Chesterton Tribune reporter Kevin Nevers has won another award for his writing.

Nevers took first place in the Community Affairs/Public Interest category of the 2003 Indiana Associated Press Managing Editors Newswriting Contest at an awards luncheon Saturday in Muncie.

He won for his occasional series on the drug problem in Duneland, which appeared in the Tribune between March and June 2002. In that series of 10 articles and five sidebars Nevers examined the issue of drug abuse from a variety of perspectives: the biochemistry of addiction, sensation-seeking and risk-taking behavior, the economic and emotional costs of drug abuse, and the promise of counseling. He also interviewed a recovering addict and his father and participated in a round-table discussion of high-school students and graduates who have committed themselves to drug-free lives.

Of that series the judge wrote, “Great comprehensive reporting. It hit all the stops. There was quality in the writing. It reminded me of Eric Newhouse’s 2000 Pulitzer on alcoholism in Montana. Big town reporting at smaller paper.”

The Tribune competes in Division IV: newspapers with circulation of 10,000 or less.

Nevers last won an award in December, when he took third place in the Best General Columnist category of the 2002 Hoosier State Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

Posted 5/21/2003