BAR HARBOR – The Sun Journal won daily and weekend Newspaper of the Year awards at the Maine Press Association’s annual banquet Saturday night.

“It’s been a great year for the Sun Journal,” Executive Editor Rex Rhoades said. “These are trying times for newspapers, but we have an excellent staff – reporters, editors, photographers and designers – who are always striving to meet the challenges. I’m very proud of everyone.”

The Sun Journal’s Sunday edition was named newspaper of the year for the fourth year in a row. Second place in the general excellence competition for weekend papers went to the Morning Sentinel of Waterville and third place went to the Kennebec Journal of Augusta.

In the daily division, the Sun Journal was followed by the Bangor Daily News in second place and the Journal Tribune of Biddeford in third.

The Ellsworth American and the Houlton Pioneer Times were named the state’s best weekly papers.

In addition to general excellence, the Sun Journal received 16 first-place awards, and took home the Freedom of Information Award for reporting on a fatal boating accident on Long Lake in Harrison in August 2007.

The first-place awards, as well as 22 other awards, honored writing, photography, design and advertising, with several highlighting the quality of the Sun Journal’s sports department.

The Sun Journal swept the first-place categories for sports sections for the daily and weekend categories, which included coverage of the Maineiacs during the 2007 playoff season, high school football coverage and a preview of the TD Banknorth 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway.

The sports staff also won a first-place award for its special section previewing the 2007 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League championship series between the Lewiston Maineiacs and the Val-d’Or Foreurs.

The newspaper also swept the specialty page design category, winning first-, second- and third-place awards for specialty pages, including a first-place award for “Following the Freshmen,” a feature page about dog obedience school and a sports cover on the Oxford 250.

Sports writer and columnist Kalle Oakes earned a first-place award for his analysis, “Metal vs. Wood,” exploring the possible dangers of metal bats used in youth baseball.

Staff writer Kathryn Skelton’s analysis of the cooperative efforts to blend certain municipal services in Lewiston and Auburn, titled “Can this marriage work?” examined cities and towns across the country that have tried to consolidate services and whether the Twin Cities could pull off a walk down the aisle.

Chief photographer Russ Dillingham picked up two first-place awards, including a picture of a drug bust on a snowy day in Auburn and another, titled “Not-So-Easy Rider.”

Rhoades earned a first-place continuing story award for his series titled “China’s Orphans.” For that series, Rhoades spent two and a half weeks traveling in China with students and faculty from the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston-Auburn College.

In crafting his first-place front page design titled “Retail Heaven?”, featuring a glimmering angel for a piece on the retail potential of Lewiston and Auburn, illustrator Pete Gorski considered what L-A needed to attract desired retail, or whether a bit of divine intervention in the form of a worker-bee angel was required.

Editorial Page Editor Anthony Ronzio, winning first place for daily editorial, “A Rumford Cut and Run,” appealed for leadership in Rumford governance after a series of missteps led to two selectmen covertly chopping down trees in front of Town Hall.

And, staff writers Mark LaFlamme and Terry Karkos shared a first-place award for their spot news report of 53-year-old Vermont hunter Steven Wright’s three-day ordeal lost in the woods surrounding Tumbledown Mountain near Byron, titled “Cold, Dazed, but Alive.”

First-place awards

Spot news photo, “Snowy Crash,” Russ Dillingham; feature photo, “Not-So-Easy Rider,” Russ Dillingham; specialty page design, “The Sophomore Surprise,” Corey LaFlamme and Pete Gorski; front page design, “Retail Heaven?” Nick Masuda and Pete Gorski; editorial page (weekend), “Perspective,” Anthony Ronzio, Cam Churchill and Pete Gorski; sports section (daily), sports staff; sports section (weekend), sports staff; spot news story, “Cold, Dazed, but Alive,” Mark LaFlamme and Terry Karkos; analysis, “Can This Marriage Work?” Kathryn Skelton; continuing story, “China’s Orphans,” Rex Rhoades; special section, “It’s Baaack,” staff; editorial, “A Rumford Cut and Run,” Anthony Ronzio; sports story, “Metal vs. Wood,” Kalle Oakes; local ad (color), “Harley-Davidson Motorcycles,” Denise Morin; ad campaign or series, “Super Bowl Series,” advertising staff; and in-paper circulation promo, “12 Days of Christmas Sale,” Jesse Richter.

Second-place awards

People photo, “Window Washer,” Amber Waterman; specialty page design, “She Resisted a Tad but Coco is Now a Bone-fide Grad,” Ursula Albert; local column, “Bliss Thru Shopping,” staff; opinion column, “Inside Maine,” Paul Mills; sports feature, “Football Bridges All Time,” Randy Whitehouse; local ad (black and white), “Marc’s Auto Body,” Denise Morin; advertising layout, advertising staff; and best Newspapers in Education idea, “NIE – Fundraising,” Roger Quandt.

Third-place awards

Spot news photo, “Caught in a Flash,” Russ Dillingham; picture story, “Alzheimer’s Disease,” Amber Waterman; sports photo, “Conference at the Mound,” Daryn Slover; specialty page design, “And the Stars Come Out Tonight,” Justin Pelletier and Nick Masuda; news story, “Family Secrets,” Christopher Williams and Lindsay Tice; investigative report, “They Went. You Paid,” Kathryn Skelton; news/sports headline, “Jenkins Has Write Stuff,” Keith Hagel; feature headline, “Pedaling Packages,” staff; sports story, “The Ultimate Upset,” Justin Pelletier and Bob McPhee; sports feature, “Cold School,” Kalle Oakes; sports column, “The Hot Corner,” Kalle Oakes; local ad (black and white), “Wolf Cove Inn,” Michelle Pushard; supplement/special section, “Profile 2007,” advertising staff; and sponsorship page, “Adopt A Pet,” advertising staff.