First some exciting news: The News Service is a finalist for two SPJ Region 1 Mark of Excellence Awards — Best All-Around Online Publication and Best Online News Reporting (for our election coverage). If we place first in either or both categories, we’ll go on to the national finals.

That we’ve gotten this far is a tribute to the hard work of our reporters, faculty and staff. The Region 1 winners will be announced on April 25 – stay tuned.

Meanwhile, check out some of our reporters’ latest fine work:

• You won’t see a CUNY J-School byline on this piece – but it deserves special mention. Jim Flood got a Fort Greene Park soccer player to defend his turf in a post on The New York Times’ new “The Local” blog. It’s the first example of how we’re reaching into the community to find contributors. Jim took the picture accompanying the post, and Kristen Joy Watts contributed this photo to the blog.
• Mirva Lempiainen and Aisha Al-Muslim put together a video report for the News Service on how the peanut industry came to New York to try to rebuild its reputation amid the recent salmonella-contamination scare.
• Kieran Meadows’ feature on the Red Hook Community Justice Center, which is fighting to stave off budget cuts, made Brooklyn Rail.
• Nicholas Martinez covered an international festival at a school for special children in DUMBO. His article was published the Brooklyn Courier, but isn’t online yet – feel free to come by my office to check it out.
• Jenni Avins’ look at bustling Grand Street (in Brooklyn) was featured in TimeOut New York.
• Joel Schectman’s report on sparse banking services in the South Bronx made the Daily News.
• Sergey Kadinsky shared a byline on this Daily News story about a protest aimed at stopping evictions spurred by foreclosures.
• Tim Persinko covered the tragic (for pizza fans) fire that devastated Totonno’s in Coney Island.
• Carla Murphy wrote about the impending debut of competitive double dutch in public high schools for Women’s eNews.
• In our alumni corner, Becky Harshbarger also made Women’s eNews with her piece about female engineers serving as role model to girls.
• Linnea Covington’s review of a Czech café in Fort Greene was published in New York Press – and was linked to by The Local.

Congrats to all – and keep ‘em coming!

Tags: Aisha Al-Muslim, Becky Harshbarger, Carla Murphy, Jenni Avins, Jim Flood, Joel Schectman, Kieran Meadows, Kristen Joy Watts, Linnea Covington, Mirva Lempiainen, news service, Nicholas Martinez, Sergey Kadinsky, Tim Persinko