The Coastal Star won seven first-place awards and 15 overall at the Florida Press Association award ceremony held June 5. Staff photo
Staff report
The Coastal Star received 15 awards June 5 from the Florida Press Association for coverage it provided during 2025, including seven first-place prizes.
In one of the most prestigious awards, the paper also placed second in general excellence, coming after a first-place finish in that category last year.
"I hope the recognition shows our readers that we are continuously striving to give them the best community newspaper possible," Editor Larry Barszewski said.
The awards were presented during the annual Florida Media Conference, held this year at Disney Springs in Lake Buena Vista. The paper competed in the weekly and monthly newspaper category with papers having a circulation exceeding 15,000.
The Coastal Star awards winners are:
First Place
Rich Pollack; Roads & Transportation: Along the Coast: Crosswalk Confusion
Ron Hayes; Sports Feature Story: Along the Coast: From Player to Piper
Janis Fontaine; Agricultural & Environmental Reporting: Boca Raton: FAU’s mascot faces a familiar foe — the university itself
Tim Stepien; Spot News Photo: Above photo showing a family on State Road A1A literally putting their lives in their hands as they raise them to alert drivers to their presence so they can cross safely. There had been a recent fatality involving a pedestrian who had been struck and killed by a car while in the same Delray Beach crosswalk.
Staff; Online Breaking News Coverage: Delray Beach (update): City drops fight against state over Pride intersection|Delray Beach: Scrubbing out Pride, Sept. 9-10
John Pacenti; The Gwen Stevenson Memorial Award, for General News Story: Along the Coast: Submerged lands buyer faces choppy legal seas
John Pacenti; Outdoor & Recreation: Delray Beach: Rental chairs and erosion combine to make prime beach space scarce
Second Place
Staff; General Excellence
Jan Norris; Arts, Entertainment & Review Reporting: Dining: Is that kosher?
Faran Fagen; Outdoor & Recreation: Field of dreams: Miracle League gives kids with disabilities a chance to play ball
Ron Hayes; Faith & Family Reporting: Philanthropy Season Preview: CROS Ministries has a hunger to help
Steve Plunkett, Tim Stepien, Jerry Lower; Hurricane Coverage, General News Story: Along the Coast: Hurricane adds to heaps of trouble for sea turtle babies
Third Place
Steve Plunkett; Breaking News Story: Along the Coast: Gumbo Limbo loses its sea turtle hospital
Rich Pollack; Roads & Transportation: Along the Coast: Family matriarch in A1A crosswalk fatally struck by cars|Along the Coast: Calls for sharing road, knowing rules amplify with crashes weighing on A1A bicyclists’ minds
Ron Hayes; Community History: Boca Raton: 'Old Betsy'
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