Voice of OC reporters won four Orange County Press Club awards this week, including top honors in the investigative news category.
The first-place prize went to Adam Elmahrek for “Anaheim’s Green Deal Gone Bad,” an in-depth look at how former Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez and other officials were influenced by an alleged con artist, who sold the city of Anaheim on a green-energy project that ultimately failed and put a children’s park potentially at risk.
It was the second consecutive year that Voice of OC won the top investigative award.
Elmahrek was also awarded the third place award in the same category for a piece that revealed conflict of interest problems in Anaheim’s building division. Employees working under the city’s building division director had been outsourcing work to the director’s private firm.
Tracy Wood and David Washburn received the third-place award for a two-part series on Orange County’s disparities in parkland and how they affect community health.
Wood also received the third-place award for a article in the news/feature category.