Santa Maria Sun / News

The Sun wins

Several times a year, the Sun likes to take the time—and page space—to congratulate our writers, photographers, and contributors when they win awards for crafting high-quality articles, photos, and the like.

This year, the Sun took several accolades in the 2012 National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, which accepted submissions that were published between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31, 2011.

Arts Editor Shelly Cone won two first place awards: one for “Slice of Life,” her July 2011 cover story on the Santa Barbara County Fair, and another for “A season of abundance,” her November humor column about her ample cleavage.

Managing Editor Amy Asman won second place for Best Education/Literacy Story, for “TAP into the future,” her March cover story on Lucia Mar Unified School District’s new educational system. She received an honorable mention for “Jail break,” her July cover story on mental health practices at the Santa Barbara County Jail.

Executive Editor Ryan Miller won second place for “A little Austen will do you good,” his review of PCPA’s production of Pride and Prejudice, which ran in April. He also won third place for Best Feature Story for his April cover story “Stars and stripes forever/never,” on the Orcutt Veterans’ Flag Memorial.

And cartoonist Ross Mayfield received an honorable mention for Best Original Editorial Cartoon for “House of cards,” his artistic commentary on the precarious nature of the U.S. economy, which was published last August.

News Briefs is compiled by Sun writers from staff reporting and local and national media. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.