28 entries received in the "under 50,000" circulation bracket

Twenty-eight entries have been received in the smaller circulation bracket (under 50,000) for this year's Carmage Walls Commentary Prize. 

First- and second-place honors will be awarded. Judges also may designate several entries for honorable mention.

Winning entries will be announced Oct. 6-8 at the SNPA News Industry Summit in Charlottesville, Va.

SNPA members are invited to comment at the end of this article on the entries.  Which entries do you feel are the strongest ... and why?

Click on the links below to access entry materials:

Entry #1: Keith Albertson — The Times, Gainesville, Ga.

• entry form
• editorial – History before our eyes
• editorial – Linking to history's teachable moments

Entry #2: Greg Awtry — York News-Times, York, Neb.

• entry form (links to editorials are included in entry form)

Entry #3: Robert Benson — Danville Register & Bee, Danville, Va.

• entry form
• editorial – Some lessons from 1963 haven't been learned
• editorial – Something for us all to talk about
• editorial – Taking the best deal available
• editorial – The way forward on race issues
• editorial – A big step to revive our region

Entry #4: Ric Brack and Phil Latham — Longview News-Journal, Longview, Texas

• entry form
• six editorials
  •  Disclosure on superintendent raises questions about LISD
  • Leftover-funds spending spree not what district patrons expected
  • Dropping algebra requirement is not helping state or students
  • List of faltering schools gives wrong impression
  • Don't miss your chance to offer opinions on LISD
  • Longview ISD trustees need to get in the game

Entry #5: Ron Bridgeman — The Eatonton Messenger, Eatonton, Ga.

• entry form
• six editorials
  • Closed meetings not good government
  • Public business done in private by only a few
  • Caretakers needed for city, not owners
  • City is purposefully dismissive of residents
  • New administrator? It's hard to tell
  • New meeting space simple and easy

Entry #6: Paul Bryant (with additions by Debi Ryan) — The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, Texas

• entry form
• editorial – Sex ed lacking

Entry #7: Paul Bryant (with additions by Debi Ryan) — The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, Texas

• entry form
• editorial – An armed march

Entry #8: Paul Bryant (with additions by Debi Ryan) — The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, Texas

• entry form
• editorial – Openness

Entry #9: Paul Bryant (with additions by Debi Ryan) — The Daily Sentinel, Nacogdoches, Texas

• entry form
• editorial – Have we lost civility?

Entry #10: Chris Cobler and Lauren Hightower-Emerson — Victoria Advocate, Victoria, Texas

• entry form
• editorial – City leaders need to respect will of voters
  
• editorial – Officials must conduct city business in public
• editorial – Agreement involving government is open
• editorial – City's $1 million waste cries out for action
• editorial – We must fight for our democracy
• editorial – Delay tactics show laws need more teeth

Entry #11: Kevin Cooper — The Natchez Democrat, Natchez, Miss.

• entry form
• editorial – Time is now for NRMC money plan
• editorial – Supervisors right to seek finances
• editorial – Leaders need to answer Natchez Regional bankruptcy questions
• editorial – Public, officials should be part of hospital loop
• editorial – Answers much needed on NRMC finances
• editorial – Outside oversight needed at hospital

Entry #12: Bob Davis — The Anniston Star, Anniston, Ala.

• entry form
• five editorials
  • A governor's legacy – For Bentley, history shows how wayward ideologies are tough to shed
  • Bentley's favorite word: No – Alabama governor's damaging policy against Medicaid expansion rolls on
  • A second opinion – Bentley and his distaste for Obamacare
  • Alabamian of the Year: David Bronner is wise steward who has improved this state
  • The fever in the South – Closure of small Georgia hospital is a tragedy of Republican stance

Entry #13: Wyatt Emmerich — Northwide Sun, Jackson, Miss.

• entry form
• editorial – Kemper plant is starting to unravel
• editorial – MPC ratepayers pay 66 percent more for power
• editorial – Mississippi should not pay for Southern Company's boondoggle
• editorial – Reeves has chance to prove himself a real leader
• editorial – Price per kilowatt of Kemper plant stretches credulity
• editorial – Southern should pay the Kemper cost overruns

Entry #14: Staff — The Covington News, Covington, Ga.

• entry form
• editorial – Shirking city laws
• editorial – Enforce equally or not at all

Entry #15: Barbara Wallace Hughes — The Messenger, Fort Dodge, Iowa

• entry form
• editorial – Hedlund firing isn't going away quietly
• editorial – A positive change in leadership

Entry #16: Barbara Wallace Hughes — The Messenger, Fort Dodge, Iowa

• entry form
• editorial – Pet ordinance is boneheaded

Entry #17: Barbara Wallace Hughes — The Messenger, Fort Dodge, Iowa

• entry form
• editorial – Walt Stevens served us well
• editorial – Remembering Walt

Entry #18: Joe Kirby — Marietta Daily Journal, Marietta, Ga.

• entry form
• editorial – Big changes (School board's staff discipline policy still needs ... big changes)
  
• editorial – Common sense (Zero-tolerance aplenty, but a lack of ... common sense)
  
• editorial – Common sense (Legislature must revisit 'zero tolerance' laws)
  
• editorial – 'Management ... control' (Key words as school board looks for next superintendent)
• editorial – Unanswered questions (Sweeney, Foundation facing ... unanswered questions)

Entry #19: Joe Kirby — Marietta Daily Journal, Marietta, Ga.

• entry form
• editorial – But not for taxpayers (New deal for Galleria area a home run ... but not for taxpayers)
  
• editorial – A tale of two tax deals (The Braves and 'Riverwalk': A tale of two tax deals)
  
• editorial – 'Pure and simple' (Public getting education on tax breaks ... 'pure and simple')
  
• editorial – Down the drain (Why 'Riverwalk' went ... down the drain)
• editorial – Eyeing the authorities (Bill would enhance public's scrutiny of tax breaks)
• editorial – Tilts table on taxpayers (Development Authority bill ... tilts table on taxpayers)

Entry #20: Keith Magill — The Courier, Houma, La.

• entry form
• editorial – Where were the alarms?
• editorial – Where have these people been?
• editorial – Speaking of fairness...
• editorial – Just wondering
• editorial – Writing history
• editorial – It's not over yet

Entry #21: Glenn Marston — The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.

• entry form
• editorial – Officers humiliate women
• editorial – Officers' sex on duty
• editorial – Fire Thomas, Womack
• editorial – Lisa Womack's resignation
• editorial – The $350-per-hour cat
• editorial – Government 'in the dark'

Entry #22: Graham Osteen — The Sumter Item, Sumter, S.C.

• entry form
• editorial – Time for major changes at Tuomey
• editorial – In hindsight, Tuomey's mistakes are clearer
• editorial – Tuomey takes steps to begin healing process

Entry #23: Anita Shelburne — The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.

• Entry form
• editorials – Inside ABC

Entry #24: Heber Taylor — The Galveston County Daily News, Galveston, Texas

• Entry form
• editorial – A contract issue to watch in LMISD
• editorial – Just how much did LMISD pay?
• editorial – Good job, LMISD
• editorial – Finding a way to bring LMISD students home
• editorial – What will LMISD do about security?
• editorial – A checklist for La Marque ISD

Entry #25: Tim Timmons — The Paper of Montgomery County, Crawfordsville, Ind.

• Entry form
• editorial – Hammer wants to know what's going on
• editorial – Hammer asks about gay marriage
• editorial – John Hammer has an idea ... sort of
• editorial – Hammer gives Timmons a history lesson
• editorial – Timmons talks courthouse parking lot and GOP
• editorial – Timmons wanders back into politics

Entry #26: Phillip Tutor — The Anniston Star, Anniston, Ala.

• Entry form
• editorial – Those heathens in Anniston
• editorial – Rumblin' toward a mistake
• editorial – An Anniston primer for Mr. Johnson
• editorial – 3 questions about Anniston
• editorial – The guns on our streets
• editorial – Who really wants to be vice mayor?

Entry #27: Chris Wessel — The Sun, Jonesboro, Ark.

• Entry form
• editorial – Judge's error cost child's innocence
• editorial – Remove judges who are soft on pedophiles
• editorial – Lenient sentences haunt new victims

Entry #28: Chris Wille — The Bradenton Herald, Bradenton, Fla.

• Entry form
• Letter to contest judges
• Two editorials
  • Mismanagement at Bradenton Housing Authority
  • BHA board should be transparent to public
• Three editorials
  • BHA board, city cannot brush off responsibility
  • BHA on prudent path to recover from scandal
  • BHA on road to recovery with policy reforms