The editorial staff of the Kirkland Reporter newspaper was honored by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association during its annual awards ceremony on Oct. 9 in Everett.

Regional editor Matt Phelps and reporter TJ Martinell won first place for Best Investigative Reporting in Group IV for the story “Drugs, bunkers, gun range, arsenal and former Sonics player found in Kirkland raid.”

Phelps and Martinell also won second place for Best Comprehensive Coverage of a Single Issue or Series in Group IV for their coverage of the sexual assault at Juanita High School last October. The entry included all news coverage of the incident from October 2014 through March 2015.

Phelps won second place for the Best Editorial in Group IV for “Kirkland community would have benefited from release of more documents in assault case.”