First Place, Portrait Personality - Lisa DeJong / The Plain DealerDan Williams, an engineering intern with City of Cleveland Water Division, puts on a working replica of inventor Garrett Morgan's safety hood during a ceremony commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1916 waterworks tunnel disaster held at the Garrett A. Morgan Water Treatment Plant.
Second Place, Portrait Personality - Meg Vogel / Cincinnati EnquirerRev. Vera Cole embraces her daughter, Jamie Harris, at Keys of the Kingdom United Methodist Church. They fear for the life of their 21-year-old grandson and son, Michael Kinebrew. "It feels like it's open season on black men," Cole says. "It's enough to shake your faith. Why are we targeted?" Kinebrew has been pulled over several times, but his grandmother and mother worry that the next time will be his last.
Third Place, Portrait Personality - Carrie Cochran / Cincinnati EnquirerGloria Ballert, of Over-the-Rhine sits with her dog Bear, sits, waiting for the Opening Day parade commemorating the first Reds baseball game of the season, to begin. After talking about the neighborhood, which just marked the 15th anniversary of the death of Timothy Thomas, an unarmed black man by police, the tone became somber. “I want a peace of mind living here. Not just for black people or white people, but for everybody. We don’t need shooting around here anymore,” she said. “I’m here to enjoy the day with Bear. He’s my protector.”
Award of Excellence, Portrait Personality - Eslah Attar / Kent State UniversitySubagh Singh Khalsa meditates in his Chautauquan house as part of his morning routine. Khalsa leads the Mystic Heart Meditation Program, where he provides opportunities for Chautauquans to gather and center themselves through meditation, contemplation and other universal techniques of religious and wisdom traditions.
Award of Excellence, Portrait Personality - Fred Squillante / The Columbus DispatchDonnetta Hill, 63, displays many photos of son Tyrun in her Northeast Side home, including this cardboard cutout. He was shot dead on his 29th birthday in 2005, and she has yet to learn who fired the fatal shot in a confrontation between two gangs, the Short North Poss and D Block.
Award of Excellence, Portrait Personality - Jessica Phelps / Newark AdvocateGeorge Gordon, who has married to his wife, Alice for 70 years, shows off the miniature bobble heads he has collected over the years.
