Mr. Kirby Jr. goes all out sad with these 3 entries, which are very long, emotional and wistful "look backs" on life of cherished colleague, a newspaper & staff of high importance in his career and a 3rd local figure. The extreme length & too much personal thoughts combined with some odd structure & sentences drops down to 3rd place me. Thank you.

Some nice shots here - but I wish there were more opportunities for us to see the people in these places of worship. It's a shame to not have more humans in these spaces in the photos.

Solid ledes. Especially like the school story lede. It catches attention and is timely. Good job.

Nice work on this visitor's guide - Fantastic Cover. Page 4 thumbs up! A good source of revenue that doesn't take much annually to update and revamp. I don't know if you already do this, but keeping an 'edit' hard copy handy and a bright red sharpie to X out venues, businesses that close will speed up your project the next year. Also add sticky notes to the inside front cover for potential new advertisers and lock them in months before the deadline!

Thorough coverage of this political issue that is important to NC and to many other states facing the same problem.

Nice work, Church without the itch instantly transported me back to my childhood - and may be the unaddressed reason for my dislike of adhering to any kind of dress code, even at 62. I really enjoy your writing! 2nd place Congratulations!

There can never be enough news articles when it comes to Veterans and their ongoing plight. These are the men and women who have done their American patriotic duty and it is appalling that our country treats them like 3rd class citizens. Thank you for your work! Congrats on 2nd place! Continue following this and sharing it with your readers. Stories like this need to be our online viral news.

I enjoyed this feature. it is very nicely done. it flows well. I appreciate quotes from multiple sources. It does a great job of telling the story of a young ball player. The strong writing and organization moved this top to the top of the heap. Fine work!

Earl Vaughan Jr.'s column of the aftermath of the state legislature's surprising decision is some of the finest column writing of this year's crop of submissions, regardless of region.

This series pressed on an important issue that needed transparency and reporter was prepared and asking the right questions.

Great layout and nice presentation of the editor's note and a peek into what stories to look for inside. Many editors bury that in their column, so this was refreshing to see it in its own column line. Hot Finds gets a thumbs up! Great photography and nice mix of ads. Highlights: Hometown Bucket List story, Good Reads, and the ad intro photo and brief for Home for the Holidays directory! 1st Place! Congratulations!