The Macleod Gazette is the best newspaper of its size in Alberta for the third straight year.

   The Gazette was judged best all round newspaper among Alberta papers that circulate 1,300 to 1,999 copies.

   The Gazette swept all four first-place general excellence awards Friday in the Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association’s Better Newspapers Competition.

   The Better Newspapers Competition awards banquet wrapped up the AWNA’s annual spring meeting at Red Deer Lodge.

   Judges Tara de Ryk and Bob Johnson of the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association awarded the Gazette 897.5 out of a possible 1,000 points. In second place in Class B was the Deh Cho Drum, followed by the Inuvik Drum. Claresholm Local Press placed fourth.

   The Gazette received a first-place award for best editorial page. Second place went to High Prairie South Peace News, followed by the Inuvik Drum. The Fort Macleod newspaper won the first-place award for best front page, with Claresholm Local Press second and Slave River Journal third. The Macleod Gazette also placed first for best sports pages, followed by Claresholm Local Press and Wainwright Star Chronicle.

   Other best all round newspapers honoured by the AWNA were Jasper Booster (circulation under 1,299); Taber Times (circulation 2,000-3,499); Brooks Bulletin (circulation 3,500-6,499); Rocky Mountain Outlook (circulation 6,500-12,499); and St. Albert Gazette (circulation over 12,500).