The entry was chosen unanimously by editors of the Rapid City Journal. It also won first place in the Feature Writing portion of the competition. The sweepstakes award is selected from all first-place winners in the annual Missouri APME News Writing Contest.

The contest drew 227 entries from 16 newspapers and was judged by newspaper staffs from South Dakota and North Dakota. The awards were presented Friday in Branson at the Missouri APME annual convention.

Here is a list of contest winners:

†Sweepstakes Award:

The Kansas City Star, "To the Brink and Back" by Lee Hill Kavanaugh.

†Division I

†Newspapers in cities with more than 50,000 population.

†Spot News:

1. The Kansas City Star, "Tragedy, Trauma in Liberty" by Joe Robertson, Glenn E. Rice, Mike Rice, Paul Wenske, Mike Sherry, Mike Ransdell, Jill Toyoshiba and Dave Eulitt.

2. The Kansas City Star, "Two charged with murder," by John Shultz, Christine Vendel, Matt Campbell, Steve Penn, Joe Robertson, Laura Bauer, Lee Hill Kavanaugh, Lynn Horsley, Fred Blocher, David Pulliam and Shane Keyser.

3. The Kansas City Star, "BTK Arrest Elates Wichita," by David Klepper, Laura Bauer, Rick Montgomery and David Pulliam.

†Feature Writing:

1. The Kansas City Star, "To the Brink and Back," by Lee Hill Kavanaugh.

2. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Holy Family Parts Ways," by David Hunn.

3. St. Joseph News-Press, "Home Front: Mound City Family Reports for Duty," by Kristin Hare.

†Spot Sports:

1. The Kansas City Star, "A Purple Heart," by Staff.

2. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Homecoming King," by Staff.

3. St. Joseph News-Press, "Cats Fall Short in Title Game," by Scott Dochterman and Eddie Burns.

†Sports Feature:

1. The Kansas City Star, "A Family Doomed to Die," by Wright Thompson..

2. The Kansas City Star, "Long Way Home," by Elizabeth Merrill.

3. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Shades of Gray _ The real story of Texas Western's 1966 NCAA title victory over Kentucky goes much deeper than black and white," by Vahe Gregorian.

†Community Affairs/Public Interest:

1. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "What Rape?" by Jeremy Kohler..

2. The Kansas City Star, "HEDFC Housing Scandal," by Mike Mansur and Mike McGraw.

3. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Lives on the Line," by Deborah L. Shelton.

†Headline Writing:

1. St. Louis Post-Dispatch, "Bad Spelling: It's a Sing of the Times," by Kathy Richardson and Avis Meyer.

2. St. Joseph News-Press, "New Orleans Sinks into Anarchy/Storms Survivors Struggle to Escape Chaotic Conditions," by Bob Berggren.

3. The Kansas City Star, "Where There's a Quill, There's a Way ... DNA," by Don Munday.

†Division II

†Newspapers in cities of 15,000 to 50,000 population.

†Spot News:

1. The Joplin Globe, "Trail of Slayings," by Jeff Lehr.

2. The (Cape Girardeau) Southeast Missourian, "Taum Sauk Levee Breaks," by Rudi Keller and T.J. Greaney.

3. The Joplin Globe, "Fort Scott Ravages," by Jeff Lehr.

†Feature Writing:

1. The Joplin Globe, "The Season," by Derek Spellman.

2. The Joplin Globe, "I knew What I had to do," by Jeff Lehr.

3. The Sedalia Democrat, "Mission: McComb," by Kaye Fair.

†Spot Sports:

1. The Joplin Globe, "Cubs Earn Emotional Victory," by Ryan Malashock..

2. The Joplin Globe, "MSSU Football Coach Dies," by Jim Fryar.

3. The (Cape Girardeau Southeast Missourian, "Source says Samuel has Football Job," by Marty Mishow.

†Sports Feature:

1. The Joplin Globe, "The Season," by Derek Spellman.

2. The Joplin Globe, "Renewed Appreciation," by Ryan Malashock.

3. The Sedalia Democrat, "Liver Transplant Reveals Cancer in Northwest Coach," by Tim Davis.

†Community Affairs/Public Interest:

1. The (Cape Girardeau) Southeast Missourian, "Trash," by Staff.

2. The Joplin Globe, "Joplin Police Harass, Intimidate 11 Year Old," by Jeff Wells and Staff.

3. The Joplin Globe, "Foster Care Shooting," by Jeff Lehr..

†Headline Writing:

1. The (Cape Girardeau) Southeast Missourian, "Improved Cache Flow," by Bob Miller.

2. The Sedalia Democrat, "Neighbors Squawk Over City Chickens," by Roger Hooker.

3. The Sedalia Democrat, "No. 1 in No. 2 Biz," by Didier Bahuaud.

†Division III

†Newspapers with less than 15,000 population.

†Spot News:

1. (Park Hills) Daily Journal, "Student in Custody After Shooting at Farmington High/Students, Parents Shaken After Shooting," by Paul Barr, Donna Hickman and Doug Smith.

2. Washington Missourian, "Anhydrous Ammonia Leak Prompts Evacuation" by Ed Pruneau.

3. (Park Hills) Daily Journal, "Taum Sauk Dam Fails/Phones Ring off the Hook," by Donna Hickman, Chris Cline, Teresa Ressel, Paula Barr, Renee Jean and Sherry Greminger.

†Feature Writing:

1. The Fulton Sun, "The Longest Night: To Vietnam Vets Reunite 36 Years After Bloody Battle," by Jon Hetzel.

2. The Fulton Sun, "Service is its Own Reward for Raceways Rescue Crew," by Colin E. Suchland.

3. Neosho Daily News, "Coming Home," by John Ford.

†Spot Sports:

1. Neosho Daily News, "Lions Lose Their Leader," by Cody Thorn.

2. Branson Daily News, "Bobcats Shuffle the Cards," by Pat Dailey.

3. Washington Missourian, "Junior Legion State Champions," by Bill Battle.

†Sports Feature:

1. Branson Daily News, "Tender-hearted 'Tigress,'" by Pat Dailey.

2. Branson Daily News, "Typical Teens," by Pat Dailey.

3. Washington Missourian, "Lights Return to Borgia," by Craig Vonder Haar.

†Community Affairs/Public Interest:

1. Neosho Daily News, "The Moark Issue," by Rick Rogers, Buzz Ball, John Ford, Todd G. Higdon and Wes Franklin.

2. Neosho Daily News, "Survivors," by Kay Hively Michelle Pippin, Rick Rogers and Buzz Ball.

3. Neosho Daily News, "Medicaid," by Wes Franklin.

†Headline Writing:

1. Lebanon Daily Record, "Big Crowd Loud, Big Crowd Proud, Big Crowd Wowed," by Chris Wrinkle.

2. The Fulton Sun, "Westminster Duo 'Bound' and Determined to Help Hurricane Survivors," by Katherine Cummings and Colin E. Suchland.