Straus earns awards

Chester, N.Y. — Your weekly newspapers are some of the best on the continent — and only getting better. In its best showing ever, Straus News’ nine sister publications took home a total of four awards at the 2009 Suburban Newspapers of America editorial contest, which judges thousands of submissions from weekly newspapers with similar circulations across North America. Straus News’ design team, led by Heather Mormile, earned three awards: The Advertiser-News North won third place for Best Front Page; The Sparta Independent won second place for Best Non-Page One Layout; and The Chronicle won honorable mention for Best Front Page. The Chronicle also won honorable mention for Coverage of Local Education for its reporting on the Chester schools.