Won More Time!

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) announced the recipients of its 2007 Salute to Excellence Awards at its convention earlier this month in Las Vegas. Competing against other newspapers nationwide with circulations of less than 150,000, Riverfront Times received first-place awards in two categories.

In the Enterprise category, staff writer Kristen Hinman was honored for her "Basketball by the Book" series, which revealed widespread residence violations by the legendary Vashon High School (Wolverines) basketball squad under the leadership of ex-coach Floyd Irons. And in the Business category, former RFT staffer Ben Westhoff was honored for "Ace of Spaides," a profile of local hip hop artist Spaide R.I.P.P.E.R.

Additionally, the Association of Food Journalists (AFJ) announced the winners of its 2007 awards competition in Minneapolis this past weekend. RFT staff writer Malcolm Gay took third place in the Best Newspaper Food Column category, for his weekly "Keep It Down!" column. Submitted were two entries, accessible here and here.

-Tom Finkel