The Arizona Newspaper Association had the annual meeting last night, handing out the Better Newspaper Awards for excellence in state-wide journalism. A solid showing for the Weekly, highlighted by Jim Nintzel's deserving win for Journalist of the the Year in the non-daily category. In our non-daily circulation greater than 10,000 category, Mari Herreras racked up a bunch of honors with two wins for Best News Story (1st for "Solitary Justice,", 3rd for "Seeking Justice") plus a 2nd place for Best Investigative Reporting ("Fighting for Mom") and a shared 2nd place for Best News Feature Story with Chelo Grubb ("Drag Power"). Margaret Regan also took home a well-deserved 1st place honor for Best Column, Feature or Criticism for her arts coverage.

Other honors for the Weekly staff (past and present):

General Excellence, 1st place

Editorial Page Excellence, 1st place

Page Design Excellence, 1st place

Newspaper Online Site/Webpage, 1st place

Community Service/Journalistic Achievement, 1st place

Special Section, Newspaper Supplement or Magazine, 1st place

Reporting and Newswriting Excellence, 2nd place

Best News Story (Todd Miller, "Border Patrolled Youth"), 2nd place

Best Sports Column, 3rd place

Wins for our Tucson Local Media colleagues:

The Explorer, Newspaper Online Site/Webpage, 2nd place

The Explorer, General Excellence, 2nd place

The Explorer, Special Section, Newspaper Supplement or Magazine, 3rd place

The Explorer, Editorial Page Excellence, 3rd place

The Explorer, Best Use of Photography, 3rd place

The Explorer, JD Fitzgerald, Best News Photograph, 2nd place

The Explorer, Randy Metcalf, Best Sports Photograph, 3rd place

The Explorer, Randy Metcalf, Best Feature Photograph, 3rd place

The Explorer, JD Fitzgerald, Best Feature Photo Layout, 1st place

The Explorer, Randy Metcalf, Best Feature Photo Layout, 2nd place

Inside Tucson Business, Hillary Davis, Enterprise Reporting, 2nd place

Congrats, everyone.