Regina Brett in Cleveland Hall of Fame

Columnist Regina Brett, one of at least a couple of dozen Beacon Journal writers and editors who left for the Plain Dealer, will be inducted into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame on Oct. 28.

Regina has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary for the past two years. The American Bar Association and the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association both recognized her efforts in establishing open discovery in Ohio this year, honoring her with the Silver Gavel Award and the Liberty Bell Award, respectively.

In 1999, Regina won the National Headliner Award for her columns on her breast cancer. Ten years later, she won the award again for her columns about passing the gene on to her daughter.

She also won the James Batten Medal in 1999 for columns championing underdogs and ordinary folks, and she was a finalist again for the medal this year. She has been named best columnist in Ohio by The Press Club of Cleveland, Ohio SPJ and the Associated Press Society of Ohio.

Regina is a Kent State University graduate and a native of Northeast Ohio.

Also in the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame Class of 2009 will be:

WKYC-TV Channel 3 sports director Jim Donovan, the radio play-by-play announcer for the Browns since their return to the NFL in 1999. His 1992 report on the Browns won a regional Emmy.

Former Cleveland Press and Plain Dealer reporter Walt Bogdanich, a three-time Pulitzer winner at the New York Times.

Former Plain Dealer photographer William Wynne.

Former Channel 3 investigative reporter Paul Sciria.

Channel 3 managing editor Dick Russ.

Two 2008 choices who didn't make it to last year's ceremony will be inducted this year:

Former Cleveland Press and Plain Dealer reporter Walt Bogdanich, who won three Pulitzer Prizes -- in 1988 for his Wall Street Journal reporting on substandard medical laboratories; and at the New York Times in 2005, which examined the railroad industry's safety record, and in 2008 (with colleague Jake Hooker) for their stories on toxic ingredients in products shipped from China.

Plain Dealer Editorial Director Elizabeth Sullivan.

Click on the headline to get the full Cleveland Press Club announcement.