Illinois Times Takes Home 11 State Press Awards

Illinois Times has received 11 awards in the Illinois Press Association’s 2008 Best of the Press contest, including first place in four categories.

The first-place winners were staff writer Amanda Robert, for sports feature; staff writer Dusty Rhodes, for feature writing and for business reporting; and editor Roland Klose, for special section (the paper’s 2007 summer guide).

Staff writer R.L. Nave won second place for business reporting and third place in the news reporting-single story category. Rhodes also won second place for government beat reporting and an honorable mention for original column.

Freelance writer C.D. Stelzer won third place in the enterprise/feature writing category. Freelance writer Jeannette Cooperman won honorable mention for enterprise/feature writing. Freelance writer Jacqueline Jackson, who serves as the paper’s books and poetry editor, won honorable mention in the review category.

The awards, which were presented Oct. 10 in Springfield, Ill., covered the 12-month period ended March 31. Illinois Times competed in the Class C weekly division, which includes the state’s largest weekly paid and free newspapers. Klose resigned as editor in August.

For more information, visit www.il-press.com or contact Fletcher Farrar, editor, at 217-753-2226.