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Leaders in business, government, the law, education, journalism and two promising high school students will be awarded at the William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award dinner tonight.

The Dixon Award event recognizes outstanding support of open government by New Mexicans in a variety of fields. It is in honor of the late Bill Dixon, a lawyer, founder of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government and defender of First Amendment rights.

The 2006 Dixon Award recipients include:

State Sen. Dede Feldman, an Albuquerque Democrat, who has worked in the Legislature on behalf of ethics and open government issues.

Marty Esquivel, a shareholder in the Narvaez Law Firm in Albuquerque and past president of the Foundation for Open Government.

Sam Spencer, president and chief executive officer of the Lea County State Bank in Hobbs. Spencer's personal work as an advocate of open government includes chairmanship of the Hobbs City Charter Commission.

Pat Graff, a nationally recognized award-winning journalism teacher at La Cueva High School. Graff helped the foundation organize an open government seminar for a national convention of high school journalists.

Rockford M. Hayes, publisher of the Carlsbad Current-Argus newspaper. Under his leadership, the Current-Argus won a district court order, a first in New Mexico, that the names and r‚sum‚s of candidates for top city jobs are public records under the Inspection of Public Records Act.

Also to be honored tonight: a pair of high school students in the Gerald Crawford essay contest. The 2006 winner is Randy Head, a Grants High School student who lives in Milan. He will receive a $500 check. The runner-up is Stephen Bergin, a student at St. Pius X High School. His prize will be a $150 check.

The dinner, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, will include a debate between the candidates for state attorney general, Republican Jim Bibb and Democrat Gary King.