Four newspapers each won two awards among the New England Newspaper of the Year and Publick Occurrences awards presented at the New England Newspaper Conference Thursday, Oct. 6.

The Providence (R.I.) Journal ended up reaping the most awards overall at the conference by also collecting two special awards for individual journalists and newspapers, one at the luncheon awards ceremony and one at the dinner awards event.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine, also received a single special award, besides its single Newspaper of the Year and Publick Occurrences awards.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, Mass., received a Publick Occurrences Award and a single special award for an individual journalist.

Besides the Providence Journal and the Sun Journal, the Andover (Mass.) Townsman also was recognized as Newspaper of the Year and received a Publick Occurrence Award.

The Hartford (Conn.) Courant won two Publick Occurrences Awards.

Publick Occurrences Awards recognize New England’s most outstanding journalism for the year of the awards competition.

The Providence Journal was honored as Newspaper of the Year for New England papers with circulation of 35,000 or more. Its series on “Race in Rhode Island” won a Publick Occurrence Award. Edward Achorn, editorial page editor of the Journal, received the Allan B. Rogers Editorial Award at the luncheon awards ceremony for his editorial, “A fraud, a farce, a dog-and-pony show.” Achorn also was honored with a Yankee Quill Award at the conference’s dinner awards ceremony.

The Sun Journal won Newspaper of the Year in the category of Sunday papers with circulation of 20,000 to 30,000. Its Publick Occurrence Award honored a series on “Benefit Bartering – Growing form of fraud: EBT cards to buy drugs.” The Sun Journal also was given the Morley L. Piper First Amendment Award for its fight to retain access to files of dismissed court cases.

The Townsman was recognized as the Newspaper of the Year for weeklies with circulation between 3,500 and 8,000. It also won a Publick Occurrences Award in the weekly newspaper category for “Opiate Crisis Hits Home.”

The Courant’s two Publick Occurrences awards were for “Portraits of Addiction” and for “Soccer Stadium Investigation.”

The Daily Hampshire Gazette’s Publick Occurrences Award was for “Letters from Inside.” Stanley Moulton, online managing editor and internship coordinator of the Daily Hampshire Gazette, received the Bob Wallack Community Journalism Award at the luncheon awards ceremony.

There were four winners of Newspaper of the Year honors for multiple years in a row. Six of the newspapers that received Publick Occurrences Awards this year also won Publick Occurrences Awards last year.

The Ellsworth (Maine) American won Newspaper of the Year for the sixth consecutive year. The Sunday Valley News of Lebanon, N.H., took Newspaper of the Year honors for the third year in a row. The Vermont Standard of Woodstock, Vt., and Worcester (Mass.) Magazine were recognized as Newspaper of rhe Year for the second straight year.

Winning Publick Occurrences Awards for the second time in two years were the Hartford Courant; the Daily Hampshire Gazette; The New England Center for Investigative Reporting, based at Boston University; The Day of New London, Conn.; The Republican of Springfield, Mass.; and The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, based in Hallowell.

Douglas Moser of The Eagle-Tribune of North Andover, Mass., won the final special award during the luncheon award ceremony, as the AP Sevellon Brown New England Journalist of the Year.

The following are all of the award winners at the luncheon awards ceremony, held at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Natick, Mass.:

Weekday newspapers,
Circulation less than 10,000
Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times
Mark Murphy, president of the New England Newspaper and
Press Association, left; David Olson, editor

Weekday newspapers,
Circulation 35,000 or more
The Providence (R.I.) Journal
From left, Mark Murphy; David Butler, executive editor and senior vice president for news and audience development; Janet Hasson, regional vice president and publisher; Kirk Davis, chief executive officer, GateHouse Media LLC

Weekday newspapers,
Circulation 15,000-20,000 The Standard-Times, New Bedford, Mass.
From left, Mark Murphy; Beth Perdue, editor; Jack Spillane, executive news editor; Mike Lawrence, reporter

Weekday newspapers,
Circulation 10,000-15,000The MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, Mass.
Richard Lodge, editor in chief

Weekday newspapers,
Circulation 20,000-35,000The Patriot Ledger of Quincy, Mass.
Linda Shepherd, city editor

Sunday newspapers,
Circulation less than 20,000Sunday Valley News of Lebanon, N.H
From left, Mark Murphy; Ernie Kohlsaat, Sunday Valley News editor; David Bailey, sports page editor; Liz Sauchelli, calendar editor; Aimee Caruso, reporter

Sunday newspapers,
Circulation 20,000-30,000Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine
From left, Mark Murphy; Judith Meyer, executive editor:
Stephen Costello, vice president and co-owner

Sunday newspapers,
Circulation 30,000-45,000The Sunday Republican of Waterbury, Conn.
Anne Karolyi, managing editor

Sunday newspapers,
Circulation 45,000 or moreSunday Telegram of Worcester, Mass.
From left, Mark Murphy; Karen Webber, executive editor;
Paul Provost, publisher

Weekly community newspapers,
Circulation less than 3,500
The Vermont Standard of Woodstock, Vt.
Phillip Camp, publisher

Weekly community newspapers,
Circulation 3,500-8,000Andover (Mass.) Townsman
From left, Mark Murphy; Gabriella Cruz, reporter; Bill Kirk, editor

Weekly community newspapers,
Circulation 8,000 or moreThe Ellsworth (Maine) American
Stephen Fay, managing editor

Specialty newspapersWorcester (Mass.) Magazine
Kathleen Real, publisher

The Hartford (Conn.) Courant
Nicholas Rondinone, reporter
Mark Murphy, president of the New England Newspaper and Press Association, left 

The Eye/The New England Center for
Investigative Reporting
Jenifer McKim, senior investigative reporter and senior trainer

Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg, Mass.
Charles St. Amand, editor

The Day of New London, Conn.
From left, Mark Murphy; Izaskun Larraneta, assistant managing editor for local news; Carlos Virgen, digital news director

The Providence (R.I.) Journal
From left, Mark Murphy; Janet Hasson, regional vice president and publisher; David Butler, executive editor and senior vice president for news and audience development

Daily Hampshire Gazette of Northampton, Mass.
Jeffrey Good, executive editor

Sun Journal of Lewiston, Maine
Judith Meyer, executive editor

Burlington (Vt.) Free Press
From left, Mark Murphy; Adam Silverman, content strategist: Mike Donoghue, accountability reporter (retired); Elizabeth Murray, crime and courts reporter; April Burbank, politics reporter

The Republican of Springfield, Mass.
George Graham, online reporter

The Herald News of Fall River, Mass.
Will Richmond, city editor

The Hartford (Conn.) Courant
From left, Mark Murphy; Matthew Kauffman, investigative reporter; John Ferraro, content manager/investigations

The Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting
From left, Mark Murphy; David Sherwood, reporter; John Christie, senior editor

Vineyard Gazette of Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.
From left, Mark Murphy; Jane Seagrave, publisher; Alex Elvin, reporter

The Inquirer and Mirror of Nantucket, Mass.
Marianne R. Stanton, editor and publisher

Andover (Mass.) Townsman
From left, Mark Murphy; Bill Kirk, editor; Gabriella Cruz, reporter