SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Yellowknifer scooped up several awards at the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association's Better Newspapers Competition in addition to a national distinction recently.

This examination of Northland Trailer Park's history and its crumbling water and sewage pipes, by reporter Tim Edwards, was named the best Feature Story by a Local Writer at the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association Awards in Edmonton earlier this month.

A feature on the closure of Yellowknife video rental businesses, "Dark times for video stores" (June 18, 2010), landed Guy Quenneville second place for Best Business Writing through the Canadian Community Newspaper Awards, which were announced in Vancouver late last month.

The judge praised Quenneville for localizing a wider trend of the collapsing video rental industry, using detailed research and drawing on a great cross-section of sources. The judge described the story as an enjoyable read, complemented by fact boxes, photos and statistics.

At the Alberta competition, held in Edmonton earlier this month, Yellowknifer editor Mike Bryant earned his third Gordon Scott Memorial Award for Best Feature Column by a Local Writer. The triumphant entry, a From Ground Zero column titled "Finally, a real human rights case" (Yellowknifer, July 2, 2010), was based on Bryant's thought-provoking stance on a controversial dispute between a landlord and a gay couple, who were being denied rental accommodations by the landlord.

Bryant deemed that a legitimate case for the NWT Human Rights Commission while comparing it to some past cases that he felt were questionable. He'd also won this award in the past for his Fishin' Technician column.

An in-depth look at the infrastructure woes plaguing Northland Trailer Park scored top marks in the Best Feature Story by a Local Writer category. The judge rated the story - "Yellowknife's bruised heart" by Tim Edwards (April 14, 2010) - highly for its multiple sources, "outstanding fact gathering" and the way it was displayed artfully and informatively on the pages.

A second place award went to Quenneville for Best Trades Technology Writing.

His story, "Mining program graduates 12" (Nov. 30, 2010) on the Underground Miner Trainer Program, was "well written" and accentuated the importance of mining to the NWT, the judge commented.

Yellowknifer also captured a second place Ad Campaign Award. It was based on a series of advertisements that enticed customers to visit the Thornton's wine and tapas establishment for a meal served in ever-faster time, as quick as five minutes and 37 seconds.

As well, Northern News Services took third place in its division for best website and had the third best editorial page in its class.

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