The Pahrump Valley Times staff, along with several newcomers to the newspaper, took home several awards at the 2017 Nevada Press Association Awards on Saturday during the association’s annual banquet.
Design and editorial staff at the Pahrump Valley Times publication took home 10 top-ranking awards during the banquet in Carson City on Sept. 30, including two first-place spots, three second-place spots and five third-place awards in the intermediate daily newspaper category.
Incoming editor David Jacobs, who was welcomed to the Pahrump Valley Times in March, also took several awards home for the publication’s sister newspaper—the Tonopah Times-Bonanza—under the community newspaper category.
Jacobs received six first-place awards, a second-place award and two third-place awards in Carson City in several categories: best feature writing, best business spot news story and best breaking news reporting, just to name a few.
Jacobs was also recognized with an outstanding journalist award in Carson City.
The first-place winner at the Pahrump Valley Times was Heather Ruth in the best black &white ad category (Saturday Youth and Art Classes). Ruth took home just shy of half of the 10 awards for the Pahrump Valley Times for her design work, which includes her first-place win.
Ruth also won an award with several other contributors from the Pahrump Valley Times: Selwyn Harris; Arnold Knightly, prior editor before Jacobs’ arrival; Daria Sokolova; and reporter Mick Akers, who is now with the Las Vegas Sun. The group took second place in the best special section in the intermediate category for its “Election 2016” story.
Also taking home a first-place award for Pahrump Valley Times was Jessica Beaudoin, page designer for the Pahrump Valley Times, Tonopah Times-Bonanza and Las Vegas Review-Journal. Beaudoin won for best overall design in the intermediate category.
Sport’s Editor Vern Hee of the Pahrump Valley Times took third place for the best sports column in the intermediate category.
Also, Selwyn Harris, reporter at Pahrump Valley Times, took third place for best entertainment writing in the intermediate category for his story on Comedian Marty Allen’s return to the Pahrump Nugget in 2016.
Akers also took third place for the best business spot news story and second in the best business feature category, for the Pahrump Valley Times.
Another newcomer, reporter Jeffrey Meehan, took home an award for his work at the Las Vegas Business Press, an affiliate publication to the Pahrump Valley Times, under the urban weekly category. Meehan placed third for best business spot news story in that category.
Las Vegas Business Press, Tonopah Times and Pahrump Valley Times are all affiliate companies of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Contact reporter Jeffrey Meehan at jmeehan@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes