Elizabeth Shepherd, former editor and current reporter for The Beachcomber, notched several impressive wins in the statewide 2024 Better Newspaper Contest, put on by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association (WNPA).

Most notably, she was awarded a first-place prize for News Writer of the Year — one of three such prizes given to journalists in different circulation groups for their reporting from April 31, 2023 – March 31, 2024.

The prize was given for Shepherd’s reporting of multiple news stories.

These included an article summarizing the findings in an investigation of former Vashon High School teacher Kara Sears; a lengthy interview with Seattle Indian Health Board CEO and President Esther Lucero (Diné) about the Health Board’s plans to open Thunderbird Treatment Center on Vashon; an article about the arrest of islander Jesus Ruiz-Hernandez on human trafficking charges; a story detailing Vashon’s ongoing ferry woes; and another reporting on Vashon Island Fire & Rescue’s efforts to relocate a family of ospreys which had long nested at the station.

Except for the story about ospreys, written in January 2024, all these articles were written in March and April of 2023 — a time when Shepherd was the sole journalist in The Beachcomber’s newsroom.

In the contest, judged by members of the Arizona Press Association, Shepherd also won a first-place prize for Investigative Reporting for her multi-story coverage of the investigations of both Sears and another Vashon High School teacher, John Rees. Both were accused of grooming students for inappropriate relationships that took place immediately following the graduation of the students, and both subsequently resigned after signing settlement agreements with the district.

Shepherd’s multi-story coverage of the sale of the Vashon Community Care building to the Seattle Indian Health Board, and the Health Board’s subsequent announcement of plans to open an addiction recovery center on the site, garnered another first-place prize for Comprehensive Coverage by a Single Writer.

She won a first-place prize in the contest’s Social Issue category for her article detailing broad plans by the Archdiocese of Seattle to restructure Catholic parishes and the impact of those plans on Vashon’s St. John Vianney Church; and a first-place prize in the Personality Profile (Short) category, about the life of Glenn Cooper, a disabled community member who died in January 2023.

Shepherd’s prizes also included a third-place prize in the Crime and Court Story category, about the law enforcement raid and arrest of Ruiz-Hernandez; and a second-place prize for her editorial about a more than 24-hour visit to Vashon waters by J Pod orca whales in November 2023.

Current Beachcomber editor Alex Bruell won two WNPA awards for his work at other Sound Publishing papers before his hire on Vashon. These included a third-place prize for Feature Story (Long), for the Federal Way Mirror, about a community’s response to a young man’s death; and a third-place prize, with co-writer Ray Miller-Still, for Comprehensive Coverage of a school bond process for the Enumclaw Courier-Herald.

The prizes were announced on Oct. 5, at WNPA’s annual conference and awards ceremony, held in Olympia.

Daralyn Anderson, publisher of The Beachcomber, praised both Shepherd and Bruell for their work as local journalists.

“These awards mean the world to us,” said Anderson. “Liz’s almost year-long efforts as the solo news writer in our newsroom was an amazing feat of journalism that deserves this recognition, and Alex’s arrival as editor has also been a cause of celebration. It’s gratifying to see their hard work honored.”