Patch Takes 6 First-Place Awards at State Journalism Competition

By Corey Fyke

Patch editors from across the state won a total of 13 awards in the online category at the Society of Professional Journalists' Connecticut Chapter Awards Banquet Thursday night at Fantasia in North Haven. 

Former Waterford Patch editor Paul Petrone got second-place in the Feature category for "Sending Thank You Notes to Heaven for Tracey Kleinpell." 

Ellyn Santiago, editor of the Stonington-Mystic and Groton Patches, won first-place in the Investigative Series category for stories she wrote when she was the editor of Montville Patch that detailed the past prostitution convictions of an Uncasville massage-parlor owner. 

Second in that category was Jessie Sawyer, the editor of the Avon and Farmington Patches, for her stories revealing that a Waterbury fire captain under investigation had been previously suspended by the Avon Volunteer Fire Department. 

Patch also took the top two spots in the General Reporting Series category. Pem McNerney, editor of the Madison and Guilford Patches, took top honors for her exhaustive coverage of Madison during Superstorm Sandy. The team of Santiago and former Patch editors Bree Shirvell and Deb Straszheim won second-place for their nearly yearlong coverage of the Mystic Streetscape project and its effect on local businesses. 

West Hartford Patch editor Ronni Newton won first-place in the General Column category for, "Breast Cancer: Stuff They Never Tell You." Sawyer's "Martin Dagradi: Italian Family Man and Veteran" took second place in that category. 

Other first-place awards included Associate Regional Editor Susan Schoenberger in the Opinion Column category for "50 Shades of Grey: Just How Smutty Is It?", New London and Montville Patch editor Dirk Langeveld for Best Headline ("Suspected Burglar Catches the Flue") and Sawyer in the Arts & Entertainment category for "Kristian Bush: From Avon Old Farms to Sugarland." 

Paul Singley, editor of the Naugatuck and Oxford Patches, won first-place in the Audio Storytelling category for his collaboration with the Valley Independent Sentinel on a story about a fatal car crash. Singley also won honorable mention in the General Reporting Series category for his coverage of an Oxford teen's death and in the Newtown Shooting General Reporting category for his touching tribute to Sandy Hook Elementary School Principal Dawn Hochsprung. 

Former Windsor Locks-East Windsor Patch editor Larry Smith won honorable mention in the Feature Photo category for "Opening Day."