis and Murphy started the momentum cleaning up the neighborhood. Lewis now considers Murphy her son and will be crushed when he leaves.
First Place, News Picture Story - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerBlaine Murphy laughs as neighbor and good friend Lynda Lewis laughs and cries at the same time on his shoulder after Judge Richard McMonagle lets him go home to Florida after serving less than his 3,000 hours of community service. The two have grown very close and Lewis is heartbroken on many levels that Murphy is leaving town. On left is councilman Tony Brancatelli, his de facto probation officer. Murphy is struck by the ironic friendships created by the unique sentencing by Judge McMonagle. Lewis says she will visit her "son" in Naples, Florida, every winter.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus Dispatch
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchIt was Bill Standley's plan to be buried astride his 1967 Harley. It was a funeral he started planning 18 years ago, long before he could have known about the cancer that killed him on Sunday at age 82. Standley and his sons designed a brace that hooked into his bike and led up his back to surround his rib cage. Five years ago, Standley went before the Champaign County Board of Health, which told him he'd have to come up with a special vault and drain all the fluids out of the bike before he could be buried with it. A company in Springfield designed a modified septic tank for a vault. He bought three plots in a cemetery outside Mechanicsburg, next to where his wife, Lorna, is buried, so there would be enough land to bury him.Standley and his sons also designed his casket. They painted the wood bright green, like the fields Bill imagined riding through for eternity. They painted the floor black with a single white stripe, like the highway that would take him wherever he was headed after this life. Here, a photo of Bill Standley with his 1967 Harley Davidson inside the funeral home during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg, Ohio on Friday, January 31, 2014.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchJim Mayo officiates the funeral service for his longtime friend Bill Standley, who wished to be buried with his 1967 Harley Davidson, during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg, Ohio.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchHere, the body of Bill Standley secured to his 1967 Harley Davidson rests inside a plexiglass box during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchDon "Ziggy" Siegenthaler (left) and Gayle Williams of Mechanicsburg talk about their longtime friend Bill Standley during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchThe body of Bill Standley secured to his 1967 Harley Davidson rests inside a plexiglass box during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchTheresa Adams, daughter of Bill Standley, says goodbye to her dad whose body is secured to his 1967 Harley Davidson inside a plexiglass box during his funeral service in Mechanicsburg.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchBill Purk (left) and Jim Mayo, longtime friends of Bill Standley, sing an old George Jones song Standley was famous for singing in a local bar: "He Stopped Loving Her Today" during his graveside service before he was lowered into the ground atop his 1967 Harley Davidson at the cemetery in Mutual, Ohio.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchThe body of Bill Standley, secured to his 1967 Harley Davidson, rests inside a plexiglass box before being lowered into the ground at the cemetery in Mutual, Ohio.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchThe body of Bill Standley, secured to his 1967 Harley Davidson, is lowered into the ground at the cemetery in Mutual, Ohio.
Second Place, News Picture Story - Jonathan Quilter / The Columbus DispatchRoy Standley is pleased with how well the lowering of his dad's body went at the cemetery in Mutual, Ohio.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon Journal
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalAn Akron police officer looks at the program for the memorial service for Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio. Winebrenner, who was off-duty, was shot and killed at a local bar while trying to break up a fight.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalFamily photos of Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner sit below a group of area police officers attending a memorial service for Winebrenner at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalTiffany Miller, the fiancee of Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner, is overcome with tears while walking past his casket during a memorial service for him at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalCharlee Ayn Winebrenner (center), the daughter of Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner, is held by a family friend during the memorial service for her father at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalAttendees at the memorial service for Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner at the James A. Rhodes Arena become emotional while listening to speakers talk about Winebrenner in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalRobert Winebrenner (left) and his granddaughter, Charlee Ayn, salute as the casket of his son and her father, Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner, is brought out after a memorial service for Winebrenner at the James A. Rhodes Arena in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalThe motorcade carrying the casket of Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner makes it way up Waterloo Rd. for the internment service at Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalArea police officers stand at attention as a prayer is said during the internment service for Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner at Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalRobert Winebrenner (right), father of slain Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner, receives a hug from an Akron police officer after the internment service at Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron.
Third Place, News Picture Story - Ed Suba Jr. / Akron Beacon JournalAn Akron police officer offers one last, personal tribute after the internment service for Akron Police Officer Justin Winebrenner at Holy Cross Cemetery in Akron.
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) Blade
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) BladeToledo firefighters respond to a fire in a six-unit apartment building at 528 Magnolia on Sunday Jan. 26, 2014. Two firefighters were killed; the residents escaped, but most of their belongings were destroyed. Toledo police has charged the building's owner with arson. Toledo firefighters at the apartment complex near downtown Toledo battle a blaze in a small complex.
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) BladeToledo firefighters rush a fellow firefighter to a waiting ambulance after bringing him down from the second floor at the rear of a six unit apartment building at 528 Magnolia in Toledo.
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) BladeTracy Bishop, a resident on the first floor of the six unit two-story apartment building. "I'm the one that told everyone to get out," says Bishop, who lost everything in the fire.
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) BladeA Toledo firefighter outside of 528 Magnolia in Toledo after the second of two firefighters' bodies had been taken from the scene.
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) BladeA mourning band over the badge of a Toledo Fire Department battalion chief after the deaths of two Toledo firefighters, Stephen Machcinski, 42, and James Dickman, 31, who died in the line of duty.
Award of Excellence, News Picture Story - Jetta Fraser / The (Toledo) BladeA Toledo Fire Department truck carries the flag-draped coffin of TFD Pvt. Stephen Machcinski in Toledo.
