The East Bay Express today (June 5) received three nominations, SF Weekly two and the SF Bay Guardian one in the American Association of Alternative Weeklies annual contest. The association has a two-step procedure for presenting awards. First, the nominees in each category are announced. Then, at the group’s annual convention (this year June 15-17 in Little Rock, Ark.), the order of finish in each category is revealed. The Bay Area nominees are:

• Arts Feature — David Downs of the East Bay Express for “Roboscalper”, about how a computer screws would-be concert-goers out of tickets.

• Feature story — Will Harper of the East Bay Express for “A Man Named Sue,” a profile of a vexatious litigant.

• Music criticism — Rob Harvilla of the East Bay Express for columns headlined “Down in Front: The Titmaster Tommy Lee,” “Race Against Rockism,” and “Powerpop for Now People.”

• Cover Design — Darrick Rainey of the SF Weekly for “San Francisco Dog Court,” “My Dinner with White Supremacists,” and “Rise of the Podcasting People.”

• Format Buster — Tommy Craggs of the SF Weekly for “Remembering Our Camelot.”

• Investigative Reporting — A.C. Thompson of the Bay Guardian for “The Fall Guy.”