Betsy O'Donovan

“A valentine in 495 words”

For the Herald-Sun’s unsigned editorial on Feb. 14, 2011, a short love letter to the city: “Woke up thinking about you, as ever. The first question is always which face you will show today; you have thousands.”

“Three Days to Live” (complete essay)

An 5,500-word essay based on the seven-part series about animal overpopulation, originally reported in 2006:

“Deputy Rick Mullis made his way down the row of chain-link gates set into the walls, pacing slowly toward another set of double doors in the far wall. Behind them waited his boss, Lt. Michelle Starnes, some storage rooms, a garage and the gas chamber.”