Award winners

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Eunice News repeats in top photo awards
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Staff Report
For the second year in a row The Eunice News won first place in the Best News Photo category of the Louisiana Press Association’s Better Newspaper Competition.
This year’s first place award-winner was a photo of a wounded suspect involved in a hostage Nov. 30, 2017, hostage situation on Park Avenue. The photo was taken by Harlan Kirgan, editor.
Myra Miller won first place in the Best News Photo for a photo of a fire at the corner of Maple and Lewis in 2016.
And, for the third year in a row, The Eunice News placed in the General Excellence category. The 2017 entry placed third. The category directs judges to assess the total newspaper including advertising, news and design.
The Eunice News competes in Division 4, which includes weekly newspapers with circulations of 3,000 and lower. The division includes the most newspapers of any of the six divisions.
Tom Dodge, sports editor and a consistent winner in the state contest, won the first place Best Sports Photo award for a shot of LSU Eunice’s Michael Claverie watching as the ball hit him during a game against Delgado.
The Eunice News also won two second-place awards.
Dodge won for a story about Julius Bischoff. Ben Bischoff reflected on his father Julius’ life as a taxidermist. The artistry was passed down from father to son working out of a small shop near Eunice since 1945. The elder Bischoff died in 2017.
Kirgan won also won a second-place award for story about preparations for flooding in May 2017.
Kirgan and Miller won a third-place award in the Best Photo Package competition for coverage of the August solar eclipse.
The Experience Louisiana special section also garnered a third-place award.
The Arkansas Press Association judged the competition this year.
Overall, 50 newspapers, publications, and college, and university student newspapers submitted 1,391 entries.
The awards were presented Saturday during the Mississippi Press Association/ Louisiana Press Association Joint Convention in New Orleans.