Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 26/01) - A story about a woman's battle against a brain tumour has earned Yellowknifer first-place honours in a newspaper competition.

The Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association's 2001 Awards of Excellence were presented in Edmonton recently.

Glen Vienneau wrote the first-place article, "The long road home." It was praised by judges for its "crisp, creative writing."

The article, published in July 2000, chronicled Tammy Krivda's battle with acoustic neuroma. It was ranked ahead of 27 entries to win the Healthy Communities Journalism Award.

Vienneau's award was just one of four earned by Northern News Services publications at the event.

Yellowknifer also won a second-place prize for best local editorial on a business topic. "Taking pipeline to the national stage" was published in October 2000.

"This is a very good and clear piece of writing with a message that is national and local," wrote judge Bryant Avery of the Edmonton Journal.

NNSL's Inuvik Drum also won praise, and third place in the local news category, for coverage of the nursing crisis in the Beaufort Delta.

Drum editor Malcolm Gorrill wrote the three stories.

"The Drum did a wonderfully thorough job on the issue, examining where the problems were occurring and why," wrote judge Scott McKeen of the Edmonton Journal. "The writing was strong, as were the headlines and the use of pulled quotes in the layout. A wonderful job."

Deh Cho Drum columnist Bill Laferte, The Metis Rambler, was also singled out for praise.

"I would be remiss if I did not mention the piece 'My father the riverman' by Bill Laferte in the Deh Cho Drum," said judge Bruce Levett, a retired Canadian Press foreign correspondent and nationally syndicated columnist. "If you should run into him someday, you might pass on quite 'well done,' because indeed it was."