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LINCOLN — The Cedar County News was named as one of the top weekly newspapers in the state Saturday, April 27, during the Nebraska Press Association's annual convention in Lincoln.
The News won 21 awards to claim the sweepstakes award for its circulation category. The News competes in the second largest circulation category for weekly newspapers.
This year's annual Better Newspaper Contest features 2,569 separate entries judged by members of the South Carolina Press Association.
The Hartington-based newspaper took third place in the overall sweepstakes competition, which pits all weekly newspapers — regardless of size — against each other.
The Stanton Register took first-place honors in the sweepstakes competition, while the North Bend Eagle placed second.
Two Cedar County News staffers also earned special recognition on the night.
News photographer Jeremy Buss was honored for taking the Feature Photo of the Year — the top feature photo published in 2023 in any sized weekly or daily newspaper in the state.
The photo was taken last summer during swimming lessons at the Hartington Municipal Swimming Pool.
Cedar County News Editor Rob Dump was honored for penning the Editorial of the Year, the best editorial published in 2023 in any sized weekly or daily newspaper in the state.
Dump’s editorial was written to draw readers’ attention to National Newspaper Week. The editorial talked about the challenges all small-town businesses face, and the unique challenges the newspaper industry is facing today. He also won a first-place award in the Class C division for his editorial writing as a whole.
The newspaper's editorial page earned a second- place plaque. The page features local editorials and columns by publishers Rob Dump and Peggy Year, as well as local or state editorial cartoons and a history column by Roger Tryon.
In all, the Cedar County News won 11 first-place plaques, five second-place awards and five thirdplace honors.
The News also won first-place awards for:
• Peggy Year: Best small ad.
• Darin Epperly: Best sports photo. That photo was taken during a rainy, muddy football game between Cedar Catholic and Ponca.
• Trisha Benton: Best in-depth reporting for a series of stories she wrote about the mounting costs for a quadruple murder trial.
• Special sections — Ag Today.
• Best sports section.
• Best use of color.
• Best computer graphics.
The News also garnered second-place plaques for:
• Darin Epperly: Sports action photo. That photo was taken during a Hartington-Newcastle football game against Plainview.
• Advertising campaign: The Anderson and Anderson Good Old Days ads were recognized for demonstrating how the company prides itself in delivering good old-fashioned service to its customers.
• Best youth coverage: This award recognized the annual student awards section the News publishes, as well as the Gov. Charles Thone Leadership award and the Joan Burney Communicator of the Year award.
• Sports writer Mike Renning earned an award for his sports feature story about siblings competing for various State titles.
TheNews earned third-place plaques for:
• A Cedar County Fair photo page by Jeremy Buss.
• A sports action photo by Buss of a HNS hurdler in action.
• Headline writing. Trisha Benton also received a thirdplace award for her coverage of a quadruple murder trial.
Three other Northeast Nebraska News Company newspapers also earned honors at the convention.
The Randolph Times earned a firstplace plaque for a story by Times Editor Trisha Benton and reporter Mark Mahoney about the issues rural residents were having with garbage collection.
Benton also earned a third-place plaque for her articles concerning a sports cooperative between the Randolph and Osmond school districts.
Darin Epperly’s photos from a dance studio recital in Randolph also earned a third-place plaque.
Wausa Gazette Editor Mark Ma-honey earned a first-place plaque for his reporting after a windstorm whipped through Wausa in July 2023, severely damaging several buildings and trees and causing extensive damage to Gladstone Park.
The Gazette also earned a second- place plaque for headline writing.
The Osmond Republican was awarded a second-place plaque for a feature series by editor Regina Lorenz about Osmond area veterans.
One other area newspaper, the Norfolk Daily News, also won big at Saturday’s awards ceremony.
The Norfolk Daily News was the sweepstakes winner in the daily category, which excludes Omaha and Lincol n, It finished with 15 first-place awards, 12 for second and 16 for third for a point total of 346. This is the fourth time the Norfolk Daily News has won the daily sweepstakes. Categories for both weeklies and dailies are focused on writing, photography, advertising, digital, design and creativity.
Dump, the 2024 Nebraska Press Association President, served as emcee for Friday night’s banquet in which Willis Mahenna of the West Point News was honored as the Association’s Master Editor- Publisher.
