With a record 40 awards, Marion County Record on Saturday won Kansas Press Association’s sweepstakes honors in both news and advertising as the best newspaper in the state in its circulation class.

Many of the winning entries also were published, along with news of those local communities, in the Record’s sister newspapers, the Hillsboro Star-Journal and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin.

Only one other newspaper in the state, the Topeka Capital-Journal won for both news and advertising in its class.

Other winners were Linn-Palmer Record for news and Hugoton Hermes for advertising among the smallest non-dailies and Wichita Business Journal for news and Miami County Republic for advertising among the biggest non-dailies.

Among dailies, Leader and News won for news and Independence Daily Reporter won for advertising in the smallest circulation category, and Garden City Telegram won for news and Great Bend Tribune for advertising in the mid-size circulation category.

The Record won first place for overall news and writing excellence, front page, sports pages, investigative reporting, feature writing, editorial writing, column writing, education reporting, youth reporting, reporting originating from a public notice, series of stories, overall design, photo package, and story-and-photo combination.

In advertising it won first place for special section, automotive, entertainment, furniture, online, and professional services ads.

The paper won second place as well as first in several categories, including investigative reporting, editorial writing, and youth reporting for news and professional services and automotive ads for advertising. The Record actually swept the professional services category, also winning third place.

Other second places in news were for environmental reporting, health reporting, religion reporting, seniors reporting, sports reporting, sports feature writing, spot news, and editorial pages.

In advertising, other seconds were for grocery and agricultural ads.

Third place awards were for general news story, political reporting, infographics, specialty advertising, and in-house advertising in addition to three repeat categories: story-and-photo, spot news, and agricultural ad.

The contest was judged by journalists from the state of Washington.

Excerpts from judges’ comments, also released Saturday, about the Record’s winning entries:

• “The writer turned a sweet, nice hometown story into something humorous and enjoyable.”
• “Solid reporting on a topic that surely mattered to a lot of people in the community. Shows initiative on the part of the reporter. A lot of good work here on an issue that could have easily gone unnoticed.”
• “Solid writing on diverse topics. Good job. Good phrasing.”
• “The writer managed to find human stories to illustrate what could have been a dry piece.”
• “Most interesting and newsworthy.”
• “Good timing, composition and expressiveness put this photo package on top.”
• “Layouts are dynamic and easy to follow. Great use of strong art. Clean design.”
• “Nice use of white space. Edged the competition because the fronts all looked different.”
• “The graphic of the granny made me read the ad.”
• “Super! Great message and good use of motion to grab the viewer.”
• “Nice, clean design. Crisp and easy to read.”
• “A lot of moving parts to this story. Good job in gathering a lot of information.”
• “When dealing with the most difficult — and cop shootings are in there — openness with information is always the best in the long run. If public officials don’t provide public information, the public will fill the vacuum with rumor and gossip.”
• “Telling about the sisters finishing the walk holding hands immediately brings you into the story. Well done.”
• “A nice lead and a fun story. The background and details are well-balanced and are seamlessly worked into the piece. This was an entertaining and informative read.”
• “A good, inspirational story about a man who beat his demons and is helping others.”
• “Keeps the audience engaged from the first sentence to the last, penning a doozy of a feature.”
• “Originality is as near perfect as can be.”
• “A solid story that explains the issue and how it affects humans.”
• “Made me want to read the ads.”
• “The reporter’s multiple interviews from different angles kept a potentially contentious story from feeling like a gossipy expose. The newspaper presented a delicate matter in a fair light, and the citizens benefit from hearing all sides.”
• “This story has a great lede. Overall a solid job on a tough story to write.”