The Daily Astorian won 25 awards, including seven first-place trophies, in the annual Better Newspapers Contest of the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association.

Two reporters, Kate Ramsayer and Leanne Josephson, won five honors each.

Ramsayer placed first in the enterprise category for her two-part series on the Clatsop and Tillamook state forests and an honorable mention in the same category for her coverage of the Calpine controversy. She placed second in the best writing category for a portfolio of stories, and third in personality features for a story about the man who created the French “Goonies” Web site. She earned an honorable mention in the silk purse category, which attracts entries from reporters who turn an apparently mundane assignment into something especially interesting, for a story about the Buoy 10 fishery.

Josephson placed first in the educational reporting category for coverage of the Astoria restructuring controversy and the subsequent recall, and third for a story about declining enrollment in North Coast schools. She earned three other third-place awards: for the lifestyle features category with a story about Finnish traditions, for general features for a story about the cost of the U.S. Coast Guard responding to hoax calls and for personality features for a profile of Astoria High School’s inspiring student Jeannie Waller.

Photographer Lori Assa won the news photo category with a photo of the grieving family of David Mitts, who was killed in Iraq, and placed third for a photo of the funeral of Al Eastman, the retired county sheriff killed by a criminal. Her photo from the Astoria-Warrenton Crab and Seafood Festival placed second in the feature photo category.

Managing Editor Patrick Webb won two first-place trophies, in the best writing category for a portfolio of stories and columns, and in general features for a Coast Weekend story about the production of “Hedda Gabler” at The River Theater. His columns about soccer earned second place in the local columns category.

Coast Weekend editor Kathleen Strecker earned two awards. She won first place in inside-page design for a portfolio of pages and an honorable mention in the headline writing category.

Reporter Sandra Swain won first place in the spot news category for her coverage of the police shooting of Douglas Pollock in Astoria.

Laurel Eddy and Gary Henley combined for second place in spot news with their coverage of Mitts’ death.

Editor Steve Forrester placed second for best editorial page.

Copy editor Max Charlton placed second in the front-page design category for his portfolio.

The staff earned third place for special sections for The Lives They Lived, a tabloid which highlights the lives of North Coast residents who died in the prior year.

Former Daily Astorian staffer Andrew Adams placed second in the business coverage category for a two-part series called “The Changing Face of North Coast Tourism.” Adams now works at the Lodi News-Sentinel in California.

Former newsroom intern Lacey Hoyer, of Astoria, who just graduated from the University of Oregon, placed second in the personality feature category for a story about a power company lineman.

The Daily Astorian competes with daily newspapers with circulations of 10,000 or below. The awards were presented at the ONPA annual convention in Eugene Friday.