TDC wins first place awards

Ricarte earned Best Editorial recognition for three opinion pieces written in 2017. These were titled “City still doesn’t get the message,” “Council, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it,” and “Government needs more watchdogs.”

The first column was one of several done in recent years to challenge The Dalles City Council’s decision-making processes.

“Once again, we reiterate that this newspaper isn’t ‘out to get them,’ we are simply fulfilling our watchdog role to make sure elected officials are operating in an open and transparent manner — and putting the needs of citizens before their own wants and desires,” wrote Ricarte.

At issue was Mayor Steve Lawrence’s 11th hour budget request to have the council pay off the $3,641 debt owed by the Civic Auditorium to spare the nonprofit from making interest payments.

Two councilors expressed concerns about not having time to fully consider the request, particularly because of the potential precedent it could set.

“Making sure there is ample time to review information and comment is a critical part of a representative democracy,” wrote Ricarte.

Her second award-winning piece took on Lawrence and other members of council for a continuing effort to divert funds from The Dalles Area Chamber. The revenue in question was derived from lodging taxes and intended to be used for marketing and promotional purposes.

Ricarte’s assertion was that the chamber was the only entity in town with a long enough reach to garner national attention in the marketing and media realm.

Her final entry expounded on the watchdog role of citizens and the media and why the founders gave them special protections to speak out. The editorial centered around the treatment of resident Chip Wood by some council members.

Wood filed a complaint against Councilor Taner Elliott with the Oregon Ethics Commission and his charges were upheld by the state body. However, he faced strong criticism from Lawrence, who said Wood’s allegations “did not stand up to scrutiny.”

Last year, the ethics commission determined that Elliott had violated rules by making decisions as an elected official that benefitted Elk Horn Development, the company he owned and managed.

“Wood could be making life a constant misery for public entities but his voice should still be respected. It is wrong to demean and marginalize the points he raises even if you strongly disagree with them,” Ricarte wrote.

“Vilifying a citizen for demanding answers is the way bullies do business.”

After learning of her editorial awards, Ricarte said they were a validation of the important role that newspapers play in a community.

“We might not be popular when we shed light on something going wrong in government, but we know that what we are doing is important to protection of citizen freedoms,” said Ricarte.

She also received top ranking in the Spot News category for “Race to keep cow off freeway,” an incident last August that turned law enforcement officials into wranglers.

The black cow belonging to a family on the west side of town ended up having to be euthanized for public safety purposes after authorities were unable to capture it or keep it out of lanes of traffic.

“What can I say? I started out laughing hysterically as I watched cops try to be cowboys but then it all got very serious as they tried to keep the cow from getting onto Interstate 84 and possibly causing a major traffic accident,” said Ricarte.

“This story just highlighted the many different types of incidents that our emergency responders are called to handle.”

Byron Gibson received first place in design for the 2017 Christmas map that routed people to notable light displays during the holiday season.

“I was surprised and honored to receive it,” said Gibson, who has only been in the profession for a couple of years.

He is the son of Mark Gibson and they teamed up for third place design of three front page covers for stories, “King of the Beetles,” “From books to bikes,” and “Trauma Team.”

Mark also won third for his colorful design of “Art Camp,” a story about a local library program.

“Collaboration and teamwork is an important aspect of publishing The Dalles Chronicle, and that is reflected in these design awards,” said Mark. “The ‘Best Page 1 Design’ category involved selecting three front pages, the strongest of the year. I found it interesting that our best front pages were created as a collaboration between myself and Bryon, working together on our Sunday editions.

“We floated ideas and proposals, trying to articulate what we liked or didn’t like about each a specific layout. As a result, we worked out better designs. But in the ‘Best Graphics Design’ category, I was stumped when confronted with the traditional Christmas light tour illustration and threw the whole mess on Byron’s plate.

“Working on deadline, he created a graphic that was both colorful and practical, one that captured the fun of the Christmas season. I was pleased to see his work receive a first place award.”

“So many things were striking about covering this story,” Cecil said of her four-part series about the dilapidated Lone Pine Native American fishing village on the east end of The Dalles.

The package of in-depth stories won third in the Enterprise category.

“First and foremost was the resilience of the residents of Lone Pine, who endure such difficult circumstances, but keep a positive outlook,” she said.

“It was also heartwarming to report not only on the outpouring of support from the community that prompted the series, but to also cover a later flood of donations around Christmastime that was attributed to this series.”

It was frustrating to realize decades had gone by without promised adequate housing being provided to Native Americans, she said, and that many limitations — budgetary, jurisdictional, and regulatory — are preventing better maintenance and upkeep of the property.

Ray Rodriguez, sports writer, captured third for his story “It takes a village to raise nine title banners” about the achievements of the Dufur football team.

“Being around for three straight state football championships, you get to know the inner workings of what it takes to be a successful football program,” he said.

There are plenty of ups and downs, but when it all flows well, it can be a thing of beauty.

“Spending time with the players, parents, coaches and community members, you really see that it is the selflessness, the organization, the work ethic and dedication put forth that makes it all work.”

Rodriguez added: “When you see that level of commitment from everyone involved, you can’t help but be emotionally invested in everyone’ s story and be inspired by the level of pride they carry with them while building on this historic legacy.

“If people, corporations, other programs and others carried the mindset of the people of Dufur, there would be a lot more happiness in the world.”