Hesperia Star wins five Society of Professional Journalists awards

The Hesperia Star won five awards at the 2007 Southern California Excellence in Journalism Awards, including two for editorial writing.

Hesperia Star Editor Peter Day won second place for Best Entertainment Story/Feature for "Swingin' to success." The awards were given by the Inland Southern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, at the Riverside Marriott on Saturday evening.

Day also won third place for Best Editorial/Opinion Piece for "An original rides into the sunset." An anonymous SPJ judge wrote that it was "an engaging read."

Staff writer Beau Yarbrough won first place, for Best Law Enforcement/Legal Affairs Story, in the under 50,000 circulation category for "Necrophiliac belatedly lands in prison."

Yarbrough also won a second place award for "An awful week for a Virginia Tech graduate." An anonymous SPJ judge wrote, "shows how the Virginia Tech shooting hit close to home, even thousands of miles away."

Rounding out the awards, Yarbrough took home a third place award, for Best Breaking News Story "Smoke-out."

Other Freedom High Desert papers also took home awards. The Daily Press won 12 awards and the Desert Dispatch won seven awards.