Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Apr 28/04) - The Kivalliq News put in a strong showing at the Manitoba Community Newspaper Association's (MCNA) awards in Winnipeg earlier this month.

The Northern News Services Ltd. (NNSL) publication took first place in the prestigious Best in Class category of the MCNA awards.

In the overall classifications, editor Darrell Greer took home the Best Sports Story of the year award for his work on Rankin Inlet's Jordin Tootoo being named to the Nashville Predators lineup to start the 2003-04 NHL season (Thunder strikes, Oct. 8, 2003).

The Kivalliq News also took home second place in the overall class for Best In-House Ad of the year, and Greer returned to the podium one more time to accept the third place award for Best News Story of the year.

The Kivalliq News has also been named as a double finalist in the upcoming Canadian Community Newspaper Association awards.

The regional paper is one of three finalists in the Best in Class category, while Greer is one of three finalists in the overall category of Best Feature Story of the year.

The national awards will be announced this summer.

Greer said he was honoured by the awards, and appreciates the support he receives from his NNSL editorial and production co-workers.

"At the end of the day, the most important thing is that, hopefully, we're producing a newspaper the people in our region are proud to call their own," said Greer.