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Nevada Press Foundation Announces 2026 Hall of Fame Inductees FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 2026 LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The Nevada Press Foundation is proud to announce the 2026 inductees into the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame, honoring four distinguished journalists whose reporting, commentary, leadership and storytelling have made lasting contributions to Nevada journalism. The 2026 Hall of Fame class includes Mary Hynes, Ron Kantowski, Mike Smith and Howard Stutz. Mary Hynes Mary Hynes has spent more than 30 years as one of Nevada’s most respected reporters, editors and newsroom leaders. She joined the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 1988 after beginning her career in Colorado and went on to serve as a reporter, assistant city editor, city editor, health reporter and investigative reporter. As city editor from 2000 to 2012, Hynes directed coverage of many of the most consequential stories in modern Southern Nevada history, including the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, the region’s rapid population growth, the Yucca Mountain controversy, the housing collapse and Great Recession, major public corruption cases, the O.J. Simpson prosecution and the Dipak Desai public health crisis. Hynes also recruited and mentored journalists who later advanced to national news organizations, including ProPublica, The Wall Street Journal, NBC News and The Associated Press. After serving in communications leadership roles with MGM Resorts, Hynes returned to the Review-Journal in 2019 to resume reporting. She helped lead award-winning coverage of the Alpine Motel Apartments fire, became one of the newspaper’s primary reporters covering the COVID-19 pandemic and later joined its investigative team. Hynes was named Nevada’s Outstanding Journalist in both 1994 and 2025, earning the honor 31 years apart. Her career reflects sustained excellence in investigative reporting, newsroom leadership, public-service journalism and mentorship. Ron Kantowski Ron Kantowski spent nearly four decades chronicling sports and the people behind them for Nevada readers. He joined the Las Vegas Sun in 1987 and later moved to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where he worked from 2009 until retiring from full-time journalism in 2022. Although Kantowski covered virtually every part of the Southern Nevada sports landscape—including UNLV athletics, motorsports, boxing, NASCAR, professional sports and community athletics—he became best known for his distinctive column writing and feature storytelling. His work consistently looked beyond scores, standings and statistics to find the people and experiences that made sports meaningful. With humor, historical perspective and vivid reporting, Kantowski documented Las Vegas’ transformation from a city with few major professional sports attractions into one of the nation’s most prominent sports destinations. Kantowski covered the development of Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the growth of major national sporting events, the arrival of professional franchises and the Vegas Golden Knights’ inaugural-season run to the Stanley Cup Final. He was named the 2016 Nevada Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. His body of work preserves decades of Southern Nevada sports history and reflects the finest traditions of newspaper column writing and human-interest storytelling. Mike Smith Mike Smith has served as the Las Vegas Sun’s editorial cartoonist since 1983, becoming one of the longest-running and most recognizable voices in Nevada opinion journalism. For more than four decades, Smith has used visual commentary and satire to examine Nevada politics, national affairs, public policy, civic life and the extraordinary growth of Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. His work has been syndicated nationally through King Features Syndicate and has appeared in publications including USA Today, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post. For more than 20 years, Smith produced a weekly cartoon for USA Today. His cartoons have been recognized with numerous Nevada Press Association first-place awards and honors from regional and national journalism organizations, including Best in the West and the Headliner Awards. Smith’s work has depicted presidents from Ronald Reagan through Joe Biden, as well as political leaders, public figures and major events that shaped Nevada and the nation. In 2023, Smith and Las Vegas Sun publisher Brian Greenspun donated more than 13,000 original cartoons to UNLV Libraries Special Collections & Archives. The collection preserves a significant visual record of Nevada’s political, civic and cultural history for future generations. Howard Stutz Howard Stutz has documented Nevada’s gaming, tourism and business industries since the 1980s, establishing himself as one of the state’s most trusted and knowledgeable gaming journalists. His career has included reporting and editing positions with the Las Vegas Sun, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, CDC Gaming Reports and The Nevada Independent. At each organization, Stutz became known for explaining complex business, regulatory and economic issues in clear, accessible language. Stutz has chronicled the transformation of Nevada gaming from an industry dominated by local operators into a global business shaped by publicly traded corporations, destination resorts, entertainment, professional sports and international investment. His reporting has also addressed tourism, cannabis, economic development, sports business and Nevada public affairs. He was part of the Review-Journal team that revealed the identity of the newspaper’s secret purchasers in 2015. The reporting received national recognition, including the James Foley Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism and the Ancil Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism. At The Nevada Independent, Stutz has continued to break news and produce analysis while mentoring younger reporters. His trusted sourcing, institutional knowledge and decades of reporting have created an essential historical record of the industry most closely associated with Nevada. Induction Ceremony The Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held Saturday, September 26, 2026, at Springs Preserve in Las Vegas. The ceremony will honor the remarkable careers and lasting contributions of the four members of the Hall of Fame Class of 2026. “Mary Hynes, Ron Kantowski, Mike Smith and Howard Stutz represent four distinct and important forms of journalism,” said Brian Allfrey, executive director of the Nevada Press Foundation. “Through investigative reporting, newsroom leadership, sports storytelling, editorial cartooning and authoritative business coverage, they have informed Nevada communities and strengthened journalism throughout the state.” The Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame honors individuals who have made significant and lasting contributions to Nevada newspaper and digital journalism. It is administered by the Nevada Press Foundation. Click to access Nevada_Press_Foundation_2026_HOF_Inductees_Press_Release.pdf Media Contact Brian J. Allfrey Executive Director Nevada Press Foundation Phone: 801-541-9517 Email: [email protected]