Five Michigan journalists will be honored with this year's Wade H. McCree, Jr. Awards for the Advancement of Justice. Detroit Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter and Detroit News reporters Wayne Woolley and George Hunter were winners in the print category. Interlochen Public Radio news manager Michelle Corum and producer/reporter Bob Allen were broadcast category winners.

The McCree Awards will be presented during the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Saturday, April 15, 2000 at Michigan State University's Kellogg Center in East Lansing.

The Detroit Free Press will be honored for a series of stories by David Ashenfelter entitled "Part-Time Justice." Ashenfelter's report began with a call from an outraged person who wanted the Free Press to investigate "rampant absenteeism" by judges at Detroit's 36th District Court. After analyzing attendance records from six large Detroit-area courts, Ashenfelter discovered that Detroit District Court judges had the worst attendance of all the courts he investigated. Shortly before the story was published, the Michigan Supreme Court imposed limits on the use of vacation and administrative leave and its administrative office required Michigan courts to start compiling judicial attendance records and provide them to citizens upon request.

Ashenfelter is a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for the Detroit Free Press where since 1982, he has worked as an investigative reporter, editor and courts reporter. He currently covers lawsuits in downtown Detroit courts as well as the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission. Before joining the Free Press he was a reporter with the Detroit News, where he covered the suburbs, then-Detroit Mayor Coleman Young, former Michigan Gov. William Milliken and Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker's 1980 Republican presidential campaign. This is his eighth McCree Award.

The Detroit News will be recognized for stories by reporters Wayne Woolley and George Hunter. Woolley and Hunter reported on how and why drug dealers hold Detroit neighborhoods hostage, operating out of crack houses where crime rules and residents are terrified. Their two-day report entitled "Poverty, drugs drive Detroit murder rate," explores the reasons, impact, and emotions of this widespread problem and looks toward solutions.

Woolley is a projects reporter for the Detroit News. He uses public records and computer-assisted reporting to cover topics such as criminal justice, casinos and Detroit government. His work has won awards from the Associated Press Managing Editors, the Michigan Press Association and the Detroit Press Foundation. Before joining The News in 1996, he was a reporter and an editor in the Philadelphia bureau of The Associated Press. Hunter has been with the Detroit News for five years. He started out as a business desk reporter and currently covers the Detroit police beat. Before joining the News, Hunter was a sports reporter for the Dearborn Press & Guide. He has also previously worked as a reporter for the Dearborn Times Herald.

Interlochen Public Radio news manager Michelle Corum and reporter/producer Bob Allen 's two-part series entitled "Clark case: What can be learned?" highlights one of the most publicized cases in Grand Traverse County history, the 1998 shootout between a Traverse City man and a police officer. The tragedy, which resulted in the officer's death, left many questions unanswered. Shortly after the one-year anniversary of the shooting, Interlochen Public Radio aired a two-part report that explored some of the questions surrounding the shooting including reports that officials differed about the way mental illness related to the shooting and what can be learned from the case.

Corum has worked at Interlochen Public Radio (WIAA/WIZY) for six years. Her news reports have been heard on National Public Radio and the Michigan Public Radio Network. Allen has worked at Interlochen Public Radio for 20 years and has won numerous awards from the Associated Press and the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. He is also the winner of last year's Michigan United Conservation Club Award for outstanding reporting on conservation issues.

Detroit Free Press--David Ashenfelter

Detroit News--Wayne Woolley and George Hunter

Interlochen Public Radio--Michelle Corum and Bob Allen