The State Bar of Michigan awarded three Michigan journalists the 25^th Annual Wade H. McCree, Jr. Awards for the Advancement of Justice at the Michigan Press Hall of Fame Induction dinner on Saturday, April 18 at Michigan State University.

The Herald-Palladium was honored for a series of stories by Scott E. Aiken entitled "Is Justice Color Blind." Aiken’s report was part of a year-long series on race relations in the Twin Cities of St. Joseph and Benton Harbor, Michigan and provided a close examination of how racial issues affect the local courts. His story was one in a series of the paper’s response to the January 1998 release of "The Other Side of the River," a book about race relations. Aiken has been a reporter and staff writer for Southwest Michigan’s Herald-Palladium since 1978.

The Jackson Citizen Patriot was recognized for stories done by reporter Scott E. Davis, who exposed the toll of drinking and driving through the real-life experiences of offenders, victims and their families and showed efforts that the courts are making in seeking solutions to this problem. Davis has worked as a staff writer since 1989 and has covered courts since 1991. He looked over more than 120 court files and interviewed more than 40 drunken-driving offenders, victims, judges, lawmakers and others involved in the criminal justice system for a two-day series on felony drunken-driving cases.

Grand Rapids Press reporter Kenneth L. Kolker was the third recipient of the McCree Award for his five-part series on "Hidden Handguns" that developed into the issues uncovered when a Press investigation found favoritism and disparities in the way Michigan distributes concealed weapons permits. Kolker joined the Grand Rapids Press in 1986 after working four years at the Saginaw News. He is a previous winner of the ABA’s Silver Gavel Award and several state Advancement of Justice awards. He interviewed retired police officers, judges, prosecutors, national experts and legislators as well as those who had been denied permits in order to uncover the facts surrounding this issue.