ROANOKE—The Tidewater News won 22 awards in the Virginia Press Association’s 2011 News and Advertising contests. The awards were presented Saturday night at the association’s annual conference at the Hotel Roanoke.

Graphic artist Ryan Outlaw won Best in Show among all non-daily newspapers in Virginia for a Windsor Pet Hospital advertisement. Outlaw won five first-place honors in all and teamed with marketing consultant Mitzi Lusk for four honors.

The Tidewater News competed in a group of 53 non-daily small newspapers across the state.

Publisher Steve Stewart won first place in both column writing and editorial writing.

“Smart, well-reasoned, sharp columns,” the judges wrote about Stewart’s commentary. “Reading his columns is every bit as satisfying as eating a perfectly prepared Porterhouse steak.”

The judges said Stewart’s editorials “rationally and logically break issues down, and come to sensible conclusions.”

Designer Troy Cooper won first-place and second-place honors in both page design and illustrations. Designer Beth Land took third place in page design.

The TN’s news staff, led by Managing Editor Gwen Albers, won second place in breaking-news writing for its coverage of an April 2011 tornado in Isle of Wight County.

“The reporter managed to talk to a lot of people in a very short time after the tornado hit, giving a good perspective of what happened,” the judges wrote. “Comments from the witnesses/survivors were nicely blended with the official estimate of damage.”

Albers also won second place in photo illustrations for a package on cyberbullying.

“Cyberbullying is a difficult concept to convey in an illustration,” the judges wrote. “This is straightforward but effectively communicates what is meant by the idea.”

The TN’s editorial page took third-place honors.

Outlaw teamed with marketing consultant Mitzi Lusk to win first-place honors in the Home and Garden Black-and-White advertising category for a Floor to Ceiling ad. He teamed with former marketing consultant Sara Johnson to win first place in the Special Occasion and Multiple Advertisers-Color category for a Smithfield and Isle of Wight tourism ad and first place in Professional/Technology Services-Color for a Franklin Business Incubator ad.

Outlaw also won first place in Education and Churches-Black and White for a Warrior Within ad.

He took second place in Entertainment & Lifestyles-Black and White for a Care Advantage Casino Night ad and in Special Occasion & Multiple Advertisers-Color for a T&A Repairs ad. Outlaw and Lusk took second place in the Think Outside the Box category for a Floor to Ceiling ad; second place in Fashion and Personal Care-Color for a Smith Jewelers ad; and second place in Food and Drug-Black and White for a Grey Fox Restaurant ad.

Outlaw won second place in Small Space Ad-Color for a Peanut Patch ad and third place in Entertainment and Lifestyles-Color for an Alphabet Soup ad.