Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeNew United States citizens celebrate with confetti after the formalities during a naturalization ceremony at the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont, Ohio, on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeToledo resident Russell Huggins catches a catfish as the Canadian-flagged freighter Manitoulin moves along in the Maumee River in the background in East Toledo on Sunday, March 30, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladePaulette Mills, the romp organizer, wrangles all the Helen Roper lookalikes after a group photo during the Mrs. Roper Romp starting at the Toledo Museum of Art and going through the Old West End during the neighborhood’s festival in Toledo on Sunday, June 8, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeConnor Hand, a re-enactor portraying a member of the 1st U.S. Fort Wayne Garrison, fires his musket in the musket demonstration during the re-enactment of the First Siege 1813 at Fort Meigs in Perrysburg, Ohio, on Sunday, May 25, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeOhio State’s Brandon Inniss, left, and Davison Igbinosun make snow angels in the end zone after their 27-9 victory in a Big Ten Conference college football game between the University of Michigan and Ohio State University at UM’s Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeThe makeshift memorial for 13-year-old Kei’mani Latigue is seen in the foreground as a firefighter works and an excavator demolishes the vacant Miami Street home on fire where she was found dead in March in East Toledo on Saturday, April 19, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeThe nose of Rossford’s Noel Reinhart bleeds while wrestling Marysville’s Cami Leng at 110 pounds during the OHSAA girls wrestling state semifinals at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center in Columbus on Saturday, March 8, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeA Lucas County Children Services staff member carries in a candle representing a deceased child during the Child Memorial event at The Summit Center in Toledo on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeBrooke Winkelman, owner of Hound Haven, dries off Chewy, a 4-year-old terrier, after washing him during a dog wash charity event at Hound Haven in Toledo on Sunday, April 13, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeResident Stephanie Beckman holds up a sign reading “slumlord” during a rally held to express discontent with Denizen Management and the conditions in its Executive Towers property in Toledo on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeA gull flies in front of a rainbow that appeared after a brief storm during Barefoot at the Beach at Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, Ohio, on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeRae Perkins, 8, proudly shows an apple he picked during the Apple Festival at Erie Orchards and Cider Mills in Erie, Mich., on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeBeverly Podbielniak, left, and Elenore Weber work on plein air paintings at the Toledo Botanical Garden in Toledo on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeAn aerial view from a drone shows new exterior lights glow on the Col. James M. Schoonmaker Museum Ship at sunset at the National Museum of the Great Lakes in East Toledo on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeTommy Maulsby and 10-month-old Marcel Fields cool off at the splash pad at Rev. H. V. Savage Park in the Junction neighborhood of Toledo on Monday, July 21, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladePhotographed with a slow shutter speed to emphasize movement, first violin Maria Bessmeltseva, left, and second violin Thomas Sieberg play a string quartet during Beethoven, Brews, and BBQ at the Toledo Center for Live Arts in Toledo on Saturday, May 24, 2025. The event was a marathon that featured all 16 of Beethoven's string quartets played by Toledo Symphony members.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeA North American river otter pup plays with a piece of ice in its enclosure at the Toledo Zoo in Toledo on Friday, March 28, 2025. Four pups made their public debut today.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeU.S. Air Force Thunderbirds perform the calypso pass during the Toledo Air Show at Eugene F. Kranz Toledo Express Airport near Swanton, Ohio, on Sunday, May 11, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeSummary: In one of the most comprehensive testing programs of its kind, [publication name removed] found high levels of radioactivity in the drinking water in and around the village of Luckey, Ohio, which sits in the shadow of a beryllium-contaminated former Cold War weapons plant. Testing took place from April 2024 through January. Nineteen of the 39 samples showed radioactivity 10 times greater than the federal government says is normal for the area. The radioactivity detected was primarily bismuth-214.Karina Hahn-Claydon looks to her backyard as she sips on coffee at her home near Luckey, Ohio, on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Hahn-Claydon has expressed concern about the water quality in the area. “Things that happened generations ago are still affecting us,” she said. “And that’s because the government didn’t take care of it.” She lives nearby the Luckey FUSRAP (Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program) site, a former Cold War weapons plant.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeA radiation warning sign is seen at the Luckey FUSRAP site in Luckey, Ohio, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeKarina Hahn-Claydon cleans dishes at her home near Luckey, Ohio, on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeAn aerial view from a drone shows the former Cold War weapons site, north of Luckey, Ohio, on Saturday, March 22, 2025.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeReporter Alexa York takes a water sample from a home in Luckey, Ohio, on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeReporter Alexa York takes a water sample at a home in Luckey, Ohio, on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeWater test samples from a home in Luckey, Ohio, on Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeA man watches the tractor pull during the Fall Festival at Basic Park in Luckey, Ohio, on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. The park is just down the road from the former Cold War weapons site.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeJohn Thierry, resident engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, shows the Luckey FUSRAP site in Luckey, Ohio, Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.
Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeAir monitors seen at the Luckey FUSRAP site in Luckey, Ohio, on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024.
![Award of Excellence, Photographer of the Year - Large Market - Kurt Steiss / The BladeSummary: In one of the most comprehensive testing programs of its kind, [publication name removed] found high levels of radioactivity in the drinking water in and around the village of Luckey, Ohio, which sits in the shadow of a beryllium-contaminated former Cold War weapons plant. Testing took place from April 2024 through January. Nineteen of the 39 samples showed radioactivity 10 times greater than the federal government says is normal for the area. The radioactivity detected was primarily bismuth-214.Karina Hahn-Claydon looks to her backyard as she sips on coffee at her home near Luckey, Ohio, on Saturday, March 22, 2025. Hahn-Claydon has expressed concern about the water quality in the area. “Things that happened generations ago are still affecting us,” she said. “And that’s because the government didn’t take care of it.” She lives nearby the Luckey FUSRAP (Formerly Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program) site, a former Cold War weapons plant.](images/19_oua_kdsto_legacyofluckey_01.JPG)
