Krista Almanzan, news director of KAZU, has won a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in electronic journalism presented by the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA).

She took the top award for feature reporting in the small-market radio division in Region 2, which includes California, Nevada, Hawaii and Guam. Her winning story, “Converting to Pure Electric,” is about electric car enthusiasts and their efforts to convert their gas cars to electric in a hands-on workshop. The story can be found athttps://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kazu/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1653461/news/Converting.to.Pure.Electric Regional winners automatically become eligible for the national awards competition in June.

It’s the fourth award for Almanzan in the last 18 months. In 2009, she was honored by the Radio-Television News Directors Association of Northern California for best feature reporting on a serious subject for “A Second Chance in Salinas.” The story examined a program called Take the Lead, which pairs at-risk youngsters with dogs surrendered to the local SPCA.

Last November, the same group honored her in the feature reporting category for “Rec Rehab Program Hooks National Interest.” The story profiled a group called the Monterey Bay Veterans, which holds fishing derbies on Monterey Bay as part of its recreational rehabilitation program for disabled veterans. The story also earned her a regional Edward R. Murrow Award in the spring of 2010 from the RTDN. Almazan started her journalism career in Iowa where she covered the 2000 and 2004 presidential races and Iowa caucuses for local television stations. In 2005, she won the Stanley Foundation Award for Outstanding Broadcast Coverage of Iowa's global connections. Later that year, she returned to her home state of California where she continued to work in television and simultaneously got her start in public radio as a freelance reporter with Capital Public Radio in Sacramento. In 2007, she joined the staff at KAZU where she serves as host of All Things Considered as well as news director.

KAZU 90.3 FM is a community service of California State University, Monterey Bay.