Sky-Hi News ‘three-peats’ for General Excellence

For the third year running, the Sky-Hi News has been named the best newspaper in Colorado in its circulation class.

The newspaper won the coveted General Excellence award during the Colorado Press Association’s 137th Annual Convention at the Downtown Westin Hotel in Denver on Saturday, Feb. 21. In all, the Sky-Hi News won 27 awards for work published between Sept. 1, 2013, and Aug. 31, 2014.

The newspaper competes in the Class 4 circulation category, which includes papers with circulation between 4,001 and 7,000. This year’s contest entries were judged by newspaper peers from the Missouri Press Association. Awards are granted in various aspects of journalism, from news reporting to editorial writing to photography and layout and design.

The Sky-Hi News also won its third consecutive Photo & Design Sweepstakes Award.

“To win these awards once is an honor,” said Sky-Hi News Managing Editor Drew Munro. “To win them for three consecutive years is truly remarkable and a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff, our company collaborators and our contributors. I feel privileged to work with them.”

It was a big day for Colorado Mountain News Media, the Sky-Hi News’ parent company, at the CPA Convention as well. Prestigious individual awards were given to CMNM General Manager Jim Morgan for Colorado Newspaper Person of the Year, to Sky-Hi News and Summit Daily News Publisher Matt Sandberg for Innovator of the Year, and to Grand Junction Free Press General Manager Ben Rogers as the Rising Star of 2014.

The Sky-Hi News won awards as follows:

Staff

General Excellence

Photo & Design Sweepstakes Award

Second place, overall layout and design

Byron Heztler

First place, Best Portfolio, Class 4, Sky-Hi News

First place, Best News photo, Election Day

First place, Best Feature photo, Here’s pie in your eye

Second place, Best Photo Essay, Colorado Freeride

Second place, Best News photo, Teamwork

Third place, Best Photo Essay, Independence celebrations

Third place, Best Sports photo, Middle Park drops Homecoming game

Debbie Harris

First place, Best Special Advertising Section, Explore Grand Summer Guide

First place, Best Advertising Campaign, Granby Dental

Second place, Best Advertising Campaign, PowerWorld

Second place, Best Real Estate Ad, ReMax Peak to Peak

Third place, Best Restaurant or Dining Ad, Winter Park Pub

Emily Stott

Second place, Best News Page Design, Beetle aftermath

Third place, Best News page design, Sky-Hi grades towns

Hank Shell

First place, Best Environmental Story, Wilderness celebrates 50 years

Second place, Continuous Coverage, Grand County Building Department (with Leia Larsen)

Jon DeVos

Second place, Best Humorous Column, That wicker thing at the foot of the bed, and I owe it all to Judge Judy

Leia Larsen

First place, Best Public Service, Transparency (with Tonya Bina)

First place, Best News Story, GL Fire faces political heat

Second place, Best Public Service, GL Fire faces political heat

Second place, Continuous Coverage, Grand County Building Department (with Hank Shell)

Second place, Best Informational Graphic, Municipal elections

Second place, Best Health Feature Story, Working through Obamacare snafus

Third place, Best Deadline Reporting, Shutdown to downtown

Tonya Bina

First place, Best Public Service, Transparency (with Leia Larsen)

Second place, Best Editorial Writing, DA goes soft, Term Limits

Middle Park Times

The Middle Park Times, which is produced by the same staff as the Sky-Hi News, won 12 awards in its circulation category of 1,001 to 2,000, including the Class 2 Photo & Design Sweepstakes Award for the third year in a row. These entries were all different than those submitted for the Sky-Hi News.

Middle Park Times awards:

Staff

Photo & Design Sweepstakes Award

First Place, Best Editorial Layout & Design

Emily Stott

Second Place, Best News Page Design, Beetle aftermath

Leia Larsen

Second Place, Best Informational Graphic, What $500K could have bought

Third place, Best Informational Graphic, Philanthropy runs deep in Grand

Third Place, Best Environmental Story, Rollins Pass hearing does little to bridge divide

Third Place, Best Feature Story, ‘Ingle’ all the way with festive light display

Byron Hetzler

First Place, Best Photography Portfolio, Class 2

Second place, Best Feature Photograph

Second place, Best Sports Photograph

Third place, Best Sports Photograph

Hank Shell

Third place, Best Education Story, Grand Lake school-building meeting exposes divided town