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Weekly-Times takes first in Public Service category
The Los Gatos Weekly-Times took a first place award in the Public Service category of the California Newspaper Publishers Association competition. Prizes were announced in San Diego on Aug. 12. The newspaper received the recognition for its ongoing campaign to put comprehensive senior services under one roof in Los Gatos.
The campaign kicked off June 30 with a front page story by Sandy Sims, which aimed to show that without a coordinator or a building to house a senior program, there was no glue holding together the varied services for which the town contracted. The story also pointed out that when the Neighborhood Center was built with Community Development Block Grant funding, the town had committed to at least 51 percent use by seniors.
The editorial in that same issue took the town to task for not making senior services a higher priority and calling for a comprehensive program under one roof, and a coordinator of these services.
Two Los Gatans--Egon Jensen and Jack Orlove--picked up the gauntlet and began organizing meetings to further explore the state of senior services in town. The newspaper covered their meetings and continued editorial support. By the end of the year, the town council had appointed an independent task force to look at senior services in the community.
In the spring, the town council approved a budget of $250,000 to make the Neighborhood Center more "senior friendly" as a first step toward putting services under one roof. The budget also allocated funds to hire a coordinator of senior services.
The Weekly-Times competed in the Public Service category with newspapers with a circulation of 11,000 to 25,000.
Other Silicon Valley Community Newspapers also took awards in the CNPA competition, including a General Excellence award for the Saratoga News, first place for Page Layout and Design for the Campbell Reporter, second place for Feature Story for the Sunnyvale Sun, and Best Local Spot News for the Cupertino Courier.
George Sakkestad, longtime Weekly-Times photographer who now works for Metro and Metro Santa Cruz, took a first place for Photo Essay in Metro Santa Cruz. Metro Santa Cruz also won a first place for Special Issue, and Metro took a first for Business or Financial Story and Metro won a first for Classified Advertising.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
