Jared Hopkins '06 was named as a Finalist for the 2011 Pultizer Prize in Investigative Reporting.

Currently working for the Chicago Tribune, Hopkins and coworker Sam Roe were cited by the prize jury for their investigation, in print and online, of 13 deaths at a home for severely disabled children and young adults, resulting in closure of the facility.

The series, "Deadly Neglect," also won Third Place in Investigative Reporting at the National Headliner Awards, sponsored by the Press Club of Atlantic City. Read the series here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/neglect/.

Connor Sheets '07 was recently selected by the New York Press Association as 2010 Writer of the Year.

The award, part of the organization's Better Newpaper Contest, is a statewide honor. Sheets was selected from more than 2,600 submissions from 171 newpapers. The judges said of Sheets: "This writer is a story teller who has his finger on the pulse of his audience. His are stories that need to be told. Politics, breaking news, features or routine coverage pieces are all handled carefully. His body of work speaks for itself — journalism at its best."

"Sheets has been a reporter at the Times Ledger Newspapers since October, 2009. Queens is the most ethnically diverse county in the country, and as a result, the stories he covers run the gamut. He covered the arrests of two Afghan-American graduates of Flushing High School who were indicted for plotting to set off explosive devices in the NYC subway system. He has also written about the influx of Chinese and Korean immigrants — their growing pains and their triumphs; a freak tornado, a massive snow storm, murders, art shows, and more."

For more information about Connor and the NYPA's Better Newspaper Contest, visit: http://www.newyorkpressassociation.com/home.aspx