​In the recently announced Association of Food Journalists awards, VVM writers brought home nine awards, including four first-place trophies. Leading the way for VVM was the Riverfront Times of St. Louis; the RFT's Kristin Hinman took first-place in Newspaper Food News Story, while the paper's Brooke Foster won it all in Newspaper Food Feature. Venerable LA Weekly food writer Jonathan Gold won three awards, including first-place in Newspaper Restaurant Criticism, while Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press took top honors in Food Multimedia Presentation. In all, VVM was honored more than any other media organization; other home-team honorees included the Dallas Observer's "City of Ate" food blog, and Ian Froeb of the RFT, whose third-place finish in Newspaper Restaurant Criticism meant that VVM took two of the three slots in that marquee category. The AFJ winners were announced at the group's annual convention in Charleston, South Carolina.

​The Village Voice has received eight nominations in this year's AltWeekly Awards, more than any other publication. Miami New Times, LA Weekly and the Riverfront Times each received five nominations, while the Dallas Observer, the Houston Press, Phoenix New Times and SF Weekly will each take home four awards. Winners will be announced later this month at the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies' annual convention in New Orleans. All VVM publications compete in the "large circulation" category, and this year swept the Public Service, Long-Form News Story and Cover Design categories.

Livingston winner Sarah Fenske

​Longtime VVM writer and editor Sarah Fenske has won the 2010 Livingston Award for local reporting. Fenske, now the managing editor at the Riverfront Times in St. Louis, received the honor for "Mr. Big Stuff," an expose she wrote while working as a staff writer at Phoenix New Times. Her articles revealed nepotism and cronyism at the Housing Authority of Maricopa County, and ultimately forced the resignation of the authority's director. Fenske's award was announced by Dean Baquet, Washington bureau chief of The New York Times, who was one of this year's Livingston judges. Also honored as Livingston finalists this year were Peter Jamison of VVM's SF Weekly and Kristen Hinman, formerly a staff writer at the Riverfront Times and now a special contributing writer to the company. The Livingstons are the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in the country; since 2000, four VVM writers have won the Livingston and 22 have been named finalists--more than any other American media organization.

​Food writers at five different VVM publications have been named finalists in this year's Association of Food Journalists Awards--including two of the three contenders for Best Newspaper Restaurant Criticism. Jonathan Gold of LA Weekly and Ian Froeb of the Riverfront Times in St. Louis are in contention for the nation's top-critic honors, competing against Edmund Tijerina of the San Antonio Express-News. Gold is also a finalist for Best Newspaper Food Feature. The RFT had an especially good year; in addition to Froeb's nod, Kristen Hinman is a finalist for Best Newspaper Food News Story and Brooke Foster is in the running for Best Newspaper Food Feature. Other VVM writers vying for honors are Katharine Shilcutt of the Houston Press for Best Multimedia Food Presentation, Robert Sietsema of the Village Voice for Best Food Essay, and the staff of the Dallas Observer's "City of Ate" for Best Food Blog. Winners will be announced at the AFJ's annual convention October 6 in Charleston, South Carolina.

​The Livingston Awards for Young Journalists, the nation's preeminent all-media reporting contest, has named three VVM writers finalists in this year's competition. Phoenix New Times staff writer Sarah Fenske (now managing editor at the Riverfront Times in St. Louis) joined former RFT staff writer (now VVM contributing writer) Kristen Hinman and SF Weekly staff writer Peter Jamison on the list of honorees. Winners will be announced on June 7, and will receive $10,000 prizes. In the past decade, VVM has had more Livingston winners and finalists than any other American media organization.

John Nova Lomax of the Houston Press.

​Stories and columns by two VVM writers have just been named winners in the Association for Women in Communication's annual Clarion Awards. Sarah Fenske, now the managing editor for VVM's Riverfront Times in St. Louis, took first place in newspaper opinion columns for a series of columns she wrote last year as a staff writer for Phoenix New Times. Those columns included investigative exposes about US Airways flight attendants who were punished for pointing out safety problems with an aircraft and a city councilman who stood to gain if a freeway extension was built. Fenske's win was especially notable because it marked the third year in a row the Clarions named her the nation's best newspaper opinion columnist. John Nova Lomax, a staff writer at the Houston Press, was honored as the winner in newspaper feature stories for a remarkable story about a man's experiences as a resident of America's only mainland leper colony. Other newspaper winners this year included the Wall Street Journal and the Kansas City Star.

Kristen Hinman

​Kristen Hinman, the award-winning staff writer for VVM's Riverfront Times in St. Louis, wowed the crowd at last weekend's Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference in Dallas. The annual gathering, organized by the University of North Texas and held at the rustic airport Hilton, celebrates narrative writing across the publishing spectrum, including newspapers, online, magazines and books. This year's other speakers included the inimitable Gary Smith of Sports Illustrated fame, who proved as humble in person as his high-concept stories are intimidating (and inspiring) to other writers, and Black Hawk Down author Mark Bowden, the former Philadelphia newspaper reporter whose well-received keynote speech carried a subversive central theme: don't be afraid to fight with your editor. Hinman, who recently moved to Washington, D.C. after six years at the RFT, was invited to Dallas to talk about the art of profile writing. The crowd closely followed her play-by-play of the challenges--and personal attacks--she faced when telling the story of irascible St. Louis sports-talk-radio host Kevin Slaten.

A bold new look for the River City.

​As the U.S. Park Service mulls proposals to redesign the grounds surrounding the famous Gateway Arch, more intrepid minds are working several steps ahead. In this week's Riverfront Times, the paper's crack staff asks a simple question: Why stop at just the grounds? Indeed, why not think truly big--and consider how the arch itself could be updated for the modern era? After gaining incredible access to the architectural ruminations of a wide range of local visionaries, the RFT presents a smorgasbord of aesthetic options, ranging from a proposal to widen the arch to accommodate today's huskier populace to a grand plan involving a giant swing and plus-sized lingerie. As our featured story of the week, we recommend "A New Arch for a New St. Louis."

Kholood Eid

A St. Louis chef struts his stuff.

​The Riverfront Times, VVM's publication in St. Louis, recently invited the city's restaurant workers--especially the tattooed ones--to a party. The concept? To celebrate the growing subculture of "kitchen ink"--that is, chefs who combine their culinary pursuits with eye-catching body art. After getting a huge response to Jennifer Silverberg's April photos of inked-up local restaurateurs, editor Tom Finkel decided to bring together the tattooed masters and the people who love them for an event combining Silverberg's art and plenty of free beer, all to benefit local food banks.