The Arizona Newspaper Association hosted the annual Better Newspaper Contest awards banquet on Sept. 29 in Scottsdale, and The Explorer came away with several awards.
The biggest award is a second-place finish for overall General Excellence for non-dailies with a circulation greater than 10,000.
The Explorer also won second place for Best Use of Photography, Editorial Page Excellence and Page Design Excellence.
The Explorer earned third place for Best Website, and Community Service/Journalistic achievement was for the anniversary coverage of the Jan. 8 shooting.
In individual awards, Explorer Production Manager Brandon Hays received two second-place honors for ad design.
Editor Thelma Grimes took first place for Best Headline, and won a third-place award for Sustained Coverage for her work on the Coyote Run Transit issues in Oro Valley.
