After former owners almost shut the doors in February 2025, The Azle News and Springtown Epigraph — which rose from the ashes of the former Tri-County Reporter — rallied to make big waves at the annual North and East Texas Press Association conference April 9-11 in Pilot Point.
The Epigraph won the Sweepstakes award in Division 4 for newspapers with circulation less than 1,500. Competing against its sister newspaper, The Azle News took the third spot in the same division.
Contributing to the wins were good placements in individual contests.
The Epigraph took third place in sports coverage and sports writing thanks to sports reporter Eddy Prather. Former Epigraph staff writer Myriam Gonzalez wrote two stories that earned second place in news writing, and the Epigraph also took second place in advertising.
Topping off the Epigraph’s winnings were a first-place award in feature writing from Jolee Skinner, first place in page design thanks to designer Hilary McAlister, and a first place in general excellence attributed to the entire staff.
Those wins combined to give the Epigraph enough points to prevail in the Sweepstakes contest.
The Azle News took third place in feature writing with a couple of pieces written by editor Carla Noah Stutsman, second place in sports writing, second place in page design and second place in general excellence. Again, the work of Prather, McAlister and the entire staff was highlighted.
Stutsman and Azle staff writer Ashley Terry contributed to a first-place finish in headline writing, and Prather took the first-place award for sports writing.
Earning a total of 525 points, The Azle News came in third in Sweepstakes, behind the Epigraph in first with 625 points and the Dublin Citizen with 575 points.
Outside the Sweepstakes portion of the contest, Terry — who only came to work at the News in late September 2025 — came away with a fourth-place finish in the Journalist of the Year contest with five pieces she wrote.
