Colorado Springs Independent, SF Weekly, L.A. Weekly and Orlando Weekly lead the pack with five nominations each for Alternative Newsweekly Awards this year. The order of finish in each category of the ninth annual contest will be announced Friday, June 25, at the Alternative Newsweekly Awards luncheon during the 27th annual convention of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies in San Antonio, Texas. New York Times media reporter David Carr will host this year’s awards luncheon.

Other papers taking multiple awards this year are Baltimore City Paper, Birmingham Weekly, Cincinnati City Beat, City Newspaper, City Pages (Twin Cities), Creative Loafing Atlanta, Dallas Observer, East Bay Express, Illinois Times, Independent Weekly, Miami New Times, Missoula Independent, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Pittsburgh City Paper, Fort Worth Weekly, Houston Press, Jackson Free Press, San Antonio Current, San Francisco Bay Guardian, Seattle Weekly, Syracuse New Times, Texas Observer, Ventura County Reporter, The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, Weekly Alibi and Willamette Week.

Several individual contestants — Hillary Johnson of Ventura County Reporter, Donna Ladd of Jackson Free Press, Bob Norman of New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Jeffrey C. Billman of Orlando Weekly, Dave Schimke of City Pages, Joe MacLeod of Baltimore City Paper and Terje Langeland of Colorado Springs Independent — were nominated in more than one category.

In the Cartoon category, John Callahan, Arden Hendrie, Timothy Kreider, and Jen Sorensen were all nominated in the “published in fewer than five publications” division. John Backderf, Ruben Bolling, Jesse Reklaw and Tom Tomorrow round out the nominees in the five-or-more publication division.

Following are the nominees listed in alphabetical order by the name of the newspaper:

ARTS CRITICISM

Circulation < 50,000
Scot Lockman, Birmingham Weekly
James McWilliams, Texas Observer
Devin O’Leary, Weekly Alibi

Circulation > 50,000
J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Christine Biederman, Dallas Observer
Brendan Bernhard, L.A. Weekly

ARTS FEATURE

Circulation < 50,000
“The Mad Projectionist,” John Citrone, Folio Weekly
“A Love Story,” Brenda Bell, Texas Observer
“Horace Bristol,” Hillary Johnson, Ventura County Reporter
“Culture Club,” Celeste Miller and Emili Vesilind, Syracuse New Times

Circulation > 50,000
“Disjointed,” Blake de Pastino, Baltimore City Paper
“Girl,” Felicia Fester, Creative Loafing Atlanta
“The Ace is Wild: The Doug Chrismas Story,” Kristine McKenna, L.A. Weekly
“Iraq War: The Movie,” Tim Appelo, Seattle Weekly

CARTOON

Fewer than five publications
“Callahan,” John Callahan
“Samson Seagull,” Arden Hendrie
“The Pain, When Will It End?” Timothy Kreider
“Slowpoke,” Jen Sorensen

Five or more publications
“The City,” derf (John Backderf)
“Tom the Dancing Bug,” Ruben Bolling
“Slow Wave,” Jesse Reklaw
“This Modern World,” Tom Tomorrow

COLUMN

Circulation < 50,000
Kathy Wilson, Cincinnati City Beat
Cara DeGette, Colorado Springs Independent
Melinda Ruley, Independent Weekly
Donna Ladd, Jackson Free Press

Circulation > 50,000
Joshua Greene, Cleveland Free Times
Tristram Korten, Miami New Times
Bob Norman, New Times Broward-Palm Beach

COLUMN — POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Circulation < 50,000
Kyle Whitmire, Birmingham Weekly
Jack Spula, City Newspaper
Bob Whitby, Orlando Weekly

Circulation > 50,000
Tim Fleck, Houston Press
Bob Norman, New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Dan Williamson, The Other Paper
Nat Hentoff, Village Voice

COVER DESIGN

Circulation < 50,000
Tak Toyoshima, Boston’s Weekly Dig
Gregory Dickens, MetroBEAT
Julie Barnett, San Antonio Current

Circulation > 50,000
Joe MacLeod, Baltimore City Paper
Andrea Diaz-Vaughn, Larry Dalton and James McHughes, Sacramento News & Review
Tim Silbaugh and Johanna Goodman, Seattle Weekly

EDITORIAL LAYOUT

Circulation < 50,000
“Against the Odds,” Liz Holm and M.J. Sharp, Independent Weekly
“Cover Up,” Diane Sullivan and Donald Eggert, Seven Days
“Horace Bristol,” Monica McGregor, Ventura County Reporter

Circulation > 50,000
“Fast, Cheap, Out of this World,” Joe MacLeod, Baltimore City Paper
“Gary Coleman for Governor!” Mark Gartland, East Bay Express
“A User’s Guide to Kicking,” John Curry, L.A. Weekly
“Ms. Fat-So,” Tricia Reinhold, Pittsburgh City Paper
“DIY Directory,” Anne Reeser, Jason Landis and Carson Ellis, Willamette Week

FEATURE STORY

Circulation < 50,000
“Why Andy Won’t Die,” Dusty Rhodes, Illinois Times
“An Unresolved Death,” Mike Keefe-Feldman, Missoula Independent

Circulation > 50,000
“The Girl Who Played Dead,” Julie Lyons, Dallas Observer
“How Sweet It Was,” Celeste Fraser Delgado, Miami New Times
“War of Words,” Joe Miller, The Pitch
“Fishing the Mainstream,” Tommy Craggs, SF Weekly
“A Duty to Hack,” Matt Palmquist, SF Weekly

FOOD WRITING

Circulation < 50,000
Adam Wilcox, City Newspaper
S.C. Davis, MetroBEAT
Ron Bechtol, San Antonio Current

Circulation > 50,000
Dara Moskowitz, City Pages (Twin Cities)
Jonathan Kauffman, East Bay Express
Robb Walsh, Houston Press
Robert Sietsema, Village Voice

FORMAT BUSTER

Circulation < 50,000
“Clubscrawl,” Staff, Columbus Alive
“Mayoral Pop Quiz,” Ted S. McGregor, Pacific Northwest Inlander
“The Great Gubernatorial Quiz,” Hillary Johnson, Ventura County Reporter

Circulation > 50,000
“What Do You Do?” Kevin Banks, Boston Phoenix
“2003 Illustrated,” Michael Mechanic and Jesse Reklaw, East Bay Express
“Expresso,” Dave Nuttycombe, Washington City Paper
“The Seminal Test,” John Graham, Willamette Week

ILLUSTRATION

Circulation < 50,000
“Children of the Damned,” Peat Shaulis, Fort Worth Weekly
“Oscar! Oscar!” Marc Bell, The Coast
“Face Off,” Joe Bluhm, Orlando Weekly
“Scenes from the Underground,” Sandra Hoover, Reno News & Review

Circulation > 50,000
“Clan of the Cave Geek,” Chris Sickels, Cleveland Scene
“Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid,” Schonie Hamilton, John Yardley, Jim Stawniak and David Chestnut, Creative Loafing Atlanta
“The Great Left Hope,” Ismael Roldan, SF Weekly
“The Best of Tucson,” John Craig, Tucson Weekly

INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING

Circulation < 50,000
“Deep Trouble,” Jennifer Strom, Independent Weekly
“Buncombe Justice on Trial,” Cecil Bothwell, Mountain Xpress,
“The Orkin Scam,” Jeffrey C. Billman, Orlando Weekly

Circulation > 50,000
“Stolen Souls,” Dan Malone, Fort Worth Weekly
“Death, Maiming, Money and Muni,” Peter Byrne, SF Weekly
“Innocent!” Adam Clay Thompson, San Francisco Bay Guardian
“The War Within,” Julie Jargon, Westword

MEDIA REPORTING

Circulation < 50,000
“Send in the Scabs,” Jeffrey C. Billman, Orlando Weekly
“News Wars,” Joe Piaseki, Pasadena Weekly
“New Kids on the Block,” Justin Park, Syracuse New Times

Circulation > 50,000
“The Next Battle in the Newspaper Wars,” Dave Schimke, City Pages (Twin Cities)
“All in the Family,” Tali Woodward, San Francisco Bay Guardian
“Off Target,” Eric Wemple and Josh Levin, Washington City Paper

MUSIC CRITICISM

Circulation < 50,000
Frank DeBlase, City Newspaper
Donna Ladd, Jackson Free Press
Andy Smetanka, Missoula Independent
Sara Bir, North Bay Bohemian

Circulation > 50,000
Roni Sarig, Creative Loafing Atlanta
Kate Sullivan, L.A. Weekly
Jonathan Valania, Philadelphia Weekly
Gary Giddins, Village Voice

NEWS STORY

Circulation < 50,000
Jessica Lyons, Monterey County Weekly
Jon Elliston, Independent Weekly
Mike Keefe-Feldman, Missoula Independent

Circulation > 50,000
Borzou Daragahi, Long Island Press
Forrest Norman, Miami New Times
Trevor Aaronson, New Times Broward-Palm Beach
Lisa Davis, SF Weekly

NEWS STORY — IN-DEPTH

Circulation < 50,000
“Bloody Shoes and Snitches,” Leslie Blade, Cincinnati City Beat
“The Best Council Money Can Buy,” Terje Langeland, Colorado Springs Independent,
“Stinging Back,” Terje Langeland, Colorado Springs Independent

Circulation > 50,000
“Harvest of Pain,” Vince Beiser, L.A. Weekly
“Rent a Patient,” Paul Rubin, Phoenix New Times
“Boss Hogtie,” Jason Cherkis, Washington City Paper

PHOTOGRAPHY

Circulation < 50,000
“Fallen Soldiers,” Sean Cayton, Colorado Springs Independent
“Faces of Iraq,” Alan Pogue, Texas Observer
“Training Day,” Tim McGivern, Weekly Alibi

Circulation > 50,000
“Great Walls of Detroit,” Dirk Bakker, Metro Times
“Germantown Avenue,” Michael T. Regan, Philadelphia City Paper
“Best of Pittsburgh,” Heather Mull, Pittsburgh City Paper

RELIGION REPORTING

Circulation < 50,000
“Roadblock to Peace,” Terje Langeland, Colorado Springs Independent
“Defender of the Faith,” Pete Sherman, Illinois Times
“Gay? Exodus International Can Fix That,” Jeffrey C. Billman, Orlando Weekly

Circulation > 50,000
“Fallen Angel,” J.D. Sparks, Dallas Observer
“Doing Time,” Scott Nowell, Houston Press
“True Believer,” David Schimke, City Pages (Twin Cities)