Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: Windom - Cottonwood County Citizen Entry Title: General Reporting Entry Credit: Rahn Larson, Dave Fjeld, Joel Alvstad Judge Comment: This is a well-organized paper that puts its readers first with a lot of "extras" like bulleted summaries, polls and reader's voices. Those extras take work, and that attention to detail shows in the overall quality of this paper.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Waconia Patriot Entry Title: Waconia Patriot Gen Rep Entry Credit: Staff Judge Comment: Impressive amount of local news in every issue, curated with solid news sense. Well done!
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: Pelican Rapids Press Entry Title: 04 General Reporting: Pelican Rapids Press Entry Credit: Louis Hoglund Judge Comment: Community-focused mix of news and human interest. Enjoyed Hoglund's writing.
Competition Comment: A lot of great community newspapers here. Minnesota is a lucky state!