BANGOR — Penobscot Bay Pilot earned five first-place merit awards for writing, photography and video at the annual Maine Press Association fall conference in Bangor, Oct. 17. Lynda Clancy and Holly S. Edwards each were acknowledged for work over the past 18 months, including their coverage of the Rite Aid robbery in Camden in September 2014; one man’s battle against tick disease; and a visit to Hope elephants Rosie and Opal, in Oklahoma.

PenBayPilot.com also earned third place in General Excellence Digital, Weekly 2.

Clancy and Edwards earned first place for Spot News Story, which included 24-hour on-scene coverage, interviews, video and constant updates through PenBayPilot.com and Facebook to keep the community informed as the terrifying hostage-taking at Rite Aid Pharmacy in Camden unfolded, and ended with the death of Robert Beerman by a self-inflicted gunshot.

Judges wrote: “Great team coverage of a tense hostage situation and standoff. Great work.”

Edwards earned first place for her Sports Photo, a shot taken during the 2014 Camden Windjammer Weekend Crate Race. Judges wrote: “1st place is a great shot of a uniquely Maine event. We did question whether or not it is a sport. Nice composition, all elements help to tell the story.”

Clancy earned first place for her Health Story on tick disease and Steve Hand’s eight-month battle with anaplasmosis: Lincolnville tick bite lands Rockport man in hospital.  Judges wrote: “A comprehensive look at tick bites and what they can do to the human body. The writer expertly sets the story up through one man’s eyes and uses compelling details to teach readers about the symptoms and prevention.”

Clancy earned first place Feature Story for her visit to Hugo, Okla., Visiting Hope Elephants, to see how Rosie and Opal were faring following their abrupt return there after their caregiver, Jim Laurita, died in September 2014.

Judges wrote: “A charming and often emotionally gripping report that not only provides evidence of great talent and writing style, but also showcases the willingness of the reporter to follow this story far afield to bring readers an incomparable first-hand perspective.” 

She also earned first place for her Features Lifestyle Video of that visit with Rosie and Opal. “Good use of narrative storytelling,” judges said. “More interviews would’ve made this video stronger, a bit too long.”

And, Clancy earned third place in the Continuing Story category for her coverage of the Nov. 2, 2014 snowstorm, Storm Rages On. Judges wrote: In Maine, the weather can kill you, and Clancy’s stories about a wicked November storm detail the effects on communities, residents, businesses and fishermen. On some ways, Clancy was like a town crier, relaying information gleaned from multiple sources and bringing it all together in an informative package. For people marooned by the storm, those details are extremely helpful.

The Maine Press Association comprises weekly and daily newspapers and news websites in the state. Each autumn, they gather at an annual conference somewhere in the state for workshops and an awards banquet.

This year, it was especially marked by comraderie, with an emphasis on unsung heroes, those committed individuals who work in the background at news organizations, answering phones and emails, writing obituaries and keeping the business of news alive, all without worrying about their byline or credit.

Christopher Crosby, formerly of the Sun Journal in Lewiston, won the Bob Drake Young Writer’s Award; and Bridget Campbell of the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel, Melanie Creamer of the Portland Press Herald, and Kathy Lizotte of The Lincoln County News were honored by the MPA as the Unsung Heroes of the Year.

Not all judges who were recruited by New England press to review the submissions and make awards returned their findings, so some categories were left unfinished, with awards to follow sometime in the future. 

Nobody at the banquet really seemed to care; it was good enough to get together and honor those who work hard for the sake of the Fourth Estate.

The MPA inducted three new members into its Hall of Fame at its annual meeting and conference.

Inductees included Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram writer and columnist Bill Nemitz, Bob Kalish, formerly of The Times Record in Brunswick, and Lou Ureneck, who’s career included stints with the Press Herald, and the Evening Express in Portland and with the Maine Sunday Telegram.

Both Nemitz and Ureneck have previously been honored by MPA as Maine’s Journalist of the Year.

Kalish’s career included covering Hollywood for Daily Variety, serving as a war correspondent in Thailand during Vietnam, and working in television and radio in Chicago. At the Record, he drove hard-hitting coverage of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Plant and the Brunswick Naval Air Station. Along the way he mentored multiple generations of young journalists, including several that went to earn key journalism fellowships or be honored as Journalist of the Year.

In retirement, he continues to write for newspapers including essays published in The Boston Globe.

Bill Nemitz began his career in Maine journalism in 1977 as a reporter for the Morning Sentinel in Waterville. He moved to Portland in 1983, working as a reporter for the Evening Express before moving up to positions as city editor and sports editor for the Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram. A past president of MPA, Nemitz began writing a column that made him one of Maine’s best-known journalists in 1995.

He reported from Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles, from Manhattan in the aftermath of 9/11, from the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, from Haiti after its destructive earthquake and from Boston in the hours after the marathon bombing.

Four times, Nemitz went to the Middle East and embedded with members of the Maine Army National Guard.

A native of New Jersey and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, Lou Ureneck got his feet wet during a brief stint at the Providence Journal before coming to Maine in 1974 to begin his career at the Gannett Papers in Portland, including the Press Herald, the Evening Express and the Maine Sunday Telegram.

After leaving Maine in the mid-1990s, Ureneck became editor-in-residence at the Nieman Foundation at Harvard and served as page-one editor of the Philadelphia Inquirer before becoming a professor at the Boston University’s School of Journalism.

Ureneck has written three books, including a memoir about building a cabin in the Maine wilderness. His latest book, The Great Fire, is an account of the post-World War I destruction of the Turkish city of Smyrna and the systematic killing of 3 million Christians.