Whidbey News-Times staff were honored with awards last weekend at the 2017 Better Newspaper Contest.

Presented by Washington Newspapers Publishers Association, the contest weighs hundreds of entries from dozens of weekly and twice weekly publications across Washington. Each year the contest is judged by an out-of-state news group.

Reporter Patricia Guthrie won third place as the Feature Writer of the Year.

The staff took home first place in the “tourism / community guide special section” category for the Islander publication.

Co-editor Jessie Stensland won a first-place award in the “investigative reporting” category for the story, “Treatment didn’t stop alleged Cascade Mall shooter.” She also won first place in “News of the Weird” for the story “Scary clown sightings creep into Oak Harbor.”

Former reporter Ron Newberry won first place in “best general feature” for “Sheep barn placed on state heritage barn register.” He won second place in “best education story” for the story “Top of the world.” He won third place in News of the Weird for “Duck and Cover.” He received a second-place in “breaking news photography” for a photo entitled “A firefighter consoles” and third place for a color pictorial for “A fiery celebration.”

Photographer John Fisken won a third-place award in color sports photography for the photo “Oak Harbor center fielder.”