Argus wins 14 awards in state contest

The Argus-Courier took home 14 first- or second-place awards at the California Newspaper Publishers Association’s yearly Better Newspaper Contest, including first place in investigative reporting for a series on mental health issues in Petaluma.

Former staff writer Janelle Wetzstein reported and wrote the series on the incarceration of people with mental illness. She also won first place in enterprise reporting for a story from the series.

Former managing editor Emily Charrier and former staff writer Allison Jarrell both won awards for education coverage, Charrier for a profile of a former dropout turned scholar and Jarrell for coverage of alleged abuse at the Petaluma Wildlife Museum. Charrier also won best writing for a piece on a Petaluma resident and World War II survivor and shared the prize for local government reporting with Wetzstein for covering the city’s proposed gas station ban.

Yovanna Bieberich, who oversees the paper’s Community section and does the page layout, won second place for page layout and design. Staff photographer Scott Manchester won awards for best artistic photo and best feature photo for a photograph of the Cimmaron Sanctuary and best news photo for a photograph of a fire at Classroom Safari.

Photographer John O’Hara won second place in the sports photo category.

Cartoonist Pete McDonnell won second place for an editorial cartoon on the Rancho Feeding Corp. and Publisher John Burns won first place for best commentary for an editorial on a potential casino in Petaluma.

The staff won first place for best website - petaluma360.com.

The contest annually compares daily and weekly newspapers of similar sizes and is judged by journalists from across the state. The Argus-Courier competes in the category for weekly newspapers with circulations between 4,301 and 11,000.