The Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association (AWNA) has recognized the St. Albert Gazette as the top community newspaper in its circulation class, one of 33 industry awards for the paper in recent weeks.
The Gazette won Best Overall Newspaper during an awards presentation in Edmonton on Saturday, the paper's fifth straight win. The Gazette also swept awards for Best Front Page, Best Sports Page, Best Editorial Page and placed second for Best Use of Colour in Advertising.
"The range of awards won, including Best Overall in Alberta, is a testament of the hard work and commitment the entire Gazette team puts into creating a top-notch product twice a week," said publisher Brian Bachynski.
Reporter Cory Hare led the way for individual reporting awards, winning first place for Excellence in Education Writing, Best Trades Technology Writing, and Best Habitat Conservation Story. In the latter category, his feature 'In search of the Sturgeon,' documented a canoe journey down the environmentally endangered Sturgeon River.
"A wonderfully written story that perfectly reflects the recreational benefits of our water resources," said the judges. "But as [the Sturgeon River] becomes increasingly popular, maintaining the health of the river also becomes a challenge. This article did a good job telling the story of the importance of the river for the community today and years to come."
Sports Editor Jeff Hansen hauled in another first for Sports Writing for his story '10-miler turns 25.'
Arts and entertainment reporter Anna Borowiecki also won a first place for Best Arts and Culture Writing for 'Artists ready to StArt it up,' a feature documenting the StArts Festival in St. Albert.
Kevin Ma was awarded third in Best Feature Story for 'The sweat: How an ancient ceremony is helping addicts heal today.'
National, North American awards
The provincial wins come on the heels of the Gazette taking several national awards, including third for Best All-Around Newspaper in its class from the Canadian Community Newspapers Association.
The awards, announced last month, also saw first place wins for Hansen for Best Sports Coverage and Hare for Best Business Writing.
The Gazette took home an armful of hardware from the Suburban Newspapers of America's editorial contest, winning 19 awards and honourable mentions — the most among all community newspapers.
Hare again led the way with four nods, including three second place awards: Best Continuing Coverage for his reporting on the Habitat for Humanity project at 70 Arlington Dr.; Best In-depth Reporting for stories about St. Albert's family doctor shortage and his Sturgeon River feature. Hare also won an honourable mention for his feature series on backyard hockey rinks.
Ma won three awards, including two in the same category, Best Environmental Coverage. His story 'What's in a tonne?' about greenhouse gases won first, while a news story about a fish kill in St. Albert took third. Ma also won first for Best Continuing Coverage for his work chronicling the Syncrude dead duck trial in St. Albert.
Community and arts reporter Scott Hayes won first place for Best Feature Series for his work that shed light on poverty and nutrition by living off hampers from the food bank.
Ryan Tumilty won second for Best Coverage of Investigative Reporting for a story about lack of heat at the Youville Home.
Borowiecki won third place for Best Feature for a story she wrote about boudoir photography.
Co-editor Bryan Alary was awarded third for Best Opinion Column for a selection of entries.
The Gazette won second for Best Special Section for last year's Green Guide supplement.
Photojournalism
Not to be outdone, the Gazette's photo department earned three awards and one honourable mention from the AWNA. April Bartlett was awarded second in the Multi-Picture category for a picture story on the life of a travelling rodeo clown, while she shared third place honours with Ben Lemphers for a two-page spread on last year's Rainmaker Rodeo.
Lemphers took home a third in the Human Interest category for an image of workers painting fresh lines at the Mission tennis courts.
Gazette photographers took home six SNA awards, including second for Best Photojournalism for Bartlett and Lemphers for their Rainmaker work, and a third for Bartlett's rodeo clown spread.
Bartlett also took second for Best Feature Photo for an image she captured of a coyote vigorously defending its freshly killed dinner. She also won two honourable mentions for an image of drenched rugby players in the rain and a picture story about local gymnasts.
The Gazette also won third place for Best News Photo for an image of a Fish and Wildlife officer taking aim at a moose with a rifle armed with tranquilizers.
