The Sierra Sun won several awards in the 2020 California Journalism Awards Contest.

The newspaper took fourth place in the General Excellence category, which includes all weekly papers between 4,301 and 11,000 circulation.

The Sun Publisher Don Rogers lauded the newspaper’s contest wins.

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“What’s most important to me is that we are the very best we can be for our communities every day,” Rogers said. “Having our colleagues recognize our work is both icing and a sign of being on the right track, especially with such a challenging year.”

Staff Writer Justin Scacco won a handful of awards, including second place in the Writing category for “I feel like there’s an angel looking over me.” The story was about a woman in desperate need of a vehicle who was gifted a car.

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Scacco also won second place in the Profile Story category for “We ski, we shoot, we raise kids.” The story focused on the Auburn Ski Club’s Biathamoms.

“Fantastic headline and feature lead,” a judge wrote. “I want to hang out with these women.”

Scacco took fourth place in Coverage of Business News for “Boca Ghost.” The story was about an effort to start brewing a century-old beer.

Scacco also took fifth place in Sports Feature Story for “Comeback Complete,” which was about a young skier injured in a hit-and-run who returned to competitive skiing.

Scacco, Staff Writer Rebecca O’Neil and freelancer Michelle Gartner took second place in the Public Service Journalism category for “Deep Cleaning.” The series of stories focused on trash and how it ends up in Lake Tahoe.

The Union Editorial Board won fifth place for Editorial Comment in its piece “The government in knots.” The board opined on the Tahoe Truckee Airport District board’s move to avoid a public interview process.