SNP places in regional Associated Press competition

Photo by Chanse Watson. As part of the ceremony, the lamps on the helmets are extinguished one-by-one as the names of the deceased miners are read aloud.

Photo by Josh McDonald. Dunker Ryan Martian jumps over Dominic Easley (left) with the help of Caleb McDonald (right).

| May 6, 2017 4:00 AM

Photo by Josh McDonald. Dunker Ryan Martian jumps over Dominic Easley (left) with the help of Caleb McDonald (right).

SPOKANE- The Shoshone News-Press (SNP) editorial staff was recently recognized for two of their submissions in the 2016 Utah Idaho Spokane Associated Press Association contest (UISAPA).

Falling in Circulation group I (under 100,000 circulation), Managing Editor, Chanse Watson, and Staff Reporter, Josh McDonald, both received second place awards in the Feature Photo and Sports Photo categories respectively.

Watson’s photo submission “Remembering the Sunshine Mine Disaster, 44 Years Later,” was taken at the annual memorial ceremony last year.

Every year in the Silver Valley on May 2, friends and family gather at the Sunshine Mine Fire memorial in Big Creek to honor the miners who lost their lives in one of the worst mining disasters ever recorded.

As part of the ceremony, the helmets of the 91 deceased miners are displayed in front of the memorial for all to see.

“I wanted to take a photo that reflected the somber tone of that event,” Watson explained. “All of those helmets laid out there really put things in perspective and showed that those miners are not forgotten.”

McDonald’s photo “Throw it Down, Little Man,” was taken at the Mullan Pavilion during the 2016 District one all-star basketball game.

The best basketball players from across the Idaho Panhandle descended upon the small town of Mullan to show off their stuff and turn some heads with their skill.

The photo was taken during the dunking competition.

“It was the first one they had done,” McDonald said, “it started as a joke with the boys and then the crowd got into it. I figured they deserved a photo because they had moved into the top 3 of the competition.”

McDonald added that the crowd was definitively entertained by the five foot, seven inch Ryan Martian dunking.

The SNP sent in a total of six submission to the contest, a relatively low number compared the other papers in the contest.

The Associated Press reported that sixteen newspapers submitted 469 entries in the contest, which featured sports columns, investigative reporting, online breaking news, and photos from 2016.

SNP publisher Keri Alexander is pleased with the paper’s showing in the competition.

“I am extremely proud of Chanse and Josh and it’s very rewarding to see both of them receive 2nd place awards in a contest with sixteen newspapers competing.”