PARAGRAPH RANCH GROUP NEWSPAPERS AMONG 53 WEEKLIES HONORED
At the 143rd convention of the Texas Press Association, June 1–3, in Round Rock, The Caprock Courier, The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon and The Texas Spur were among 99 Texas daily, semi-weekly, and weekly newspapers receiving annual awards for outstanding journalism in 18 categories in ten divisions ranked by circulation size; of these, 53 were weeklies in six divisions.
A total of 920 entries statewide were submitted in the contest.
The 2022 Better Newspaper Contest covered the period from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2022.
Spur-based Paragraph Ranch LLC, which has owned The Texas Spur since March 2018, acquired The Caprock Courier in March 2020 and The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon in February 2021. Under the leadership of newspaper veteran Kay Ellington, it has consistently won regional and statewide awards in multiple categories annually for each of its newspapers.
The Texas Spur, the flagship newspaper among the group, received recognition in seven Division 9 categories, earning 2nd place in Sweepstakes, with 475 points, against The Vernon Record (1st place, 625 points), The Floyd County Hesperian Beacon (3rd place, 450 points) and The Double Mountain Chronicle, Rotan (4th place, 350 points).
• 1st Place, Special Section, Weekly 2: Texas Spur staff for “Platinum Jubilee: 70 Years of Spur Homecoming,” Oct. 6.
• 1st Place, News Writing: Barbara Brannon for “Helios lanuches mining amid grand opening crowds,” May 12; “Argo Blockchain sells Helios plant to Galaxy in $100M deal,” Dec. 29.
• 1st Place, Feature Writing: Barbara Brannon for “Currency to Currents,” part 1, July 14; “Currency to Currents,” part 2, July 21; “Native son Aaron Latham laid to rest,” Aug. 4.
• 1st Place, Page Design: Barbara Brannon and Claudia Pérez for Page One, Feb. 3; Editorial, May 12, p. 2; Features, Oct. 6, page B2; Sports, Feb. 24, p. 5.
• 2nd Place, Editorial: Barbara Brannon for “Pleasant Callers at Newspaper Office,” Jan. 20, p. 2; “The Power of the Palace,” May 12, pp, 2, 10.
• 3rd Place, General Excellence: Texas Spur team for issues of Aug. 11, Aug. 25.
• 3rd Place, Sports Coverage: Kay Ellington for “Valley added to district,” Feb. 10; “Is JGISD planning on playing baseball?,” May 26.
The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon won awards in eight Division 9 categories, earning 3rd place in Sweepstakes with 450 points against The Vernon Record (1st place, 625 points), The Texas Spur (2nd place, 475 points), and The Double Mountain Chronicle, Rotan (350 points).
• 1st Place, Column Writing: Donnice Carruth for “One Woman's Cancer Journey,” Oct. 13, p. 10 (note that this first-person piece was originally submitted to The Texas Spur but also ran in The Caprock Courier and The Floyd County Hesperian-Beacon due to its timeliness during Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and Barbara Brannon for “Kudos to hospitals and doctors at year’s end,” Dec. 22, p. 2.
• 2nd Place, Feature Photography: Barbara Anderson for “Pumpkin Picking Time,” Sept. 1, pp. 1, 10; Barbara Brannon for “Winning Wildflowers, June 9, p. 1; and Barbara Brannon for “Aguirre named new postmaster for Floydada,” Feb. 17, p. 1.
• 2nd Place, Page Design: Barbara Brannon and Kay Ellington for Page One, Feb. 24; Editorial, Sept. 15, p. 2; Features, April 14, p. 3; Sports, Feb. 17, p. 6.
• 2nd Place, Sports Photography: Fred Cervantes for “Just around the corner,” Jan. 1, p. 1; “Windy Start for Winning Winds,” Feb. 24, p. 1, “Locking in at Lockney: Thiebaud takes helm, May 5, p. 1, “Whirlwinds whisk away 100th County Championship,” Sept. 8, p. 1, 10.
• 3rd Place, Advertising: Kay Ellington and Claudia Pérez for “W. J. Mangold Hospital Doctors’ Day,” March 31, p. 10; “W. J. Mangold Hospital: Health Care Close to You (Kids),” Apr. 14, p. 3; “W. J. Mangold Hospital: Health Care Close to You (Teenagers),” May 26, p. 3.
• 4th Place, Editorial: Kay Ellington for “Changing the ‘Groundhog Day’ phenom in elections,” Feb. 3, p. 2, and “Lucking out during Landon,” Feb. 10, p. 2.
• 4th Place, Feature Writing: Barbara Brannon for “Blanco Canyon ‘God’s Country’ musical holds Crosby reunion July 2, p. 1, and “Producers Co-op Elevator: Sentinel on the Plains,” July 21, p. 1.
• 4th Place, Sports Coverage: Fred Cervantes for “Lockney defeats Ropes at stroke of midnight,” May 12, p. 6, and Sue Jane Sullivan for “Whirlwinds take district-opening win in OT,” Oct. 13, p. 1, 7.
The Caprock Courier won awards in seven Division 10 categories, earning 2nd place in Sweepstakes with 400 points against the Clarendon Enterprise (1st place, 725 points), The Archer County News (3rd place, 400 points) and The Flatonia Argus (4th Place, 350 points).
• 2nd Place, Editorial: Kay Ellington for “On Sunshine Week and Daylight Saving Time,” Mar. 10, p. 2, and Barbara Brannon for “Restaurants the heart of a vibrant small town,” Mar. 17, p. 2.
• 2nd Place, Feature Writing: Barbara Brannon for “West Texas town wraps filming stint for hit TV series,” Jan. 13, p. 10; Hanaba Munn Welch for “Stars shine in HT Songwriter Festival,” Sept. 15, p. 1, 8.
• 2nd Place, General Excellence: Caprock Courier team for Apr. 21 issue (including 50th Anniversary Bob Wills Day “A Tribute to the King of Western Swing” special section) and Aug. 18 issue, “Saddle Up: It’s Almost Rodeo Time.”
• 2nd Place, News Writing: Barbara Brannon for “Soluna’s Dorothy lands in Silverton,” July 7, p. 1, 10; and “Solo hiker recovering after bison charge at Caprock Canyons,” Oct. 26, p. 1, 8.
• 3rd Place, Page Design: Barbara Brannon and Claudia Pérez for Apr. 28, Page One; Editorial, Oct. 20, p. 2; Feature, Jan. 13, p. 10; and Sports, Feb. 24, p. 10.
• 4th Place, Advertising: Kay Ellington and Barbara Brannon for “Years from Now: house ad, May 19, p. 13B, and for Hindman Ready-Built Homes, “If You Come . . . We Will Build It,” Sept. 1, p. 8.
• 4th Place, Column Writing: Liz Adams for “Thank You for Being a Friend,” Jan. 6, p. 2, and Kay Ellington, “Who’s running for what, when and where,” Jan. 27, p. 2.
Full results of the competition may be viewed in the Winner’s Circle publication online at https://publisher.etype. services/Texas-Press-Assoc/e-paper-special -edition/1C1113ED3DAA7A7F7A
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