The staff of the Bainbridge Island Review earned more than a dozen awards for news writing, photography, page design and specialty publications in this year’s Washington state newspaper competition.

The Review’s website, www.bainbridgereview.com, was also picked as one of the best in the state.

Winners in the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association 2014 Better Newspaper Contest were announced at the association’s annual convention Oct. 3 in Chelan.

The staff of the Review won a total of 16 awards. The contest recognizes excellence in news coverage, photography, special sections, advertising, online work and service to communities.

“I’m extremely proud of the outstanding effort, by our newsroom, day in and day out, and it’s gratifying that the hard work of every member of our staff has been recognized as some of the finest work in Washington state journalism,” said Review editor Brian Kelly.

The newspaper was honored with awards in feature writing, as well as education, government, crime/court and arts coverage.

The Review won six photography awards.

The newspaper was awarded first place in the color photo essay category for its coverage of the opening day of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, with the award going to Cecilia Garza, Kelly and former Review reporters Richard D. Oxley and Henri Gendreau.

The Review also won third place for best website of all newspapers in the competition.

Luciano Marano won first place for best personality profile for his story on Devon Raney and his 75-day bicycle trip from Bainbridge Island to Tijuana, Mexico.

Marano took second place in the color portrait category for a photograph of Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra conductor Wesley Schulz.

He also won two awards for sports photography; a third-place award for black-and-white sports action/feature, and a third-place award for color  sports feature.

Garza also won three other photography and writing awards.

She earned second place in the general news photography category, for her photo of Judge Sarah McCulloch getting a hug from her daughter after Bainbridge’s new municipal judge took her oath of office.

Garza picked up a second-place award for best arts story, for her article about Keiko Hara, who was featured as part of a special exhibition at Bainbridge Arts & Crafts that celebrated Japanese-American artists in honor of the Civil Liberties Act’s 25th anniversary.

“This was a very moving story of an artist that overcame considerable obstacles — particularly the sexist views of the men in this artist’s world — and channeled that energy into her work,” the judges said of Garza’s story.

She also won second place in the “news of the weird” category for her story about a neighbor’s Super Bowl prank that got carried away.

Kelly, the editor of the Review, was also honored with five other awards.

He won second place for best feature page design, which the judges said was the best entry in the category for tabloid-sized newspapers.

Kelly won second place in the best education story category for his coverage of youth pastor volunteers at Woodward Middle School.

“Best hard news education story this year,” contest judges said, and added, “handled very sensitive subject with skill, balance.”

Kelly also garnered a third-place award in color feature photography for an image from the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl victory parade in Seattle.

Kelly also won two other writing awards.

He received third place for best government reporting for his coverage of the lawsuit against the city of Bainbridge Island that was prompted by the city’s withholding of council member emails.

“The combination of thorough reporting, strong writing and a topic the public should know about make this story an award-winner,” the judges said.

Kelly also won third place in the best crime/court story category, for an article that detailed the assault of a special needs teen at Bainbridge High School.

The judges called the story “a thorough look at an outlandish case of bullying that went unaddressed, using court records to detail the numerous instances the system failed the child.”

The Review staff also won first place for best tourism/community guide for the 2014 Almanac, the annual publication that gives a comprehensive look at life on Bainbridge Island.

The newspaper also won second place for lifestyle/culture special sections for its annual Women in Business.

The contest covered the period of April 1, 2013 through March 31, 2014. The competition was judged by members of the Arizona Newspaper Association.