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This Just In

The Phoenix cleans up

We're just back from the New England Newspaper & Press Association's annual awards gala at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel & Towers — $8 beers! — and we've got a nice little stash to report.

David Scharfenberg, news editor and senior writer for the Providence Phoenix, picked up four awards in the Weekly Class 2 category (for weekly papers with a circulation of more than 6000): a gold in health care reporting for a piece on the evolution of Rhode Island's medical marijuana regime, a silver in the "general news story" category for a piece on the demise of gay marriage legislation, and two bronzes.

The first third-place showing, in the "social issues feature story" category, was for a story on the evolution of urban peace corps City Year and what it tells us about race and public service. The second, for education reporting, tackled Teach for America's push to reform Rhode Island's public schools.

All the stories are still available — free, as always — on our web site.

It was part of a big night for the broader Phoenix empire — 21 awards in all — with our sister paper in Boston taking home a boatload of prizes for everything from overall design to a killer story on gaming and rape culture that got all kinds of national exposure.

We're always a bit of an anomaly at this shindig — let's just say there are fewer ties and more messenger bags per capita at our table than at the others — but we wouldn't miss it.

Thanks to our readers for another stellar year.