Two of the South Florida-based Pulitzer finalists -- the Sentinel's FEMA stories and the Herald's hurricane tracking series -- went head to head in the prestigious IRE (Investigative Reporters & Editors) journalism contest and the winner is ... The Sentinel's FEMA submission. It won a certificate from IRE while the Herald was one of four finalists, which is a nice honor unto itself. Congratulations again to Sally Kestin, Megan O'Matz, John Maines, and Jon Burstein. Again.
Damn You, Sugar Ray Robinson
The Herald's Jay Weaver had an hilarious story about Jack Abramoff's plea for leniency in his federal fraud and bribery case. Abramoff and his lawyers, Neal Sonnett and Abbe Lowell, submitted a "sympathetic biography" in which they talked about everything from his parents enduring the Great Depression to his becoming an all-city football player in high school. The funniest line: ''Mr. Abramoff laughs at himself when he remembers how he would walk to synagogue wearing only his socks, wondering what was wrong with all of those people from his synagogue who would stop to ask him if he wanted a ride home,'' the memo said.
Yeah, if we was wearing only socks, I just wonder who these people were offering him a ride home. And did they offer him a towel to cover up as well?
The lawyers also basically pin the rise of one of the most corrupt figures ever to grace our nation's capitol on Sugar Ray Robinson, the great boxer. Read Weaver's story (of the day) to see how that happened. I always was partial to Jake La Motta anyway.
