The Prince George Citizen has three finalists in four categories for the Ma Murray Awards, presented by the British Columbia & Yukon Community Newspapers Association.
Samantha Wright Allen is a finalist in the feature series category for her work, entitled Life after Lakeland. The three-part series focused on victims of the explosion that ripped through Lakeland Mills on April 23, 2012.
Wright Allen's second nod is for the John Collison Memorial Award for Investigative Journalism for her story, called Living with brain injury, about the efforts of local residents, one of them a teenage girl, to rebuild their lives after sustaining debilitating head injuries.
Frank Peebles is a finalist for the Neville Shanks Memorial Award for Historical Writing for his work, entitled City's 100th anniversary built on village's ashes, a commentary about the ugly history of how the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation village was burned to the ground to make room for the City of Prince George.
Brent Braaten is a finalist for the Spot News Photo Award, for newspapers with circulation over 25,000, for his photograph entitled Nancy O's Fire where Braaten captured the image of a knife and fork placed on a plate across the street from the fire that had customers fleeing the premises the night before.
Last year, The Citizen produced two Ma Murray finalists and claimed the award in both categories. Reporter Christine Hinzmann captured the Online Innovation award while managing editor Neil Godbout took home the editorial award.
The winners of this year's Ma Murrays will be announced at a gala dinner and awards night on Saturday, May 7 at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond.
