News Photo by Justin A. Hinkley From left to right, Alpena News staff writer Julie Riddle, Assistant Managing Editor James Andersen, Lifestyles Editor Darby Hinkley, and page designer Alyssa Ochss pose on Thursday in front of The News offices in downtown Alpena. The four staffers each won an award in the 2021 Michigan Associated Press Media Editors contest.

ALPENA — Alpena News staffers picked up four awards in the 2021 Michigan Associated Press Media Editors contest.

* Assistant Managing Editor James Andersen won second place in Best Sports Column for his March 2021 piece on Morgan Hardies’ efforts to turn around the Atlanta girls basketball program.

Judges said: “Took what could have been a mundane topic about a new coach at a loser school and produced a well-written column exploring what makes this story different — the new coach played for its rival and wants to revive the now-dead rivalry.”

Read Andersen’s column here.

* Staff writer Julie Riddle won first place in Best Spot News Photo for one of her images from the scene of an October 2020 crash at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and Miller Street.

Judges said: “This compelling photo is also very mysterious as it takes a moment to grasp what one is seeing. Very powerful photo taken from a unique perspective.”

Last month, Riddle’s photo also won first place in Best News Photo in the Michigan Press Association contest.

See Riddle’s photo and read the accompanying story here. The award-winning photo shows a woman staring out of the windshield of the overturned vehicle.

* Lifestyles Editor Darby Hinkley won third place in Best Spot News Photo for her August 2020 photo from a tour of the fire-ravaged Thunder Bay Theatre.

Judges said: “Wonderful composition and lighting. The damaged wall and subject’s body language and facial expression tell the sad story.”

See Hinkley’s photo and read the accompanying story here. The award-winning photo shows Thunder Bay Theatre Director Lucas Moquin leaning on exposed brick at the damaged theater.

* Page Designer Alyssa Ochss won second place in Best Full Page Design for her June 2021 layout of a story on a Northeast Michigan beekeeper.

Judges said: “This page shows the designer’s creativity. Love the expression and movement of this page.”

See Ochss’ award-winning page design below. Story continues below the page.

Alyssa Ochss award-winning page design by Justin Hinkley on Scribd

“I am so proud of my team and honored to receive this recognition from our peers,” News Publisher/Editor Justin Hinkley said. “The News is dedicated to this community, to getting people the information they need to know and to telling compelling stories, and I think these awards reflect that dedication.”

Last month, in addition to Riddle’s first-place award for her photo from the crash scene, The News learned it had won three other awards and received an honorable mention in the 2021 Michigan Press Association contest. The News’ awards from the MPA contest include:

* Hinkley won second place in Best Feature Story for her April 2021 story on adult autism. Hinkley also received honorable mention in that category for a July 2021 story in which Keith Titus talked about his late wife.

Honorable mentions are not given in every category.

* Riddle won first place for Best Spot News Story for an August 2020 story about an Atlanta woman who credited her dog with saving her life.

* News Staff Writer Steve Schulwitz won second place in Best Spot News Story for a pair of reports — in March and July 2021 — on a California woman who found a vintage wedding dress that belonged to a Northeast Michigan woman. Schulwitz’s reporting helped return several family heirlooms to the descendants of the original owner of the dress.

Both the AP and MPA contests are judged by fellow journalists around the country.