Ten members of the Times News editorial staff earned honors in Pennsylvania's two major writing and photography competitions as announced recently by the Pa. Associated Press Managing Editors organization and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

APME"Miracle Kids," a yearlong project by Donald R. Serfass and Kathy Kunkel, grabbed top honors in two major categories of The Associated Press News Excellence Competition.The eight-part series, which examined special challenges faced by children and the resulting effect on their lives and families, took first place in investigative reporting and enterprise reporting.Also taking first place was staff photographer Bob Ford for his sports photo titled "Flopped," a colorful and soaring image of Brad Ehrets, Palmerton Area High School high jumper as he competed at state championships in Shippensburg.The team of Ron Gower, Amy Miller and Chris Parker snared second place in general news reporting for "Lansford Officer Dead," ongoing coverage of a high-profile suicide that rocked a community. Linda Koehler took second place in column writing for "To Colonoscopy or not to Colonoscopy," a lighthearted look at an invasive medical screening procedure.The winning entries were selected by AP member newspapers in New York. The Times News competes in the category of daily newspapers with circulation of 15,000 and under.Keystone awardsThe team of Serfass, Gail Maholick, Bruce Frasinelli and Jim Zbick earned a second-place Keystone Press award in the category of special project for "The Day JFK Came to Town," recounting the local campaign visit and sharing thoughts by local residents on the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's assassination.Ford won second place in graphic/photo illustration for "Another Dominant Season for Segan," a dual image of Sarah Segan of Northwestern Lehigh High School, Times News soccer player of the year.Serfass won second place in news feature for "The Flu Can Be Fatal," an investigative report into the unexpected death of a high school freshman. Serfass also earned honorable mention in investigative reporting for "Death of an Industry Giant"; in personality profile for "Blindness with a Vision"; and in feature beat reporting for "Lifestyle our Leisure Time."The Times News competes with multiday publications under 20,000 circulation. The AP and Keystone awards will be presented May 30-31 at the Pennsylvania Press Conference, State College, the annual media forum that honors the state's top journalists.Lehigh Valley Press Writers from Lehigh Valley Press weekly newspapers combined for 21 Keystone Press awards competing among weeklies under 5,000 circulation. Winners included Johanna Billings, Bernie O'Hare, Jason Rehm, Mark Reccek, Paul Cmil, Bud Cole, Paul Willistein, Nate Jastrzemski, Carol Smith, Karen Samuels, Joseph Asbury, Linda Anthony, Ed Courier and the staff of the Bethlehem Press.The Bethlehem Press also earned the Sweepstakes award in the division. Other weeklies from the Press family include similar publications serving school districts in Catasauqua, East Penn, Northampton, Northwestern, Parkland, Salisbury and Whitehall-Coplay. Lehigh Valley Press is a division of Times News LLC, Lehighton, a Pencor Services Inc. company based in Palmerton.Pennsylvania Press ContestLinda Koehler also represented the Times News in the Pennsylvania Press Club contest.In the feature category she won honorable mentions for "Hope spreads through Pleasant Valley" and "Jacqueline Mock is honored."She took second place in the arts/entertainment category for "Jazzing up summer reading," "The Phoenix bridge ..." as well as second place for business with stories about Spillane's closing and Leon George getting a bus driver award.Her environmental stories about Polk and Chestnuthill townships' recycling programs captured first place in the contest.History stories also won second place. They were "Getting it down on paper," "Pennsylvania pride ... and "A day in the death;" "Here's to hats."In the hobby/crafts category, Koehler won a first for "March of the Toy Soldiers" and "Simply Gourd-ulous" and a second for "Eggs-traordinary Easter egg basket" and "Always stitching."Koehler also won a third place in the religion category for "Drummer grateful he's alive," and "Weaving their message," as well as an honorable mention for "Touched by an angel" and "Bringing the Bible to Life"Her colonoscopy column and "What the first Thanksgiving might have looked like" also won a first place in the humorous column category.In general columns, Koehler took a first with "A Mother's Heart" and "At the Ballgame."Pennsylvania Women's PressAssociationKoehler also took two awards in the Pennsylvania Women's Press Association contest. She captured first in the Lifetyles category for "Here's to Hats" and a first place for a collection of columns.