Feature - 1st place - A child leans against a decorative truck while waiting on a parent during Buc-ee’s grand opening in Huber Heights. It is the first Ohio location of for the supersized gas station/convenience store. Hundreds lined up before its 6 a.m. opening, and thousands visited in its first 12 hours of operations. (Bryant Billing / Dayton Daily News)
Feature - 2nd place - Aslan Rahman, 2, of Holland, shares his pizza with a curious goose during a picnic with his parents at Side Cut Metropark in Maumee. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Feature - 3rd place - Alinur Kubanychbekov, 7, holds an American flag to his chest after his mother, Saltanat Arykova’s, naturalization during a naturalization ceremony at Cincinnati Country Day School in Indian Hill. United States District Court Judge Susan Dlott presided over the naturalization of 46 new United States citizens from 17 countries. (Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
General News - 1st place - Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz shows the 2026 Kid Mayor Jamie Howard, fourth grader at Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls, the right way to prop her feet up on his desk at One Government Center in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
General News - 2nd place - Ronsha Allison wipes tears away as she remember s Kei’Mani Latigue and her granddaughter Anise Sneed during the 28th Annual Child Memorial at Lucas County Children Services in Toledo. Ten children were lost in 2025 and ranged in age from a few weeks to16 years old. Three of the children were victims of abuse or neglect. Half of the youth were teen victims of community gun violence. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
General News - 3rd place - Future homeowner Jawanna Smith Riccardi (right) along with her son Ke’Sion Collins, Jr., TPS Superintendent Dr. Romules Durant, and others give a loud “Lets Build” cheer during a Maumee Valley Habitat for Humanity kick-off event to celebrate the start of the home building season and its partnership with Toledo Public Schools on Piddock Road in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - 1st place - Charlene Ventura, poet and author of “Having My Say”, sits in the living room of her home in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati. The retired president and CEO of Cincinnati's YWCA is releasing a book of poetry with commentary on political and social issues, as well as reflections on her life. (Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Portrait - 2nd place - Betsy Gibson is a resident at Rose Lane Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Jackson Township was recently reunited with her brother, Ralph Slawter – also a resident there. (Andrew Dolph / Akron Beacon Journal)
Portrait - 3rd place - Jason Ribby and his daughter Maizie, 6, who has Downs Syndrome, run Grave Expectations, a business in which the two care for gravesites on behalf of families who can’t always visit in person at Oak Harbor Union Cemetery in Oak Harbor. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Portrait - HM - Ed Katschke, owner, poses for a portrait at Monarch Comics in South Toledo. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 1st place - Toledo takes the field during the Mud Hens opening day at Fifth Third Field in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports Feature - 2nd place - Walsh Jesuit starting pitcher Shawn Sullivan reacts to missing a perfect game on a ball four call in what would have been the last pitch of the game against CVCA in Cuyahoga Falls. (Andrew Dolph / Akron Beacon Journal)
Sports Feature - 3rd place - Maddy Tomaszewski kisses a walleye thrown onto the ice after Toledo’s first goal during the Central Division semifinal hockey game at the Huntington Center in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports Feature - HM - Supporters cheer and hold signs as runners pass by while competing in the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon along the North Douglas Road bridge in Toledo. (Addison Annis / The Blade)
Spot News - 1st place - An Akron firefighter pulls a hose line into the second story of a home during a residential structure fire that burned two houses in the 100 block of East Voris St. in Akron. (Andrew Dolph / Akron Beacon Journal)
Spot News - 2nd place - Toledo Fire & Rescue along with Toledo Police respond to an overturned tractor trailer at the intersection of Reynolds Road and Heatherdowns Boulevard in Toledo. (Jeremy Wadsworth / The Blade)
Sports - 1st place - Toledo’s JP Wagner (left) and Carson McCaleb collide as they try to make the out during a college baseball game at Fifth Third Field in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Sports - 2nd place - Toledo’s Reilly Funk (right) goes airborne after being tripped up by Bloomington’s Parker Gavlas during the second game of the ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs Central Division semifinals at the Huntington Center in Toledo. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
Sports - 3rd place - Los Angeles Angels third baseman Yoán Moncada triples on a line drive to left field in the seventh inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. The Angels won 10-2. (Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Sports - HM - Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly de la Cruz (44) steals second base under a tag by Colorado Rockies second baseman Edouard Julien in the first inning at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. (Sam Greene / The Cincinnati Enquirer)
Sports - HM - Toledo’s Jacob Truscott moves the puck past Bloomington’s Chongmin Lee during the Central Division semifinal hockey game at the Huntington Center in Toledo. (Rebecca Benson / The Blade)
Story - 1st place - Ohio State Highway Patrol Sergeant Ryan E. Purpura attempts to get a vehicle registration number after stopping a person riding a four-wheeler down Westwood Avenue during a traffic stop in Toledo. The Ohio State Highway Patrol and Toledo Police Department operated a multiagency crackdown to target illegal street riding in Toledo. However, Toledo police are not allowed to chase the vehicles, as such pursuits could cause serious injuries. That department policy has led to their use by people involved in criminal activities, Sgt. Krabill said. (Addison Annis / The Blade)
Story - 2nd place - Buc-ee’s in Huber Heights celebrated its grand opening. Two lines with hundreds of people in each wrapped around either side the supersized gas station/convenience store before its 6 a.m. opening. Customers started arriving at midnight. (Bryant Billing / Dayton Daily News)
Story - 3rd place - Eadgyth, a 10-month-old Ocicat, sits in her cat carrier featuring a chandelier during Just Cat-In Around Cat Fanciers cat show at the Wood County Fairgrounds in Bowling Green. (Kurt Steiss / The Blade)
