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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Judges in the Better Newspaper Competition have chosen Yellowknifer as one of the best papers in its circulation class.

The Canadian Community Newspaper Association granted a blue ribbon, a distinction of general excellence, to Yellowknifer last month.

The paper, celebrating its 37th anniversary, earned two other distinctions - one for best local editorial and another for headline writing.

Yellowknifer finished second in the editorial category. The compelling commentary, written by editor Jennifer Geens, took aim at a serious oversight that occurred at Wal-Mart, which had left baby food jars with popped vacuum-seals on its shelves for several days in December 2007. Titled "Store put babies at risk," the judges wrote that the editorial "courageously (takes) a major local business to task for ignoring repeated warnings to remove potentially tainted baby food from shelves."

Reporter Lauren McKeon garnered third place for environmental writing. Her feature story "Collision course" took a look at the potential for disaster due to flocks of birds at the Yellowknife dump, which is slated for expansion, yet is already closer to the airport than Transport Canada allows.

Headlines like "R U 4 REAL?" based on phone company charges for incoming cell phone text messages; "Faulty-plex," referring to mechanical problems delaying ice at the Multiplex arena; and "Unhappy campers vent," telling of campers who were up in arms over government-imposed changes to fees and camping stays, helped Yellowknifer claim third place for best headline writing. There were 43 entrants in the category.

"Yellowknifer ... has long been known as an innovative newspaper, but its headline 'R U 4 REAL?' about text messaging was certainly hard to ignore," the judges wrote.

Other Northern News Services' publications also fared well at the competition. NWT News/North was bestowed with a blue ribbon for general excellence.

As well, Opportunities North, an annual comprehensive Northern industry overview, totalling 96 pages, caught the judges' attention. It won first place for best special section.

Deh Cho Drum's Roxanna Thompson captured first place for best sports photo.

Darrell Greer's contributions to Nunavut News/North earned him the top columnist award.

Greer also earned a second place for best environmental writing in Kivalliq News.