The Hillsboro Free Press received three first-place awards for journalistic excellence at the Kansas Press Association?s annual convention Saturday in Wichita.
Competing in the highest circulation division for nondaily newspapers, the Free Press received the top award for sports pages, editorial writing and business article.
Andrew Ottoson, sports reporter, received the sports-pages award, and Don Ratzlaff the editorial and business-article awards.
A third member of the Free Press editorial staff, Patty Decker, earned a first-place award for a headline she wrote in 2008 while employed at the Colby Free Press.
In addition to the three first-place awards, the Free Press received the following second- and third-place awards: second place for news and writing, third place for special section (Tabor College centennial), second place to Joe Kleinsasser for sports column writing, third place to Decker for investigative story and third place to Ratzlaff for headline writing.
Earlier this month, the Free Press received three first-place awards at the spring conference and trade show of the Midwest Free Community Papers in Des Moines, Iowa.
The newspaper received the organization?s top overall award?first place for general excellence?as well as first place for its special section marking Tabor College?s centennial, and Shelley Plett received first for ad design.
It was the seventh time in eight years that the Free Press has received the first-place award in general excellence.
