May 23, 2017 12:20 p.m.
Staff Report
For the fifth straight year, Hews Media Group-Los Cerritos Community News, Publisher Brian Hews and staff garnered six Los Angeles Press Club finalist nominations to be awarded at the 59th Annual Southern California Journalism Awards, June 25, 2017 at the Millennium Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles.
This year, the Los Angeles Press Club received more than 1,200 entries, up 20 percent from last year.
The contest was judged by journalists at press clubs across the nation, including the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
The nomination categories for HMG-CN are Investigative Series and Sports articles.
And for the first time, HMG-CN Publisher Brian Hews has been nominated for Journalist of the Year.
“It is an honor to be nominated with such talented journalists,” said Hews, “Loren and I are very fortunate just to be mentioned with them.”
HMG-CN Sports Editor Loren Kopff garnered three nominations in the Sports category.
The stories were:
Longtime Cerritos Girls Softball Association Board Member to Step Down
Ex Cerritos Stars Cameron, Iseri Close the Book on Their Freshmen Year of College
Whitney High’s Iseri Goes on a Trip of a Lifetime, Learns a Lot About Fukushima
The Los Angeles Business Journal’s David Nusbaum was also nominated in the category for his story titled Team Tackles New Deals.
Hews was once again nominated in the prestigious Investigative Series category.
Hews’ exposé titled Governor Brown I- Bank Appointee Ruben Rojas Defrauded State, Several Other Employers exposed the graft and corruption at the highest level in the Montebello Unified School District.
The exposé led to the firing of MUSD Chief Business Officer Ruben Rojas and an eventual audit of the MUSD, which is ongoing, by the State of California.
Hews was also nominated for his article titled Questionable State Bid Process Leaves California HIV/AIDS Community In Jeopardy.
The story outlined how the California Department of Public Health/Office of AIDS blatantly and purposely violated several sections of the state’s Public Contract Code, the State Contract Manual, the Request for Proposal Process (RFP), and violated the Freedom of Information Act governing public records requests.
The article exposed that the CDPH/OA awarded a no-bid contract to A.J. Boggs, a Michigan based company, over Oakland based and minority owned Ramsell, who had administered the ADAP program for over 19 years.
The awarded contract ended up charging $9 million more over the term of the agreement.
Eddie Kim, Jon Regardie, and Sue Laris, of the Los Angeles Downtown News, were also nominated in the category for their story titled The Overlooked Homelessness Crisis: Women at Risk.
Daina Beth Solomon and Henry Meier of the Los Angeles Business Journal garnered a nomination for Prized Possessions.
Finally, Kevin Uhrich of the Pasadena Weekly was nominated for his story titled Family Fractures.
Hews was also nominated for the top honor in the competition, Journalist of the Year.
Also nominated for the honor were Brent Lang of Variety, Henry Meier of the Los Angeles Business Journal, Jon Regardie of the Los Angeles Downtown News, and Daina Beth Solomon of the Los Angeles Business Journal.
Brian and the entire staff, a job well done deserving of the recognition of all who value the integrity, honesty and truth in journalism.
Our deepest appreciation for your continued commitment to the foundation of our Constitution, Freedom of the press.