Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Kalamazoo Gazette Entry Title: Finding solutions for Kalamazoo's homeless community Entry Credit: Ryan Boldrey Judge Comment: Wow. A 10-series story. Unheard of with newsroom shrinking staffs and budgets. I like the personal stories from the homeless people. The videos are a nice touch. Well done!
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: The Saginaw News Entry Title: 8,000 open jobs in mid-Michigan and a labor shortage. The reason is complicated Entry Credit: Heather Jordan Judge Comment: I like that this topic, which has been covered ad nauseum over the past year, tackled the problem from different angles. Lack of child care, lack of training and a plethora of remote job opportunities looked at in-depth. Great reporting all around.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Traverse City Record-Eagle Entry Title: Hospital room to the courtroom Entry Credit: Luca Powell Judge Comment: This topic is one that likely was of interest to most readers because of the pandemic. This was an interesting read about a timely topic.
