Prize

Before principal Christine Borelli-Connor arrived at James H. Webster Elementary School in Philadelphia's Kensington section in 2006, expectations for its students were not high. Borelli-Connor, 35, said that few of the school's fifth graders were being admitted to the city's magnet middle schools and that scores on standardized tests were low. The outlook for the school's 940 students has changed significantly since then. "We received, this week alone, 37 acceptance letters from magnet schools," she said.

YANGON, Myanmar - She struggled for a free Myanmar for a quarter-century, much of it spent locked away under house arrest. Now, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate whose nonviolent campaign for democracy at home transformed her into a global icon is on the verge of ascending to public office for the first time. Aung San Suu Kyi, 66, was elected to parliament Sunday in a historic victory buffeted by the jubilant cheers of supporters who hope her triumph will mark a major turning point in a nation still emerging from a ruthless era of military rule.

The Philadelphia Inquirer won a prestigious award today from Investigative Reporters & Editors Inc. for its investigation of violence in Philadelphia schools, "Assault on Learning. " In making the award, the judges praised the series as "local reporting at its highest level. " The Inquirer's work won the print/online large division in the contest which awarded honors in 15 categories. The seven-part series was reported by John Sullivan, Susan Snyder, Kristen Graham, Dylan Purcell and Jeff Gammage.

Jay Nordlinger?is a senior editor of National Review and the author of the just-released "Peace, They Say: A History of the Nobel Peace Prize, the Most Famous and Controversial Prize in the World" (Encounter Books) The story of the Nobel Peace Prize is a long one, beginning in 1901. It is also an interesting one, boasting a huge, diverse cast of characters. In 1947, it becomes a bit of a Philadelphia story. The prize was shared that year by two Quaker relief organizations: the Friends Service Council in London and the American Friends Service Committee in Philadelphia.

The Inquirer's "Assault on Learning," a multimedia investigation of violence and unsafe learning conditions within Philadelphia public schools, has earned the reporting team the inaugural Weiss Award for Investigative Journalism. The seven-part series - and a series of follow-ups - spurred an overhaul of incident reporting in the Philadelphia School District and prompted the hiring of a state-funded safe-schools advocate. The reporters - John Sullivan, Susan Snyder, Kristen A. Graham, Dylan Purcell, and Jeff Gammage - will share a $10,000 prize.

DEAR ABBY: I am an amateur playwright. Our local theater sponsors an annual playwriting contest. The prize isn't monetary but something far more important to an author - a full-scale production of the play. I have won this prize four times - more than any other writer in the history of the contest. But is my family impressed? Not at all! My wife told me she thinks I write everything the same way and have simply repeated myself four times. Her put-downs are deeply hurtful. I am up in years.

The Philadelphia Inquirer's "Assault on Learning," a multimedia investigation of violence and unsafe learning conditions within Philadelphia public schools has earned the reporting team the inaugural Weiss Award for Investigative Journalism. The seven-part series - and a series of follow-ups - spurred an overhaul of incident-reporting in the Philadelphia School District and prompted the hiring of a state-funded safe schools advocate. The reporters - John Sullivan, Susan Snyder, Kristen A. Graham, Dylan Purcell, and Jeff Gammage - will share a $10,000 prize.

The most sought-after elected office in Philadelphia isn't mayor, City Council, sheriff, or state representative. It's Traffic Court judge. Thirteen candidates ran for one seat on the bench in 2011. In 2007, 15 people scrambled for three open spots. The post does not require a law license, and none of the Traffic Court judges has one. It pays $89,000 and is likely a job for life. To win requires support from the city's Democratic ward organization, money from the region's construction trades, and luck.

By Michel Houellebecq Translated from the French by Gavin Browd Alfred A. Knopf. 288 pp. $26.95 Reviewed by Frank Wilson In 2010, Michel Houellebecq's The Map and the Territory won the Prix Goncourt, France's prize for "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year. " Well, his novel is certainly imaginative enough. You may think that an award-winning French novel would be cerebral and static, long on description and even longer on introspection, but The Map and the Territory is neither, and actually serves up along its ambling way quite a few laughs.

It was Laura Igoe's husband's idea to get up early to see the sun rise. Laura and Will Igoe, of Philadelphia, were in Jackson Hole, Wyo., for a few days to visit her brother and enjoy Grand Teton just before Christmas. She balked at the idea, but Laura, an art history Ph.D. student at Temple University, is happy now that she rose early and took her camera. The sunrise was "just stunning," she said, and more than 300 philly.com readers agreed. Her photograph Sunrise in the Tetons won the first-place $100 prize in the Winter Travel Photo Contest.