Star wins nine WPA awards

The Green River Star was recognized for journalistic excellence during the Wyoming Press Association's 126th convention in Cheyenne last weekend.

Editor Hannah Romero received eight Pacemaker Awards and one Photography Award. Six of the Pacemakers were for first place. The article "A lifetime of connections" won the Feature Story category, while "Going the extra mile to help others" won News-Feature Story. A packet of stories address kokanee salmon and wild horse protests won in Outdoors-Environmental Reporting. Stories about the school district, including the article "Connecting through classroom critters," took first in Education Reporting. Articles on carbon capture and wind energy were included in the packet that won in Business-Energy Reporting. And the Arts-Entertainment-Culture Reporting category was won with a packet of stories on local performances and exhibits. Two honorable mention Pacemakers were also given for the article "The life-changing gift of a shoebox" in Feature Story and articles about the City Council in Government Issue Reporting. The Photography Award was for second place in General News Photo with the photo "K9 showtime," showing a K9 demonstration from Police Week.

Comments from judges were provided along with many of the awards.

"Hannah's clear strengths are narrowing on accurate, local coverage and deeply pursuing the perspective of locals," the judge comments in the Outdoors-Environmental Reporting category noted. "Her writing is a quintessential, local newspaper reporting."

The judges' comments on the article "Going the extra mile to help others" said, "You have wonderful people in your community, and this is a great example of some of the kindness they share."

The competition was divided into three categories this year, splitting up papers based on subscription size. The Green River Star competed in Category B, for papers with a circulation of 1,400 to 3,000.