And the hits just keep on coming, folks. Washington City Paper contributor Arthur Delaney has won the Street Sense David Pike Excellence in Journalism award for “Median Man,” his District Line story (Sept. 7, 2007) about “Billi,” a man living off I-395 under the 9th Street overpass. Thousands of commuters passed Billi every day, as he made his life dropping furniture from the overpass and collecting weeds he thought were good to eat. He was eventually kicked out.

Delaney, who has been writing for City Paper for several years, has penned some sweet stories about people in nontraditional D.C. dwellings. If you like “Median Man,” check out “Crash Time” about a gentleman living in the Days Inn parking lot at New York Avenue and Bladensburg Road. “I put the seat back and went to sleep,” says Terry Gibbs. “I slept like a baby, and I’ve been here ever since.”

The Street Sense award honors Pike, a 40-year journalist, former board member, and volunteer for D.C.’s respected homeless paper who died unexpectedly last year. The ceremony is this Thursday at the National Press Club, where Delaney will be asked to say a few words alongside keynote speakers Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post and Phil Mangano of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness.

Nice work, Arthur!

Just announced: Dave Jamieson, a former Washington City Paper staff writer, has just won the prestigious Livingston Award for his story “Letters From an Arsonist.” The story—a must read!—ran as the cover story on June 1, 2007. The award brings with it not just a rubber-chicken lunch, but $10,000.

It’s a big deal. The Livingston Awards, which are given out to journalists under 35 and are the nation’s largest all-media reporting prizes, are always a big deal. Jamieson, who won in the local reporting category, had to beat out heavyweights at the Washington Post and other fine publications and broadcast networks with more resources.

But this is no upset. His story exemplified what all great stories do. It uncovered—with rich details and new facts—the story of the arsonist who burned our city for years and years. The story provided a haunting, unforgettable profile of the man behind all those fires and also broke serious news. Through dogged investigative work, Jamieson uncovered that the man was responsible for more than the one death that had been previously reported—and had to inform the children of two of the victims that their parents did not die as the result of an “accidental” fire.

While most of you have read his piece, few of you have an idea of what Jamieson went through to get his story just right. The arsonist’s letters would come in batches and then suddenly stop. A trip out to the Indiana prison for a one-on-one interview came to nothing. But he stuck with it for a year.

The story is a testament to what journalism can do and should do more often. In this era of cutbacks and imperatives to blog!blog!blog! Jamieson proved that journalism is still best served by expert reporting and expert writing. There’s not a wasted sentence in his piece (credit should go to his editors Erik Wemple, Andrew Beaujon, and Jule Banville as well). If you want a textbook case of why this publication should still matter to District residents and its owners down south, this is it.

So today, we are inspired by Jamieson’s news. And we will continue to be inspired by Jamieson’s arsonist story and his feature pieces.

Congrats, man. You earned it.

(photo by Darrow Montgomery)

The AltWeekly Awards announced finalists for its final category today, placing Washington City Paper among the top three for Editorial Layout, circulation over 55,000. That bring’s CP’s total to seven, second only to L.A. Weekly, which has eight finalists this year.

Congratulations to our former, much-missed, hugely talented art director Pete Morelewicz, whose layout for “Sects Appeal,” a lighthearted look at alternative Christian churches, impressed what we’re sure is an impressive list of judges. The story, written by Aaron Leitko and illustrated by Tom Deja, appeared in the cover slot of the April 6, 2007, issue. That issue also launched Morelewicz’s redesign of the paper.

City Paper’s other finalists include former staff writers Dave Jamieson and Joe Eaton in the feature category, staff photographer Darrow Montgomery, the CP staff for this very blog, Jeffry Cudlin for arts criticism, and former staff writer Sarah Godfrey for music criticism. Congrats all around!

The 2008 AltWeekly Awards finalists, announced yesterday, include six from Washington City Paper, which also published two out of the three stories nominated for best feature among the highest-circulation altweeklies in the U.S. and Canada.

The City Paper was also named among finalists in the photography, blog, arts criticism, and music criticism categories for papers with circulations above 55,000. Only the L.A. Weekly, with eight nominations, received more nods than Washington City Paper. More than 1,400 entries from 129 papers were submitted.

Dave Jamieson’s June 1, 2007, cover story, “Letters From an Arsonist,” about the motivations of a man who torched D.C. for decades, and Joe Eaton’s Sept. 28, 2007, cover story, “The Battle Over Heavy T,” about an obese teenager on the run from social workers, were feature finalists. Jamieson has also been named a finalist in the local reporting category for the Livingston Award, a national award for journalists younger than 35.

Staff Photographer Darrow Montgomery, who has been with City Paper for more than 20 years, was also named a 2008 finalist. He has previously won three AltWeekly Awards, including one for first place.

In the Arts Criticism category, Jeffry Cudlin was named a finalist for reviews on the artwork of Edward Hopper, Wolfgang Tillman, and Mingering Mike, and for his review of Modernism: Designing a New World at the Corcoran.

Sarah Godrey is a finalist in the music criticism category based on her reviews of artists Trey Songz, J. Holiday, 50 Cent, Kanye West, and T.I..

The Washington City Paper staff blog, City Desk, was named among the three best blogs for circulation 55,000 and over. The blog was judged overall and for three submitted entries, including breaking news by Arthur Delaney from the Eastern Market fire, Show & Tell Columnist Amanda Hess’ take on “Yuppies, Goths, and Other Groups I Don’t Identify With,” and the tax scam hearing liveblog by Loose Lips Columnist Mike DeBonis.

This is the 13th year for the AltWeekly Awards. Within the past 12, Washington City Paper has won 47 awards in the highest circulation categories, second only to the L.A. Weekly, which has won 61. Third-highest among largest-circ award-winners is City Pages (Twin Cities) at 28, according to the Association for Alternative Newsweeklies.

UPDATE: The AltWeekly Awards announced winners in one last category—editorial layout—naming former art director Pete Morelewicz’s design for “Sects Appeal,” the cover story that ran April 6, 2007, among the year’s top layouts. That puts CP’s total count to seven.

Washington City Paper is owned by Creative Loafing, which also owns the Chicago Reader and Creative Loafing Atlanta, Charlotte, Tampa, and Sarasota.

Among the 2008 finalists, John Sugg from Creative Loafing Atlanta was a named in the Political Column category for circulation over 55,000. The Chicago Reader’s Lee Sandlin was also named a finalist for arts criticism.

The AltWeekly Awards honor superior journalism and graphic design among alternative newsweeklies. The contest seeks to promote excellence by recognizing work that is well written, incisively reported, and effectively challenges established orthodoxies. Winners will be announced at the annual Association of Alternative Newsweeklies convention, June 5-7, in Philadelphia.

Bicycling Magazine named D.C. it’s #1 Most Improved City for biking! Meaning, look how bad we used to suck and how hard we’re trying!

Their profile on D.C., coming out in their June issue, focuses on bells and whistles like the SmartBike program, sort of a Zipcar for bicycles. SmartBike is due to launch this month, with 10 stations and 120 bikes you can rent with a swipecard and return to any other station. It’s kind of cool, though I’m a little hard-pressed to think who needs it. Locals who want to bike probably have a bike already, and tourists wouldn’t pay the $40 annual membership fee if they’re visiting for a weekend.

Yes, bike valet parking at the stadium rocks. And yes, the new Bike Station they’re putting in at Union Station will rock. Now let’s just get back on track for building bike lanes (even Bicycling Magazine had to acknowledge that we’re just over halfway to where we should be with striped lanes at this point) and maybe next time around we’ll be #1 Most Awesome Bikey City Ever. Go, D.C., go!

Delayed congrats go out to City Paper alum Dave Jamieson, who has been named a finalist for the prestigious Livingston Award. Winners will be announced June 4. The Livingston honors journalists under the age of 35 and is the largest all-media, general reporting prize in American journalism. There are no separate categories for print, broadcast, or online entries.

CP submitted Dave’s riveting June 1, 2007, cover story, “Letters From an Arsonist,” in the local reporting category. He worked the story for more than a year, beginning with letters exchanged with Thomas Sweatt, who torched D.C. for decades before he was finally caught. The story reveals victims not even known to Sweatt. If you missed it, get on it.

If Dave wins, in addition to making us all proud, he’ll pocket $10,000 (and no doubt take out the person who submitted his application—hint, hint—for several beers. And maybe an app). Fingers crossed!

If you get one right, you’re way ahead.

Below please behold seven photographs, all of which will appear in Thursday’s Best Of D.C. issue. Your job is to identify the places pictured in the photographs. Pretty simple, Mr. D.C. Know-It-All! Please e-mail your entry to dmontgomery[at]washingtoncitypaper.com.

The first contestant to get all the the most right answers wins the famous Washington City Paper Prize Pack, which includes Landmark Theatre tix, fifty bucks toward a meal at Stars Bistro & Bar, plus various Washington City Paper products in a nice little tote.

Google won’t help you here, nor will any fancy computer tricks. Have at it.

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The Scripps Howard Foundation announced today that the Washington Post’s online investigation, Fixing D.C. Schools, is the winner of its National Journalism Award, web reporting category. WPNI gets a sweet trophy, $10,000, and the satisfaction of beating out the also-rans: Roanoke.com’s coverage of the Tech shootings and WSJ.com’s comprehensive take on the subprime mortgage fiasco.

The Post’s Anne Hull and Dana Priest were finalists in the public service reporting category for their series on the Walter Reed Medical Center, which has serious Pulitzer buzz. The winner in that category? The Chicago Tribune’s excellent investigation of another fiasco this year: the recall of toxic toys.

D.C. media racked up another win from a more suprising contender: WJLA-TV. The station received the top prize in Excellence in Electronic Media TV-Cable and the Jack R. Howard award for “Drilling for Dollars,” a five-month investigation into greedy dentists at Medicaid clinics, which resulted in the shutdown of two Small Smiles shops, one in D.C. and one in Langley Park, Md. Go I-Team!