Indian River Magazine Wins State Awards

Fort Pierce-based Indian River Magazine won the the Best In-Depth Reporting Award in the small magazine category during the Florida Magazine Association's annual meeting Aug. 23 in Orlando.

The award came for "The Ashley Gang: What Really Happened," a story that shed new light on the exploits of one of Florida's most notorious crime families and their shooting deaths on the Sebastian Bridge in 1924. The story was written by Warren Sonne, a Port St. Lucie private investigator who retraced the footsteps of gangleader John Ashley and his family. (Read the story)

"This award is especially meaningful to us because of our efforts to fill each edition of our magazine with stories and photography that will give readers a reason to collect each issue as a keepsake, relying on it as a resource for years to come,'' said Publisher Gregory Enns.

During the FMA meeting, Indian River also won the Silver Award for Best Special Theme/Section for last October's Treasure Coast Medical Report, a section featured again in the October issue of Indian River.

Indian River is owned by Enns and Allen Osteen, president of East Coast Lumber. The two launched Indian River, a glossy coastal living magazine that serves Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties, two years ago and have since created two other publications, Port St. Lucie Magazine and Fort Pierce Magazine. The company also publishes The Sunrise, the playbill of the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce.