Bloglander

The Inlander won top honors for general excellence among weeklies across the Northwest, a leading journalism organization announced over the weekend.

The Inlander competed against other alternative weeklies in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska — including Seattle Weekly and Willamette Week in Portland — as part of the 2011 Society of Professional Journalists Northwest Excellence in Journalism Competition.

In all, The Inlander won 11 awards:

• Nicholas Deshais won second place in investigative reporting for his coverage of the Otto Zehm case. He also placed third place in government reporting for an article on the inner workings of Olympia and second in business reporting for a story about the shrinking size of American homes.

• Joe O'Sullivan won third place in crime reporting for his in-depth look at the case of David Jacquot, whom the feds charged under the controversial Mann Act.

• Daniel Walters won first place in education reporting for his cover story examining the dropout problem at Spokane Public Schools. He also placed second in social issues reporting for his coverage of Washington state's foster care system.

• Jordy Byrd won second place in lifestyles reporting for her story about the emergence of a new type of modern farmer.

• Luke Baumgarten won third place in sports reporting for his cover story about the Spokane Shock football team.

• Chris Bovey won first place in graphics & illustrations and second in page design.