Butler Eagle wins 6 Golden Quill awards
The Butler Eagle’s team received six awards on Monday, May 18, at the 62nd annual Golden Quill Awards.
Four staff writers for the Eagle along with the Alter Eagle podcast producer were honored with a combined six awards, including one “best in show” award named after Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Ray Sprigle.
“I am very proud of the work that our newsroom and podcast teams have done over the past year and am grateful for the recognition from The Press Club of Western Pennsylvania for recognizing their effort,” publisher Tammy Schuey said.
Former managing editor Donna Sybert applauded the work.
“Awards ceremonies are one of the few times when journalists stop and take stock of the work done,” she said. “The team wrote some impactful and important stories.”
Matthew Glover received the Excellence in Written Journalism, News Feature, Division 2, award and the Ray Sprigle Memorial “best in show” Award for Written Journalism, Division 2, for a news feature about a first responder and his family who opened up about their experience following a traumatic call.
“A chink in the armor: Cranberry Township officer grapples with mental health” was a two-part feature from May and June 2025 on Cranberry Township police officer Josh Shimko and his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder after responding to a suicide.
Zach Zimmerman & Sol McCormick for honored with an award for Excellence in Written Journalism, Spot/Breaking News, Division 2.
The February 2025 article titled “Fogel Free” was the exciting conclusion to stories about Butler native Marc Fogel returning home following years of interviews and articles with his family about how he was detained in Russia
Zimmerman also received an award for Excellence in Written Journalism, Education, Division 2.
“Missing Money: How the state budget impasse is costing Butler County schools millions” took a look at the financial impact of the late 2025 Pennsylvania budget impasse on Butler County’s school districts.
William Pitts received an award for Excellence in Written Journalism, Medical & Health, Division 2.
His report, “5 years later: Cost of COVID,” was a retrospective on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Butler County, published near the five-year anniversary of the day that the World Health Organization officially declared it a pandemic.
Laura Crago received the Excellence in Audio Journalism, Profile, Division 2 award for an episode of the “Alter Eagle” podcast called “Holding on to Hello,” a profile on Hank and Terry Leyland and their eventful relationship.
She was also a finalist for two other audio interviews. One was with Fiore Moletz, founder of Burghers Brewing in Zelienople, in the Lifestyle category.
Another of her episodes with the sports team for the Eagle’s sports podcast, “Eye on Sports,” received a nomination for an episode previewing the 2025 season for the Karns City Gremlins football team.
Rob McGraw, the Butler Eagle’s lead photographer, received three nominations for “Excellence in Visual Achievement” — in the Spot News Photo, Feature Photo and Photo Essay categories. The “Photo Essay” submission was a series of photos documenting the 2025 PIAA wrestling championships.
The eleventh and final nomination went to Thomas Leturgey, a Butler Eagle freelance writer, for his series of America250 historical features that have published in the monthly America250 sections.
“The winning stories were shining examples of quality journalism — and community journalism,” said interim managing editor Tracy Leturgey. “I am proud of the team today and every day for the work they do serving Butler County.”
