SNOQUALMIE – Three members of the Snoqualmie Valley Record staff were honored earlier this month at the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association’s Better Newspaper Contest awards ceremony at the group’s annual conference held in Silverdale.

Photographer Aaron Gustafson was honored with two awards. Gustafson received first place in the Color Photography: Color Scenic category for his entry “Cold mountain,” a rich shot of a snow-laden stream. Gustafson earned first place in the Color Photography: Best Photo Essay for his entry “Picking the perfect tree,” which chronicled the process of selecting a holiday tree at a local tree farm.

General Manager Jim McKiernan took home a first-place honor in the Color Photography: Best Feature with his high-school graduation shot titled “School’s out for summer.”

Editor Travis Peterson took home a third-place honor in the Best Governmental Affairs category for his story, “Controversial election Web site hosts revealed.” The story chronicled a controversial Web site that was started toward the tail end of the 2003 election season in North Bend.