In early October, the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association announced the winners of its 133 annual Better Newspaper Contest. As with previous years, your island newspapers brought home several awards, a total of 13 this year between the Islands’ Sounder and the Journal of the San Juans.

Both newspapers are part of Circulation Group 1 which is for Washington state publications with up to 2,500 subscribers. The contest period was from April 1, 2019, until March 31, 2020. This year’s judges were the New York Press Association.

Between the four news circulation size groups, 887 news articles, 247 photographs, 133 advertisements, 93 special sections, 40 general excellence competitors and 20 web entires. A total of 51 newspapers participated.

The winning entries were as follows

• Colleen Smith, third place in News Story, Short for “Man Drowns in Mountain Lake.”

• Colleen Smith, third place in Heath or Medical Story for “Recovery in Community Making a Difference.”

• Colleen Smith, third place in Lifestyle Feature Story for “The Spinogattis.”

• Colleen Smith, third place in News of the Weird for “Fire Department Saves Choking Dog.”

• Colleen Smith, third place in Color Feature Photo for “Orcas Homecoming.”

• Mandi Johnson, third place in Comprehensive Coverage, Single Writer for “Former Principal Accused of Sexual Offenses.”

• Mandi Johnson, third place in Story on the Arts for “Deep Dive.”

• Mandi Johnson, first place in B/W Feature, Portrait or Pictorial Photo for “Whales & Ship.”

• Heather Spaulding, first place in Environmental Story for “Bear Searches Islands for Mate.”

• Heather Spaulding, third place in Education Story for “Building Dreams for All Children.”

• Diane Craig, first place in Story on the Arts in “Fire Station Mural Project.”

• Laura Kussman, first place in Education Story for “Kaleidoscope Outdoor Preschool.”

• Tate Thomson, second place in Feature Page Design for “Street Art Island Scene.”