The California News Publishers Association recently honored the Mercury News, East Bay Times and sister Bay Area News Group publications, including the Marin Independent Journal, with several California Journalism Awards for reporting, photography, writing and design in 2021.

The Mercury News and East Bay Times picked up first place awards in coverage of local government, feature photo and writing, as well as a fifth place award for general excellence among publications whose circulation exceeds 50,000. The Marin Independent Journal won first place for general excellence in its division (circulation under 15,000).

Here is a list of the awards in alphabetical order:

Print awards

Agriculture reporting

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Drought’s grip tightens on California Ag,” Lisa M. Krieger

Artistic photo

Third place, Marin Independent Journal, “Skyline view,” Alan Dep

Arts & entertainment coverage

Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Netflix’s Crazy Canines” and “Top Bassists,” Randy McMullen, Trinity Powells

Fifth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Exploring the past; Life after Huey Lewis and the News,” Vicki Larson

Breaking news

First place, Marin Independent Journal, “Marin congressman Huffman calls Capitol riot ‘sedition,’” Will Houston

Fifth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Marin storm havoc — flooding, power outages, damage,” Gary Klien

Coverage of local government

First place, The Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Santa Clara County’s COVID Fining Frenzy,” Maggie Angst, Fiona Kelliher

First place, Marin Independent Journal, “Marin’s homeless face tough challenges in housing quest,” Natalie Hanson

Fifth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Marin County bias testing: Good policy or ‘bad science’?,” Richard Halstead

Coverage of Newsom Recall Election

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, BANG coverage of Newsom recall, Emily DeRuy, Julia Sulek, Jeff Durham

Coverage of the pandemic

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “COVID in California: From a deadly winter to summer ‘reopening’ to breakthrough cases and super-contagious variants,” staff

First place, Marin Independent Journal, “San Quentin newspaper carries on through pandemic,” Natalie Hanson

Third place, Monterey Herald, “On the frontline: We can’t cry at bedside …,” Lisa Watson

Youth and education

Fifth place, Monterey Herald, “With local push, CSU system votes to divest,” Tess Kenny

Columns

First place, Marin Independent Journal, “Jeff Burkhart: Barfly,” Jeff Burkhart

Third place, Marin Independent Journal, “Dick Spotswood, political columnist,” Dick Spotswood

Editorial comment

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Editorial: Alameda Police’s fatal pinning of Mario Gonzalez was senseless,” Daniel Borenstein

Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “SJSU president must come clean about sexual abuse scandal,” Ed Clendaniel

Business

First place, Monterey Herald, “Energy storage system grows,” James Herrera

Fourth place, Monterey Herald, “Perocchi retires, Stivers new CEO,” Tom Wright

General excellence

First place, Marin Independent Journal, staff

Fifth place, The Mercury News/East Bay Times, staff

Feature story

Fifth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Marin drought brings echoes of 1976-77 water crisis,” Will Houston

Illustration

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Elizabeth Holmes Case,” Pai

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Pandemic Stress,” Jeff Durham

Fifth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Immunity certificates,” Jeff Durham

In-Depth Reporting

Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “The Hunt For America’s First COVID Deaths,” Harriet Blair Rowan, Emily DeRuy

Informational graphic

Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Will Economy Hit Old Highs?,” Pai

Inside page layout & design

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Eat Drink Play” for Jan. 10, Jan. 31 and Aug. 8, 2021, Jackie Burrell, Judy Sanfield

Investigative reporting

Fourth place, Santa Cruz Sentinel, “Coronavirus worsens gaps in nursing home care,” Melissa Hartman

Fifth place, Santa Cruz Sentinel, “Frustrations mount over drinking water reliability in Boulder Creek: ‘We’re at the breaking point,’” Hannah Hagemann

Open columns

Fifth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Jeff Burkhart-Barfly,” Jeff Burkhart

Photojournalism

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Best photography from staff of Mercury News/East Bay Times

Public service journalism

Fourth place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Sex abuse at San Jose State University,” Julia Sulek, Elliott Almond

Special sections cover

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Splash,” “Bookish” and “Kickoff” magazines, Jackie Burrell, Chris Gotsill, Jui Ishida, Davide Barco

Wildfire news coverage

Third place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Wildfire stories from Big Basin to Tahoe to the Giant Sequoias,” Paul Rogers

Wildfire photo

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Blaze Inches Closer To South Lake Tahoe,” Karl Mondon

Feature photo

Second place, Marin Independent Journal, “Seniors take exotic journey with reptile visit,” Alan Dep

Fourth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Mask restrictions return,” Alan Dep

Fifth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Rain returns,” Alan Dep

Digital awards

Breaking news

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Mass Shooting at San Jose VTA Rail Yard,” staff

Feature photo

First place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “St. Francis celebrates,” Nhat Meyer

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Freedom High vs. Pittsburg High Football,” Doug Duran

News photo

Second place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “Family grieves at VTA San Jose shooting,” Dai Sugano

Second place, Marin Independent Journal, “Service Support Area opens,” Sherry LaVars

Third place, Marin Independent Journal, “Homeless camp eviction,” Sherry LaVars

Open-feature photo

First place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “St. Francis celebrates,” Nhat Meyer

Story presentation page layout & design

Fifth place, The Mercury News/East Bay Times, “How the Bay Area’s COVID response failed Latinos,” Paiching Wei, Sarah Dussault, Harriet Blair Rowan, Randy Vazquez

Writing

First place, Mercury News/East Bay Times, “9/11: Flight 93 hero Mark Bingham’s mother leaves behind surprising gift,” Julia Prodis Sulek

First place, Monterey Herald, “Storied provenance of ‘The Sketch Box’ cottage,” Lisa Watson

Fourth place, Marin Independent Journal, “Breakthrough infections strike fear, worry in Marin’s music scene,” Paul Liberatore

Profile story

Third place, Marin Independent Journal, “Playwright’s latest work captures life and work of her husband, the pandemic expert,” Vicki Larson