CBH writer, editor win statewide awards

MOSES LAKE — A pair of Columbia Basin employees have walked away with awards from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 2017 Better Newspaper Contest.

Sportswriter Rodney Harwood won first place for Best Sports Personality Profile, while Special Sections Editor Dana Moreno, along with former Herald employee Tera Redwine, won third place statewide for Ad of the Year.

“I’ve always prided myself on reading my words and hearing their story,” said Harwood, who has worked for the Herald since 2016.

Harwood’s award-winning story was a profile of bull rider Wade Leslie, who became the only person in the history of rodeo to have earned a perfect 100 score, only to later lose his ability to walk in a drunken auto accident.

“It was an exceptional ride, of historical value,” Harwood said. “Here’s a man who used to ride bulls for a living but can no longer walk.”

Harwood, who has worked as a writer and reporter across the West for 35 years, said as a feature writer he appreciates that there is a level of trust between rider and subject and that there’s a limited amount of time to get someone to open up.

“The person, his interests, what he likes, I try to find that with everybody I talk to. Sometimes it’s not there, but everybody’s got something,” he said.

Moreno, who has been working at the Herald since 1995, won for an advertisement done as part of the Moses Lake 360 promotional campaign.

“This is my passion. It’s what I love to do, and it’s not work for me,” Moreno said. “Our branding campaign for the Moses Lake Chamber (of Commerce), Tera Redwine rolled it out, and it’s doing immensely well.”

Moreno, who also edits Grant County Magazine and Adams County Magazine, has lived in Moses Lake for more than 20 years.

“I love living in Moses Lake, and I’m proud to win this award,” she said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.