Bethesda Today earns 8 awards in regional press association contest 

Coverage of the light-rail Purple Line project, soaking of baseball field by MoCo firefighters among winners

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May 11, 2026 10:40 a.m.

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Bethesda Today on Friday brought home eight awards from the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association’s editorial and advertising contest for the calendar year 2025. 

The press association announced the winners at its annual conference in Annapolis on Friday. Print and online news organizations across the region submitted more than 1,594 entries across 86 categories, according to the association. 

Here are the awards won by Bethesda Today: 

• General news story: Growth, dining & public safety reporter Elia Griffin won first place for her story on a man sentenced to 22 years in prison for striking Montgomery County Police Sgt. Patrick Kepp with his vehicle. 

• Business reporting: Intern Max Schaeffer won first place for his story about a laid-off federal worker from Rockville who started selling sausages. 

• Breaking news: Bethesda Today won second and first places in this category. Griffin’s article on the abrupt closure of Silver Spring’s Solaire Social won first place. Griffin collaborated with education reporter Ashlyn Campbell on the second-place entry, an article about an 11-year-old girl struck and killed by a school bus while riding her bike in Rockville. 

• Sports story: Schaeffer won second place for his report on the deliberate soaking of the baseball field at Silver Spring’s Montgomery Blair High School by county firefighters working at a nearby station. 

• Feature story: Non-profile: Griffin won second place in this category for her story about a Silver Spring nonprofit providing home makeovers to people in need. 

• Continuing coverage: Griffin and Bethesda Magazine contributing editor Lou Peck earned second place in this category for their coverage of the long-awaited light-rail Purple Line project. 

• Education reporting: Campbell won second place for her story on student behavioral issues in Montgomery County Public Schools classrooms. 

Bethesda Today government and politics reporter Ceoli Jacoby also won two second-place awards in the investigative reporting and “wild card” categories for her prior work at The Frederick News-Post.

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Publications are organized into divisions based on medium and total audience. Bethesda Today competed in Division D. See a list of other award winners here. 

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine