COLUMBUS - The Tribune Chronicle took home 15 awards Sunday - including two statewide first-place finishes - in the annual Associated Press Society of Ohio contest for work done in 2011.
Chief photographer R. Michael Semple won both first and second place in the Best Feature Photo category, and Managing Editor Guy C. Coviello was named Best Editorial Writer.
Last year, the newspaper collected 12 state awards.
The Tribune Chronicle - celebrating its 200th anniversary this year - was one of 67 daily newspapers in Ohio that submitted a total 2,928 entries in the contest, which featured news and sports stories, features, editorials, columns, graphics and photos from 2011.
Entries were judged by editors from major newspapers across the nation in different divisions.
The Tribune Chronicle competes in the Division IV category for Ohio newspapers with a daily circulation between 25,000 and 74,999, which includes The Repository in Canton, The Lima News and the News-Herald in Willoughby. The Tribune's entries were judged by the New York Times Syndicate.
Awards by Tribune Chronicle staff were:
Best Editorial Writer, Coviello, for a body of work, first place;
Best Feature Photo, Semple, ''Bocce,'' taken during the Italian-American Festival in downtown Warren, first place; and ''Tiny Dancer,'' taken at Warren's Noon in the Park, second place;
Best News Writer, Adam Ferrise, body of work, second place;
Best Investigative Reporting, Ferrise, ''Dealing with Gangs,'' a series on local street gangs, second place;
Best Full Page Layout, Design Editor Joe Landsberger, ''Korey Stringer,'' covering the 10th anniversary of the death of the football standout, second place;
Best Breaking News, news staff, ''Perished,'' covering Warren's deadliest house fire, second place;
Best Community Service, ''Fitness Challenge,'' community weight loss competition to benefit charity coordinated by newspaper staff and written by Burton Cole, second place;
Best Headline Writer, Copy Desk Chief Tom Anderson, body of work, third place;
Best Business Writer, Business Editor Larry Ringler, body of work, third place;
Best Sports Event Coverage, sports staff, ''Harding Fires Coach, '' third place;
Best Special Sports Section, sports staff, ''High School Football,'' third place;
Best Special Section, news staff, ''Veterans Day,'' which collected in section the weekly profiles of area veterans, third place;
Best Enterprise Reporting, news staff, ''Snapshots of Crime,'' third place;
Best Page One Layout, Landsberger, third place.
The Associated Press is a not-for-profit news cooperative representing 1,500 newspapers and 5,000 broadcast stations in the United States. Members of AP include 87 daily newspapers in Ohio.