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First Posted: 3/27/2014 The Times Leader and its Community News Group received a total of 13 awards in the 2014 Keystone Press Awards, announced Thursday.
&#8220;I&#8217;m incredibly proud that so many of our efforts were recognized,&#8221; Executive Editor George Spohr said. &#8220;It&#8217;s especially gratifying being recognized for our editorials, our theater coverage, our outdoors coverage &#8212; niche local content that has such an impact on our community.&#8221;&#8203;
The Times Leader&#8217;s honorees are:
&#8226; Mark Jones, first-place winner in the &#8220;Editorial&#8221; category, for &#8220;Foster safe area for LGBT people,&#8221; &#8220;Violent crime calls for wide response&#8221; and &#8220;Election bureau errs with its &#8216;smart&#8217; deal.&#8221;
&#8226; Mary Therese Biebel, first-place winner in the &#8220;Feature Beat Reporting&#8221; category, for her theater beat coverage. She also got an honorable mention in that same category for her weddings coverage.
&#8226; Tom Venesky, honorable mention in the &#8220;Sports/Outdoor Column&#8221; category, for his column.
The Community News Group honorees are:
&#8226; Joe Healey, first-place winner in the &#8220;Investigative Reporting&#8221; category, for &#8220;Library&#8217;s future may be in jeopardy.&#8221;
&#8226; Ed Ackerman, second-place winner in the &#8220;Column&#8221; category, for his &#8220;The Optimist&#8221; series.
&#8226; Nick Wagner, honorable mention in the &#8220;Headline Writing&#8221; category, for &#8220;That&#8217;s my girl,&#8221; &#8220;Field of dreamers&#8221; and &#8220;PREP-ared for the next level.&#8221;
&#8226; Abington Journal, second place in the &#8220;Niche Publication&#8221; category, for &#8220;My Edition.&#8221;
&#8226; Robert Tomkavage, second place in the &#8220;News Beat Reporting&#8221; category, for his coverage of the Abington Heights School Board. He also got second place in the &#8220;Sports Beat Reporting&#8221; category for his coverage of the Abington Heights High School football team.
&#8226; Liz Baumeister, second place in the &#8220;Feature Beat Reporting&#8221; category, for her arts and entertainment coverage.
&#8226; Correspondent Bill Tarutis received two first-place awards for his work with The Dallas Post: first place in the &#8220;News Photo&#8221; category for &#8220;Releasing Hope&#8221; and first place in the &#8220;Feature Photo&#8221; category for &#8220;Pinewood Derby is 60.&#8221;
According to the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, nearly 4,300 entries were received from 142 PNA newspapers, with the entries judged by journalists in New York. Winners will be recognized May 31, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Press Conference in State College.

Times Leader, community papers receive statewide awards