 The tensions came to a head on July 6, 2006, when five editors and a columnist resigned.They and three others staffers later received an "Ethics in Journalism" award from the Society of Professional Journalists, and the entire editorial staff was awarded the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism as a result of their actions in the dispute.The controversy led to at least three civil suits and one criminal investigation, as well as to the successful unionization of the editorial workers at the Santa Barbara, California, newspaper.