We hear that CQ's Jonathan Allen (part-time actor and unsafe driver) has won this year's National Press Club Sandy Hume Memorial Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. Allen won for a package of stories on congressional earmarking called "Manifest Disparity," which used public data to detail how political considerations trump merit and need in the awarding of earmarks. The stories appeared in the Oct. 1, 2007 edition of CQ Weekly magazine.

The award is for reporters who are 34 or younger and is named in memory of Sandy Hume, the reporter for The Hill newspaper who broke news about the aborted coup attempt against House Speaker Newt Gingrich in 1997. It will be given along with other awards at a National Press Club dinner July 14.

Professional award winner Brody Mullins (WSJ) earned an honorable mention.