R-J staff members win journalism awards

Review-Journal staff members earned two awards in the prestigious Best of the West journalism contest.

In the category of explanatory reporting, special projects reporter Alan Maimon and staff won second place for their work on "The Long Shadow of 9/11." Contest judges said the special project did much to highlight the shortcomings in anti-terrorism planning and expose the government secrecy keeping law enforcement in the dark.

Columnist Erin Neff won third place in the category of special topic column writing.

"Neff doesn't dance around her opinions," one judge wrote. "She begins the name-calling early in her columns, but it doesn't come across as especially mean-spirited, a real talent when words like political hacks and flunkies are used."

Best of the West draws more than 2,000 entries from 13 states.