20 entries received in the "over 50,000" circulation bracket

Twenty entries have been received in the larger circulation bracket (over 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 at an Awards Breakfast on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at the News Industry Summit in Sarasota, Fla. 

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: David Barham and Paul Greenberg — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Ark.

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  • An example to follow
  • A lesson from the past

Entry #2: Ned Barnett — The News & Observer, Raleigh, N.C.

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  • The myth of the Medicaid monster
  • Medicaid holdout puts infants at risk
  • Goodwin: The 'stubborn tax' hikes N.C. premiums

Entry #3: John Brummett — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Ark.

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  • The urge to purge
  • The problem of the purge
  • Parsimony on pause
  • What a waste
  • This is compassion?

Entry #4: Roger Chesley — The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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  • Chesapeake, it's time to make a city pool a priority
  • Partnerships are alternative to building new pools
  • Dearth of public pools makes Suffolk, Chesapeake less safe
  • Nonprofit has big dreams for big pool, other services

Entry #5: Brian Colligan — The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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  • Open the doors at Portsmouth City Hall
  • The future of Portsmouth
  • Portsmouth City Council's continued descent
  • Portsmouth loses millions it can't afford
  • A call to action in Portsmouth
  • Portsmouth governance out of tune

Entry #6: Stephanie Grace — The Advocate, Baton Rouge, La.

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  • Letter to judges
  • Lawmakers support Medicaid deal – sort of
  • Debate between Jindal, Kasich could prove interesting
  • 'Obamacare' now gaining acceptance
  • Executive order includes some scolding
  • Medicare proposal could help Louisiana
  • Do we really have a consensus on Medicaid?

Entry #7: Sharon Grigsby — The Dallas Morning News, Dallas, Texas

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  • A to-do list to stop strays
  • Find a doggone solution
  • Not dogged enough on strays
  • Pressure check on stray dogs
  • Still dogging the problem
  • Curbing loose-dog chaos

Entry #8: Anthony Barton Hinkle — Richmond Times-Dispatch, Richmond, Va.

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  • Does charity care require COPN?
  • It's time to kill useless health-care regs
  • Repeal COPN
  • To reduce inequality, cut red tape
  • With court ruling, COPN fix must come from lawmakers

Entry #9: Allen H. Johnson — News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.

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  • Pressing fast forward
  • Proactive police video
  • Images to come?
  • Treading too lightly
  • Release the footage
  • Bad to the bone

Entry #10: Allen H. Johnson and Douglas G. Clark — News & Record, Greensboro, N.C.

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  • Correct the mistake
  • Exposed: McCrory places his survival over state's interests
  • Anti-business bill
  • Rocked by the Boss
  • Look inside the Trojan Horse of N.C.'s election 'reform'
  • Low-wage control

Entry #11: Donald Luzzatto — The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

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  • Warmer water threatens the bay
  • Reason to stand with the EPA
  • U.S. should lead on climate change
  • $120 million bet on Norfolk's future
  • Another month, another record
  • Rising seas should jolt politicians

Entry #12: Philip Martin — Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Little Rock, Ark.

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  • Sometimes you need an adult
  • The passion of Hillary Clinton
  • Dad's not drunk, he's on meth
  • Dear people of the future ...
  • Why bullies win
  • Masked and anonymous: Sounding off in America

Entry #13: John Railey — Winston-Salem Journal, Winston-Salem, N.C.

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  • The naked emperor of voter suppression
  • What the hater reminded me about my father
  • Our full voting rights must be restored
  • Rejected ballots are troubling issue that must be corrected

Entry #14: John Railey and Mick Scott — Winston-Salem Journal, Winston-Salem, N.C.

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  • Governor, legislature must rescind costly 'Bathroom bill'
  • Resenting boycotters from beyond
  • Lack of enforcement plan shows HB2 is a costly farce
  • 'To seem, rather than to be'
  • Rescind this travesty called HB2
  • Applying Calpurnia's lesson to the 21st Century

Entry #15: Matt Reed — FLORIDA TODAY, Melbourne, Fla.

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  • Weak law costs us all
  • Join our push to cut Florida's 'corruption tax'
  • Corruption bill must beat politics as usual
  • Corruption bill meets critics in Tallahassee
  • To prosecute or tolerate?
  • 5 reasons Scott should sign corruption bill

Entry #16: Charles Rowe and Edward Buckley — The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.

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  • Two more reasons not to drill
  • Count the costs of oil spill damage
  • Rising tide against drilling
  • Rising chorus against drilling
  • Offshore oil not right for S.C.
  • Public wins on offshore drilling

Entry #17: Charles Rowe and Elsa MacDowell — The Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.

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  • Time to furl the Confederate flag
  • Advancing a flag resolution
  • S.C. will be watching flag vote
  • Divisive symbol rates removal
  • Historic S.C. triumph: Finally furling the flag
  • Unity and finality on the flag

Entry #18: Cindi Ross Scoppe — The State, Columbia, S.C.

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  • Honor slaughtered innocents with changed hearts
  • This flag debate is unlike the ones before
  • Flag decision must be made by South Carolinans
  • Bring down the flag, keep us together
  • Ignore monuments, or risk derailing flag removal
  • What's next? A  new kind of conversation

Entry #19: Pam Sohn and Clint Cooper — Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chattanooga, Tenn.

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  • Public needed reassurance it didn't get
  • School and county leaders must lead, not hide
  • State's priority schools response cries out for new leadership
  • School leadership is failing even with extra money
  • School board votes to march in place
  • It's school crunch time, and we have status quo

Entry #20: Rick Christie, Howard Goodman and Stacey Singer — The Palm Beach Post, West Palm Beach, Fla.

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  • Corey Jones dies, Florida becomes known as 'Gunshine State'
  • For our community's sake, we need to get this right
  • Aronberg has chance to prove his independence
  • Jones family's dignity a model for community
  • Focus change on police protocol, not just body cameras
  • Legislation right to tie body camera funds to police policy