by Rick Griffin
The East County Herald was a winner again in this year’s San Diego Press Club journalism writing awards. A story appearing in this “East County Biz” column was recognized in the “Non-daily Newspaper, Community Service/Public Affairs Report” category. It was the fourth consecutive year that the “East County Biz” column has received a writing award from the San Diego Press Club. Columnist Rick Griffin won four awards, including a first-place award, in this year’s competition. It was Griffin’s seventh consecutive year and 10th year out of the last 11 for winning a Press Club writing award. His awards were for stories written on behalf of Grossmont Healthcare District, Grossmont College and the Better Business Bureau. The San Diego Press Club’s journalism awards program is among the largest regional competitions in the United States. More than 340 awards were presented in 105 categories, with a 15 percent increase in the number of entries over the previous year. Judging was done by journalists in New Orleans, San Francisco, Syracuse, Tulsa, Milwaukee, Houston, Los Angeles, Cleveland and St. Louis.