July 14, 2005

Almaden Times wins 2004 CNPA newspaper awards

Three Almaden Times Weekly staff members were recognized last week by the California Newspaper Publishers Association for their excellence in journalism.

Almaden Times Weekly staff members Nate Levy, Diego Abeloos and Sheila Sanchez pose at the California Newspaper Publishers Association awards luncheon July 9 in San Francisco, where each of them walked away winners.

Top winners were announced at the CNPA awards luncheon at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco July 9.

Sports Writer Diego Abeloos was awarded second place against other weekly newspapers in the 11,000-25,000-circulation range for a sports story he wrote on the Pat Tillman Stadium dedication at Leland High School, which ran in the Nov. 19-26, 2004 issue. Abeloos came to the Times 10 months ago after graduating from San Jose State University with a journalism degree in writing and editing. Prior to his work at the Times, Diego spent two years as a freelance sports writer for the Palo Alto Daily News and as an editorial intern at the Los Altos Town Crier.

Webmaster Nate Levy won second place for the Almaden Times Weekly Web site, for California newspapers in the 11,001-25,000-circulation range. Levy has worked at the Times as the Webmaster and graphic designer since graduating from Silicon Valley College in 2001.

Staff Writer Sheila Sanchez was awarded a certificate of achievement in the freedom of information category for her 22-part city hall series, which delved into the inner workings of each municipal department and its directors. The series was among the top 10 percent advanced to the contest’s final Blue Ribbon judging committee.

Sanchez, a journalism graduate from Brigham Young University, began writing for the Times in March of 2004. She has won several awards from other journalism organizations for investigative reporting, spot news and news series. She’s been writing and editing newspapers since 1997, when she began her reporting career at the Los Angeles-based Spanish-language daily newspaper La Opinion, the largest in the United States.

“We are fortunate to have a very dedicated and talented staff at the Times,” said William Bellou, publisher of Times Media, Inc. “I’m very proud of the contributions that Diego, Nate and Sheila have made to the success of the Almaden Times Weekly. We will continue to work hard to provide the very best news coverage for the Almaden community.”

This is the first time that a Times newspaper has been eligible to enter submissions for awards because newspapers must be either weekly or daily to qualify for awards. In September of 2004, the Almaden Times Weekly celebrated its first year of publishing weekly after serving the Almaden Valley as a monthly publication since February of 1986. Readers have welcomed the additional news coverage of the Almaden community.