Employees writers and photographers took dwelling prime honors for writing, characteristic picture, housing and land-use reporting, music writing/reporting and print particular part cowl within the annual California Journalism Awards — together with tales about little one marriage bans, trauma middle closures, Oakland’s strung-out goodbye to the A’s, sky-high rents and little Mexican tigers.
Julia Prodis Sulek secured first place within the Writing class for a collection of tales that exposed abuses inside Santa Clara County’s strained little one welfare system — reporting that held leaders to account for foster teenagers dwelling in squalid group houses, a disaster of demoralized employees and the demise of child Phoenix.
Dai Sugano gained Finest Function Picture of 2024 for his portraits of Paco Rojas almost a yr after a drunk driver travelling 150 mph slammed into his pink Toyota on the I-280 overpass — a catastrophic crash that burned over 90% of his physique and landed him in Valley Medical Heart as certainly one of almost 4,000 sufferers seen by the Degree 1 trauma middle, which has confronted an unsure future which will disproportionally affect poorer neighborhoods within the South Bay.
Paco Rojas smiles as he pets certainly one of his cats, Princess, at his dwelling in San Jose, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. Rojas was hit by a drunk driver final yr. His automobile went up in flames and he stumbled out and fell off the overpass. Since then he is had 23 surgical procedures and is predicted to stroll once more later this yr regardless of his poor prognosis. (Dai Sugano/Bay Space Information Group)
Kate Talerico acquired first-place in Housing and Land-Use Reporting for her story about how ever-rising rents continued to interrupt native wallets, regardless of massive tax breaks for traders to show luxurious Bay Space flats into reasonably priced housing.
The employees had been additionally awarded third place within the Print Particular Part Cowl class for GLOW — a technicolor celebration of vacation shows, lantern festivals, retro neon indicators and all issues illuminated.
Jeff Durham was acknowledged twice within the Illustration class, taking second place for artwork recreating the harrowing scene on Interstate 880 after a freeway robbery-turned-mystery unfolded close to Fremont, and fourth place for capturing the fiery emotion and ethical quandaries behind criticisms of Silicon Valley’s fast-growing AI sector.
Grace Hase, Julia Sulek and Harriet Rowan gained second place within the Protection of Native Authorities class for his or her reporting on the suspenseful District 16 election saga. Their collection of tales adopted a recount affected by thumb flubs and different voting errors, a dead-heat tie that triggered a three-way November runoff election, the staggering prices related to poll tabulation and legally questionable makes an attempt to halt the counting course of altogether.
Randy McMullen and Trinity Powells had been awarded second place within the Print Inside Web page Structure & Design class for his or her work on the “Weekender” early preview of the yr’s finest reveals, performances and leisure within the Bay Space.
John Metcalfe gained third place within the Arts & Leisure Protection class for his story on the “sublime, therapeutic joys of karaoke,” sharing heartfelt testimonies and literal love tales tied to instrumental sing-alongs in locations like Mel-O-Dee Cocktails in El Cerrito, 7 Bamboo Lounge in San Jose and Effie’s in Campbell.
Paul Rogers was awarded third place within the Environmental Reporting class. As owners close to the seashore in Half Moon Bay geared as much as construct sea partitions to guard towards rising sea ranges and more and more damaging storms, Rogers’ story defined how a tidal wave of authorized and environmental hoops culminated in a landmark lawsuit that would reshape California’s shoreline.
Pai W, Harriet Rowan and Jeff Durham gained fourth place within the Informational Graphic class for a collection of colourful, detailed charts that illustrated how California cities spent $37 billion on public workers in 2023.
Ethan Varian gained fifth place within the Homelessness Reporting class for a narrative about 7-year-old Dimmi, one of many 211 homeless kids who didn’t have entry to shelter in Santa Clara County in 2023.
Ray Chavez was awarded fifth place within the Inventive Picture class for capturing the Aurora Borealis glowing pink close to the Altamont Cross wind generators in Livermore, a uncommon look of the North Lights that captivated spectators hours after midnight.
Jovi Dai gained fifth place in Public Service Journalism for his data-rich story about Colma — a tiny city in unincorporated San Mateo County the place the lifeless outnumber the dwelling, and the speed of crime outranks every other Bay Space metropolis.
Initially Revealed: Might 23, 2025 at 4:15 AM PDT
