The Lehigh Valley Press has won 12 awards in the 2015 Professional Keystone Press Awards.

The Bethlehem Press, one of eight Lehigh Valley Press newspapers, won 10 awards, including the Sweepstakes Award which was won for the second straight year.

The Whitehall-Coplay Press won two Keystone Press Awards: First Place, Investigative Reporting: Johanna S. Billings, and First Place, Column: Mark Recek.

In addition to the Division VII Sweepstakes Award, which is based on the most number of awards and points won in a given division, The Bethlehem Press won nine Keystone Awards: Second Place, Column: Karen Samuels; First Place, General News: Bernie O'Hare; Second Place, Ongoing News Coverage: Bernie O'Hare, Nate Jastrzemski, Dawn Nixon; First Place, Series: Katya Hrichak; First Place, Business-Consumer Story: Carol Smith; Second Place, Feature Beat Reporting: Paul Willistein (Focus section); Second Place, Photo Story-Essay: Nate Jastrzemski; First Place, Headline Writing: Paul Willistein (Focus section), and First Place, Graphic-Photo Illustration: Ed Courrier.

"It is quite an accomplishment for a newspaper staff to win Sweepstakes one year, but to win two years in a row is evidence of the quality of the work and planning that goes into publishing the Bethlehem Press not just one year but year after year," said Scott Masenheimer, Publisher, Times-News, LLC, which publishes the Lehigh Valley Press.

"More important than the award is the knowledge that we are providing amazing work for our readers," Masenheimer said.

"Congratulations to all of you who placed in the competition," George Taylor, Editor, Bethlehem Press, said to the staff. "For the second year in a row, you have brought great honor to this publication. Please accept my heart-felt thanks for all the great work you do for our readers."

The Keystone Press Awards, for work published in 2014, will be presented at the contest sponsor Pennsylvania Media Assocation Keystone Press Awards Banquet, May 30, The Wyndham, Gettysburg.