Bellevue Reporter staff took top honors at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s annual event on Oct. 15, as reporter Allison DeAngelis won first place in the prestigious News Writer of the Year category.

Overall, DeAngelis took home five awards in the annual Better Newspaper Contest for her quality community journalism.

“This writer has told a number of very human stories with great sensitivity and honesty,” wrote one judge of DeAngelis’ reportage for the News Writer of the Year honors.

She also won two first place awards for Best Breaking News Story, “Toddler killed when car jumps curb, smashes into stroller,” and Best Crime and Court Story for “The league of sex-soliciting gentlemen.”

In addition, DeAngelis took home a second place award for best Comprehensive Coverage of a Single Issue for her reportage of the allegations surrounding the Bellevue High School football program, and third place in Investigative Reporting for “7 priests assigned to Bellevue abused children over decades.”

Bellevue Reporter sports writer Shaun Scott also won a second place award for Best Sports News Story for a story that was published in the Issaquah-Sammamish Reporter.

All in all, Sound Publishing publications brought home over 320 awards, with 118 of those being first place.