Current Publishing newspapers received 26 awards – 10 of them first place – at the Maine Press Association’s annual fall conference Saturday in Bar Harbor. Awards went to Current Publishing’s three newspapers that were members last year – the American Journal, the Lakes Region Suburban Weekly and the Current.

The Lakes Region Suburban Weekly received a second-place award in the general excellence category for weekly newspapers with circulation of less than 5,000, and the American Journal won first place in the freedom of information category for its coverage of an arrest in Westbrook that did not appear in the public log.

The American Journal took 13 awards, including six first-place awards. The newspaper won a first place for a special pullout section on the last 40 years of the newspaper. Reporter Charlie Smith took first place in the news story category for his story, “New day, old mill,” on manufacturing tenants moving out of the Dana Warp Mill to make way for new businesses.

Photographer Rich Obrey took first place in the spot news photo category for his photo of a Westbrook patrolman on duty as police surrounded a local elementary school, where a troubled boy was hiding out. Jim Correale, former sports editor, took a first-place award for a sports feature he wrote about a softball coach who had relocated from the New Orleans area to Westbrook after Hurricane Katrina to Westbrook.

The Lakes Region Suburban Weekly took nine awards, including three first-place awards. Douglas Wright received a first-place award for an arts/lifestyle feature story he wrote about a Windham musician who also works in the family butcher shop. Peggy Roberts took a first-place award for her feature story “It was a choice,” about a Raymond man whose 10-year-old son was molested by a delivery driver. Wright and Roberts previously worked for the newspaper.

The Current took three awards, including a first place in the news story category for a story by Christy McKinnon, a former reporter, on a nursing home in Cape Elizabeth that was closing and the fate of the patients there.

The complete list of Current Publishing’s awards is as follows:

American Journal

Amercian Journal staff, first place, Freedom of Information award

Rich Obrey, first place, spot news photo; third place, sports photo

Jason Rathbun, graphics staff, second place for specialty page design

Charlie Smith, first place, news story; second place, continuing story

Mike Higgins, second place, analysis story

Robert Lowell, third place, feature story

Brendan Moran, second place, feature headline

Jim Correale, first place, sports feature

American Journal staff, first place, sponsorship page; third place, best new idea

Lakes Region Suburban Weekly

Lakes Region staff, second place, general excellence

Lakes Region staff, second place, Freedom of Information

Douglas Wright, first place, arts/lifestyle feature; second place, news story; third place, investigative report and third place, analysis story

Peggy Roberts, first place, feature story

Jim Correale, first place, sports feature story

Douglas Wright and John Balentine, second place, spot news story

The Current

Christy McKinnon, first place, news story

Graphics staff, first place, campaign or series and second place, sponsorship page