The Item won three awards in the New England Newspaper & Press Association’s annual Better Newspapers contest: first place in the “Front Page” category for an Aug. 30, 2019, feature package entitled, “Is There a Silver Bullet for Gun Control?” and second-place for another front page, this one called “The Essentials;” and for senior writer Steve Krause’s commentary, “Life Sentence Not Even Close To Being Long Enough.”
On Aug. 3, 2019, a mass shooting in El Paso left 23 dead and 23 wounded in a Walmart. Item reporters and editors shared their feelings on the subject of gun violence. The Page 1 design for the project featured six articles, five by the staff and one by former Lynn Mayor J. Warren Cassidy, the former president of the National Rifle Association, displayed around a graphic of an assault rifle.
With the COVID-19 pandemic already more than a month old, The Item’s design team sprung into action again, putting together a front page consisting of eight pictures depicting a UPS driver, a Dunkin’ staffer, a Post Office worker, a trash collector, liquor store employees, fruit store owners, bankers and a gas station attendant, and labeling the project “The Essentials: Portraits of the People Keeping Everyday Life Going.”
Krause’s column was personal. A high school friend of his niece’s (they’d played softball together for St. Mary’s), Vanessa (Masucci) MacCormack, was murdered by her husband in September 2017. He was found guilty of first-degree murder in November 2019 and sentenced to life in prison Dec. 2. The column summarized the tragedy and touched on Krause’s friendship with the family.
“It’s always rewarding to be recognized by your peers,” said Ted Grant, publisher of The Item. “I’m happy for everyone involved, and particularly for Steve.”