The staff of the Central Kitsap Reporter won 24 awards from this year’s Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspaper Contest, surpassing last year’s total of 18 awards.

Marketing artist Bruce Pritchard and marketing representative Katerina Ebert Kailey won second-place honors for their Pages Books ad. Marketing artist Bryon Kempf placed second for a Peninsula Gardens ad and first place for his design of the Best of Central Kitsap 2007 special section cover.

Photographer Jesse Beals won seven awards for the Central Kitsap Reporter including three first-place honors, two second place and two third place. He also won three awards for his photographs featured in the CK Reporter’s sister paper, the Port Orchard Independent.

In the news competition, staff writer Rachel Brant was honored with three awards. She won first place in the business category for her story, “From cleaning rags to riches,” on Lighthouse Cove Property Management owner Chrysztyna Montañez. She placed first in the news of the weird category for the story, “Ferry-riding dog’s travels come to an end,” about Buster, a 3-year-old husky/heeler mix, who was caught riding the Annapolis Ferry without his owner in May 2007. Brant also was named a news writer of the year finalist for her portfolio of work.

Staff writer Wesley Remmer won third place for his story, “Quads are really four unique individuals,” about trilingual kindergarten quadruplets which was featured in the Bremerton Patriot.

Former staff writer Paul Balcerak won second-place honors for the story, “Oly assembly more than meets the eye,” about Olympic High School students creating a 17-foot replica of the “Transformers” robot, Optimus Prime.

Former sports editor Aaron Managhan won four awards in the sports category including one-first place honor and two third place. He also won third-place for best sports section.

Editor Kassie Korich won first place in the crime and courts category for her story, “KSS student arrested for school shooting threats,” on the Klahowya Secondary School student who was arrested in April 2007. She also won third-place honors for her editorial, “If you don’t like it, steer clear,” on the Espresso Gone Wild coffee stand in Gorst.