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Mirror staff members have been recognized for excellence in journalism.
Reporter Bill Kibler earned a prestigious Golden Quill award Wednesday night at the 58th Western Pennsylvania Press Club banquet held at the Rivers Casino.
Kibler won the award in the spot/breaking news category for his story on the explosion of a home in Tyrone that killed one and injured five last July.
Kibler was also a finalist for two medical-health stories.
Reporter Rachel Foor was a finalist in the spot/breaking news category along with the education category, and the Mirror staff was a finalist for its collective efforts in covering the shooting death of Blair County corrections officer Rhonda Russell.
Staff writer Andrew Mollenauer was a finalist in the profile category.
Sports writer Michael Boytim was a finalist for excellence in sports writing and lifestyle feature story.
The Golden Quills competition is open to media outlets from Western Pennsylvania and nearby counties in West Virginia and Ohio and honors print, broadcast, photography, videography and digital journalism.
The recognition comes on the heels of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Press Association competition in which Mirror staffers won a total of nine awards.
That included a pair of first-place honors for reporter Kay Stephens for her coverage of the Michael Copley trial and for a group of stories from criminal court proceedings.
Foor won an honorable mention for her coverage of the Tyrone explosion.
Boytim won three honorable mentions for his sports coverage -- sports/outdoor column, sports beat coverage and sports breaking news coverage.
Photographer Patrick Waksmunski won second place for sports photo, and sports page designer Scott Franco won honorable mention for headline writing.
Graphic artist Nick Anna won second place for graphic/photo illustration.
The PNPA recognition luncheon will take place in October.
Stephens is also a finalist for recognition in the annual communications contest sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women, with an announcement to be made in June. She received honors on Saturday in State College from the NFPW state affiliate organization.
"We work as hard as we can to put out the best paper we can," Mirror Managing Editor Neil Rudel said. "We're proud of the many talented individuals on our staff, and it's nice to see them recognized."
Earlier this year, the Associated Press Sports Editors judged the Mirror sports section to be among the top 10 in the country in the Division C classification (circulation 15,000-35,000). It marked the 20th consecutive year of APSE acclaim.