THE BEST OF THE PRESS
Illinois Times staff
writer Dusty Rhodes has won first place for best investigative-enterprise
reporting in the Illinois Press Association’s annual journalism
contest. The award, presented Friday, was given for “Precious
medals,” published on March 31. The story showed how military records
contradict claims by Joe Wilkins that he earned a Silver Star and two
Purple Hearts in Vietnam. Wilkins, a retired professor at the University of
Illinois at Springfield, has been an influential advisor to local
government officials. Rhodes, who writes a biweekly column titled
“Fresh Ink,” also won first place in the column-writing
category. Judges wrote: “Dusty’s touch of humanity along with
the dagger wins the day.” Rhodes also won third place in the
feature-writing category and an honorable mention in the news-reporting
category. Former IT writer Todd Spivak, now a staff writer with the Houston Press, won first place
in the personality-profile category for his cover story about Chicago
legislator Larry McKeon. His story, “Out, but not down,” was
published March 24. Freelance writer Joan Villa of White Heath won third
place in the business-reporting category for a feature on alpaca farming.
AMERICA’S PLACE IN THE WORLD
The Hoogland Center for the Arts is the venue for an
all-day teach-in next week on U.S. foreign policy. “America’s
Place in the World” will be held 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29, at
the center, 420 S. Sixth St. Among those scheduled to make presentations: Mary Ann
McGivern, past U.S. director of the United Nations office of the
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and Tom Stringer,
a local speaker on the CIA. Millikin University’s Amnesty
International student group will host a panel discussion. Workshop
participants will examine U.S. food production, the Middle East, global
warming, nonviolent solutions to terrorism, and international labor issues.
The cost is $25 for those who preregister and $30 on
the day of the event. Students get in for $10. For more information, call
217-544-3997 or 217-899-2743.
This article appears in Oct 20-26, 2005.
