for determining that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo broke a federal law protecting eagles when he picked up a feather during a canoe trip and kept it. https://bit.ly/2nGiwzC
for her exclusive story about how the U.S. Coast Guard and Mexican Navy were going after drug smugglers on the high seas – even as the two countries' governments sparred on trade and immigration. https://bit.ly/2q9kvNU
for using open records requests and data analysis to show that dubious “high threat” arrests are being used to help justify spending $1 billion to secure the Texas-Mexico border, even though some involve small crimes, first-time offenders or offenses that occurred far from the border. http://bit.ly/2ebDwYT
for pursuing the story that an Iranian airline backed by the Revolutionary Guard was flying into Europe and Asia in violation of US terror sanctions. http://apne.ws/2eE79SG
for being first to report that Yale University had reached a $3 million settlement with the family of a graduate student, who was slain inside a research lab just days before her planned wedding in 2009.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/de084c9260a04d1b828...
for disclosing that a critical and costly operation in the fight against the Islamic State group is beset with incompetence, cronyism and flawed data. http://apne.ws/2kQB4df
When BuzzFeed broke the news that the longest-serving current U.S. House member had settled a sexual harassment complaint, one notable thing missing was comment from U.S. Rep. John Conyers himself. The 88-year-old Conyers rarely gives interviews anymore, deferring to his staff to issue statements or simply not responding.
Congress was on Thanksgiving break, but News Editor Roger Schneider suggested that video journalist Mike Householder and reporter Corey Williams drop by Conyers’ Detroit home. They knew it was a long shot – Corey and Mike had been to Conyers’ house before, and knew it was gated.
To their surprise, Conyers answered their ring.
Conyers answered a few questions, giving Williams and Householder a major beat: He denied settling sexual harassment claims and other allegations of inappropriate touching of staffers.
For aggressive reporting that paid off with an exclusive on one of the week’s top stories, Williams and Householder share this week’s Best of the States prize.
for following up after President Donald Trump’s executive order asking federal agencies to seek citizenship information when the U.S. Supreme Court said the question couldn't be included in the 2020 Census. Schneider learned something the Census Bureau wasn’t eager to reveal – that they were in the process of asking motor vehicle divisions in all 50 states to provide information from driver’s license data, including citizenship status. https://bit.ly/32KWOO3
for breaking the news that U.S. officials had accused New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio and his police security detail of violating both US and Mexican law by crossing the border on foot during a visit near El Paso, Texas. https://bit.ly/2L7vq8a
Thanks to years of covering Olympic sports, AP has long been a sounding board to many in the Olympic movement.Read more
scored huge play with print, online and video customers with a deeply reported, all-formats examination of the crash of the U.S. West Coast’s legal marijuana industry in the absence of federal legalization. Read more.
for mining an exclusive data set to reveal – just as heavy rains and flooding in the Southeast put several dams on the brink of failure – that hundreds of dams in the region lack required emergency action plans to help authorities and downstream residents respond to the threat. https://bit.ly/2T1x3Gx
for getting the news out of North Korea’s attack on U.S. negotiators, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ahead of the competition. https://bit.ly/2ubIa2R
for breaking the news that after 35 years in Congress from Michigan, U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, a Democrat who chaired the House Ways and Means Committee during passage of the Affordable Care Act, would not seek re-election. http://bit.ly/2iIGOqs
for reporting exclusively that the U.S. ignored warnings about rising seas when spending nearly $1 billion to build a space debris tracking installation on a Pacific atoll. http://wapo.st/2eSdz1D
for scoring an APNewsBreak on one of the most important details of how Olympic leaders in the United States are handling sexual abuse cases, finding that $2.2 million in key federal funds could not be used for the most pressing need of investigating any cases, with a backlog of more than 800 to be resolved. https://bit.ly/2TbqAqE
for their teamwork and persistence that led to two major scoops on a story of international interest: the arrest by U.S. authorities of a prominent Iranian anchorwoman. AP was first to report the release of Marzieh Hashemi, and scored the first interview with her –- ahead of even her own network.https://bit.ly/2WAGRqNhttps://bit.ly/2G4CLSMhttps://bit.ly/2D4tYMK
reported exclusively that a group of U.S. Catholic bishops was working to pressure President Joe Biden to stop taking Communion due to his public advocacy for abortion rights.The story came together after Crary, New York-based national writer, decided to update his reporting on the uneasy relationship between the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Biden, only the second Catholic president and the first to publicly support abortion rights in contradiction of church teaching. Early on in his reporting, Crary learned that the USCCB’s doctrine committee had been assigned to prepare a document addressing Biden. Using his contacts, Crary was able to arrange interviews with two archbishops, who made clear for the first time their goal to publicly confront Biden and urge that he refrain from receiving Communion. https://bit.ly/3elE27U
for their AP investigation that found that a company owned by a big U.S. political donor had profited by guiding dubious businesses to circumvent anti-money-laundering protections.https://bit.ly/2KEBEaxhttps://bit.ly/2AX87cp
for uncovering a series of deals made by U.S. allies in Yemen with al-Qaida and revealing how closely they fight together against the rebels. https://bit.ly/2MpnKL5