Sun’s Grove wins major journalism award

Monday, April 28, 2003 | 11:01 a.m.

The Las Vegas Sun's Washington reporter, Benjamin Grove, has won top honors in the Society of Professional Journalist's annual Sigma Delta Chi Awards for his work reporting from the nation's capital.

Grove's coverage of the battle in Washington last year over the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain won him a first prize in the contest's Washington correspondence category.

The Energy Department and President Bush designated the site 90 miles north of Las Vegas for the proposed repository, Gov. Kenny Guinn vetoed the decision and Congress overrode the governor. The Energy Department still must get clearance from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before beginning construction of the dump, which is scheduled to open in 2010, but the state has launched numerous court challenges to try to halt the project.

"It's a David versus Goliath story and Benjamin Grove is a proficient storyteller," the judges wrote. "In analyzing and explaining the potential dangers should the federal government's plans come to fruition, Grove assures that readers are getting the whole picture. He truly does bring this story home to the residents of Nevada.

"Covering the story from nearly every conceivable angle, Grove keeps Nevada residents informed about lawmakers' decisions; the only way Nevada could be more informed is if the population packed up and moved to Washington."

Grove's work beat out entries from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Associated Press, The Christian Science Monitor, Houston Chronicle and others.

The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are the second-oldest prizes for excellence in journalism, behind the Pulitzer Prize. In the 2002 contest Grove was among 49 winners from more than 1,300 entries in newspaper, magazine, television, radio and Internet media. The awards will be presented in July in Washington.

Last year, Grove was named co-journalist of the year by the Nevada Press Association for his work covering Yucca Mountain.