For the fifth year in a row, the Lancaster New Era was the most award-winning newspaper of its size in the state.
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The New Era received the Sweepstakes Award for daily newspapers with a circulation of 35,000 to 49,999 from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.
The paper won the award after 15 staff members won awards, including nine first-place awards, for everything from police beat reporting to business stories in the PNA's Keystone Awards. The New Era staff also won two awards.
Five staffers also won awards from the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors, including three first-place awards, for newspapers with a circulation of 30,000 to 75,000.
The Keystone and AP awards will be presented this weekend at a meeting in Gettysburg.
This will be the final year for the New Era as a stand-alone publication in the awards. At the end of June, the afternoon newspaper will merge with the morning Intelligencer Journal, to become one combined morning edition.
New Era Editor Ernest Schreiber said, "To be judged the best mid-sized paper for five years in a row reflects the experience and continuing dedication of the New Era staff.
"As most know, the news industry and Lancaster Newspapers are changing rapidly. But one thing that won't change is the commitment of our journalists to thorough, interesting reporting about Lancaster County.
"Some fear that the merger of the New Era and the Intell newsrooms next month will diminish the quality of journalism in Lancaster. That is not true. While we are downsizing, all but one of the New Era's award-winning journalists will remain, and the commitment to high-quality journalism will continue as strong as ever."
Schreiber also praised the leadership of New Era Managing Editor Peter Mekeel, News Editor Randy Montgomery and Assistant News Editor Jim Loose for overseeing the work that was given honors.
Several staffers won more than one award in the contests.
In the Keystone Awards, Jane Holahan won second place in columns for a selection of "Voices" columns. She also won second in feature beat reporting for a group of stories about entertainment and the arts.
Holahan, Kathy Daminger and Elizabeth Patton were on a team that won first place in niche publications for the "This Weekend" section.
Janet Kelley won first place in news beat reporting for a group of police stories.
Kelley, Ryan Robinson and Ad Crable were on a team that won first place for a news feature story about what happened on the night of the murder of the Haines family.
Robinson also won second place for a sports story about a local lacrosse player's fight with cancer.
In the AP awards, Robinson won a second-place award in sports deadline reporting for the same story.
Crable also won second place in the Keystone Awards for a business/consumer story about people who dislike Hummer drivers.
Jack Brubaker won second place in the Keystones for investigative reporting for a series called "Locked up and beaten up: A pattern of prison abuse?"
Brubaker also won a second-place AP award in investigative reporting for the series.
Richard Hertzler won second place in Keystones for a feature photo of a bird making a nest in a pair of jeans hanging from a clothesline.
In the AP awards, Hertzler won two first-place awards, for his sports photo of a foggy lacrosse practice and for his personality portrait of a mother and child.
In other Keystone awards:
Diane Bitting won first place for a business/consumer story about funeral home services for pet owners.
Chris Emlet won an honorable mention for a graphic/photo illustration for a story about the opening of the new Pennsylvania Academy of Music.
Marty Heisey won first place for a photo story about a retirement community's synchronized swimming team.
Susan Jurgelski won first place in headline writing.
Jeffrey Reinhart won second place in sports beat reporting.
Cindy Stauffer won first place for a personality profile of a young woman injured in an automobile accident that killed her parents.
Chad Umble won first place for a feature story about how many local residents could not name the county commissioners when asked.
The New Era staff won second place for series for "Feeling the Pinch," a group of stories about how local residents are dealing with the struggling economy.
A team of staffers also won first place for its work in online journalistic innovation for a package about the opening of the new Pennsylvania Academy of Music.
In the AP awards:
Jim Burchik won a first-place award for his editorial against lowering the drinking age.
Schreiber won a second-place award for his editorial about the outcome of a child pornography case.
Bitting, a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, is a former staff writer who is now a correspondent. She and her husband, Thomas, live in Elizabethtown with their daughter.
A graduate of Dickinson College, Brubaker writes "The Scribbler" column and news features. He and his wife, Chris, live in Manor Township.
A Kent State University graduate, Burchik joined the New Era in 1996 as a copy editor. He has been editorial page editor since 2003. He resides in Mount Gretna and has two daughters and four grandchildren.
A West Virginia University graduate, Crable has been a New Era staff member since 1982 and is the New Era's Outdoors editor. He lives with his wife, Jen, and their twin daughters in Lancaster Township.
Emlet is a graduate of the Art Institute of York and worked for the New Era for more than 10 years as its editorial artist. He now works as an artist in the Lancaster Newspapers advertising department. He lives in Red Lion with his wife, Amy, and daughter.
Heisey has been a New Era staff photographer for more than 25 years. He and his wife, Debra, live in Lancaster Township.
Hertzler, chief photographer at the New Era, has been with the New Era since 1972. Hertzler, who has a daughter in high school, lives in Lancaster.
Holahan, a Lancaster City resident, writes about arts and entertainment. A University of Pittsburgh graduate, she joined the newspaper in 1987.
A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C., Jurgelski lives in Lancaster Township. She has been a feature writer in the Your Life section since 1988.
Kelley is a Penn State University graduate who joined the New Era in 1979 and covers crime and courts. She lives in Lancaster and has a daughter who is a student at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Reinhart, an online sports writer, is a graduate of Northeastern University and has worked for the New Era since 1999. The father of a 5-year-old daughter, he lives in Lancaster.
Robinson is a Penn State University graduate who has covered agriculture and municipal government for the New Era since 1998. He lives in East Petersburg with his wife, Brenda, and their three children.
A graduate of Millersville University and the University of Pennsylvania, Schreiber joined the New Era in 1974, becoming editor in 2000. He lives in Lancaster Township with his wife, Jo-Ann, and a son.
Stauffer, a Penn State University graduate, has been a New Era staff writer since 1982. She works as a general assignment reporter. She lives in Lititz with her husband, Tom, and their three children.
Umble is an Eastern Mennonite University graduate who has covered business and local government for the New Era since 2005. He lives in Lancaster.
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