Town Crier team up for six awards

Valentine’s Day turned out lovely for the Town Crier as we received word we’re finalists for six provincial newspaper awards.

Leading the way is Omar Mosleh whose work took two of the three finalist spots in the best news story category for papers over 10,000 in circulation.

Mosleh’s story “Casa to become casino?” from our Forest Hill edition looked at various proposals for what should be done with Casa Loma now that the city fully controlled the iconic landmark. The story also looked at both the recent history of the site and the challenges it faces going forward.

Writing in Toronto Today, Mosleh’s second story “For rich or poor” takes a frank look at the city’s housing crisis. It juxtaposes the high price real estate boom that is occurring in much of the city with the fact that Toronto Community Housing’s waiting list for accommodation is over 80,000 names long.

Shawn Star continued Town Crier’s history of quality education writing with his story “Beyond rote learning” published in our September 2012 Education Guide. Here Star looks at new and innovative ways teachers are helping their students learn math by understanding the concepts and encouraging them to use their own methods to discover the right answer.

View from the Beach columnist Sandra Bussin is on the short list for Columnist of the Year for her writing on politics. Specifically, Bussin was lauded for her columns decrying Mayor Rob Ford’s handling of the city’s finances, city services and for the lack of civility at city hall.

Town Crier and Toronto Today’s websites are once again finalists in the Ontario Community Newspapers Association member chosen Surfer’s Selection category.

Winners will be announced at a gala banquet on March 22.