Photos of Sweet Home residents at play and mopping up after a 90-plus-mile-per-hour wind storm earned The New Era first place awards at the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association annual Better Newspaper Contest held Friday at Newport.
Sean C. Morgan shot the photo of a mud-caked contestant at the Mountain Mud Festival in March. It earned first place in the sports category.
Alex Paul photographed a resident of South Fork Trailer Park dealing with life after a February 7 wind storm demolished his trailer and many others. The photo took first place in the Best News Photo category.
The New Era also earned four other awards for news and photographs.
Alex Paul’s photo of the Huskiette dance team’s light show during a May Week celebration took second place in the Best Feature Photo category.
Photo coverage of the February 7 windstorm earned Honorable Mention recognition in the Best News Photo Essay category. The photos were taken by Alex Paul.
In the news writing contest, a story about Linn-Benton Community College’s culinary arts program earned a third place award in the Best Educational Coverage category. It was written by Alex Paul.
The New Era also earned a third place award in the Best Feature Story category. The story focused on SHHS graduate Vern Malone, now a U.S. Navy diver who helped raise the USS Monitor. It was written by Alex Paul.
The awards bring to nine the total earned by The New Era for 2002 coverage. Earlier this year the paper earned a first place award for Best Spot News Story from the Society of Professional Journalists for coverage of the February 7 wind storm. It was written by Alex Paul.
The paper also earned a third place award for Coverage of the Arts for Alex Paul’s story about Earnest Pickett’s life as Prisoner of War written by his daughter.
In May the paper earned the Media Award from the Oregon High School Coaches Association for its coverage of high school events.