Tag Archives: reporting

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News Writer of the Year by Gatehouse Media

Justine Griffin was awarded the News Writer of the Year award for 2014 by Gatehouse Media, the parent company of the Herald-Tribune Media Group for the “Best of GateHouse 2014” awards, which included entries from newspapers across the media player’s hundreds of publications.

“Justine Griffin’s first-person report on egg harvesting is so different, so deep in detail, and such a good story that it alone pushes her to the top of a very competitive field. It’s a gutsy move to undergo a risky procedure and write about virtually every detail,” the judges said.

Third place in the projects category went to business writer Griffin for her first-person story about the pitfalls of egg donation, “The Cost of Life.”

Griffin also won second place for “Multimedia Journalist of the Year.”

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Foundation raises funds for Nathan Benderson Park

By Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune

A new foundation headed by community and political leaders has raised $3.5 million for Nathan Benderson Park and hopes to raise at least $11 million in private donations for the emerging international rowing venue over the next 12 months.

The Nathan Benderson Park Foundation, headed by Randy Benderson of the Manatee County-based real estate firm, aims to be the fundraising arm that will draw the private financial support needed to complete the rowing facility’s major structures. The nonprofit organization, which is separate from the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Associates — another nonprofit that is responsible for the park operations — will continue to raise donations to help build towers at the start and finish lines, a boathouse and several other buildings at the park.

“When the Sarasota Scullers Rowing Club came to us with an idea for the rowing park, we never thought this would become what it is now — one of the top facilities in the world,” Benderson said. “While the foundation is only a month old, we’ve been talking about fundraising efforts and working hard to get to this point.”

The foundation hopes to raise $5 million to $6 million by the start of 2015, said Mike Bennett, a former state senator and the Manatee County elections supervisor who was named to the foundation’s inaugural board.

Read more here.

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Drivers, don’t fret — Gas prices should ease further

blaserPhoto by Mike Lang, Herald-Tribune staff

Story by Justine Griffin for the Herald-Tribune.

John Blaser cringes every time he pulls into a gas station.

As the owner of a Sarasota-based landscaping company, he is on the road a lot, moving from one job to the next.

But lately, he has been feeling the pinch at the pump, as gas prices peaked last week at an average of $3.78 per gallon.

“I just don’t want to see it at $4.10 a gallon by the end of summer,” said Blaser, who owns Native Son Landscaping, which services Sarasota and Manatee counties. “The gas market is volatile. I know prices will fluctuate and eventually go down again, but I doubt it will go down that much.”

Drivers, rest assured: Prices will likely drop some and stabilize for the summer, analysts say, as oil refineries switch from a winter blend to a summer blend of gas. The Sarasota-Venice-Bradenton market felt some relief this week — prices hovered in the $3.73 range — but retail prices are still 30 cents more than they were a year ago, AAA data shows.

Read more here.