The Ouray County Plaindealer took home 19 awards last weekend from the four-state Top of the Rockies journalism contest, including five first-place prizes and an award for public service. The Plaindealer won the top number of awards among small newsrooms in a four-state region.

The contest, sponsored by the Colorado Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and open to news organizations in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico, drew more than 1,700 entries from more than 100 print, online and broadcast media outlets, as well as freelance journalists. Entries were judged by journalists from Illinois and Ohio and divided into small, medium, large and extra-large newsrooms, based on staff size.

The Plaindealer competed in the small newsroom category along with news organizations including Colorado Newsline, Boulder Reporting Lab, Colorado Springs Business Journal, Source New Mexico, and Moab Sun News.

The Plaindealer received awards for:

First place

• Breaking news, co-publisher Erin McIntyre and reporter Liz Teitz, for their coverage of the Simms Fire that destroyed a home and other property and burned more than 300 acres in May 2022.

The judges said: “Excellent job of showcasing emotions tied to this story. Includes facts from all parties and emphasizes questions yet to be answered. Well done.”

• Agriculture and environment story, Teitz, for her story about the U.S. Forest Service concluding that a local hunting outfitter accidentally triggered the Cow Creek Fire that burned more than 800 acres east of Ridgway in 2019. Federal officials denied Plaindealer requests for more information for more than two years before finally releasing a report in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

• Sports feature, co-publisher Mike Wiggins, for a story documenting the reopening of Ouray’s Rotary Park ice rink after a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic.

• News photography, McIntyre, for a series of photos illustrating the Simms Fire destruction and residents’ reaction at a community meeting held by the Forest Service.

• Headline writing, Wiggins, for a series of news and feature story headlines.

Second place

• Breaking news, McIntyre and Wiggins, for their story documenting the fatal Jeep accident that killed Ouray resident Don Fehd and two other people on Camp Bird Road last September.

• Beat reporting, Teitz, for her ongoing coverage of affordable housing issues in Ouray County.

• News reporting, Teitz, for her story about the cause of the 2019 Cow Creek Fire.

• Business news story, Teitz, for her story about a receiver being appointed to handle the assets of the troubled Ouray Silver Mines and search for a new owner of the Revenue Virginius Mine.

• Obituary reporting, McIntyre, for her story recalling life of Ouray resident Bill Fries, who made a music career under the stage name “C.W. McCall.”

• Short-form feature, McIntyre, for her profile of Ouray County resident Tom Hennessy and his love of restoring old typewriters.

• Feature photography, McIntyre, for her photos of Hennessy.

• Sports photography, McIntyre, for her photos of the 2022 Ouray Ice Festival.

Third place

• Public service, McIntyre, Teitz and Wiggins, for the Plaindealer’s news coverage and editorial writing chronicling the Simms Fire, the federal government’s handling of the prescribed burn that triggered the wildfire and the aftermath.

It’s the third year in a row the Plaindealer has received an award in the public service category. The Plaindealer won first place in the public service category last year for reporting on Ouray County’s discipline of Public Health Director Tanner Kingery and Emergency Manager Glenn Boyd, the county’s lawsuit against McIntyre for requesting their disciplinary records and the county’s decision to ultimately settle the case and pay the Plaindealer’s attorney’s fees. The records were released by the employees. The newspaper also won first place for public service in 2021 for its coverage of then-Sheriff Lance FitzGerald’s legal troubles and subsequent recall.

• Politics feature, Wiggins, for a story explaining how county voters favored no Republican candidates at any level in the November election for the first time in at least 60 years.

• Obituary reporting, Wiggins and McIntyre, for their story remember Ridgway native Devin Overton, who was killed in an avalanche in San Miguel County in March 2022.

• Short-form feature, McIntyre, for her story on Eva Schoonover competing in the Fourth of July Ouray water fights while battling Stage 4 cancer.

• Sports feature, Teitz, for her story on the combined Ouray, Ridgway and Silverton boys’ track team winning the Class 2A 4×400 relay race for the second year in a row.

• Sports photography, McIntyre, for her photos documenting the 2022 San Juan Skijoring competition.