2025: Highlights in Local Journalism
In 2025, the Wellington Daily News continued its commitment to delivering well-researched, consistent, high-quality journalism that matters to our readers, both in print and across digital platforms.
That commitment was recognized in June, when the Wellington Daily News earned top honors at the Kansas Press Association’s 2025 Awards of Excellence for coverage completed in 2024. The newspaper received 13 awards—including seven first-place finishes—in recognition of outstanding journalism, design, and storytelling.
Among the top accolades for our 2024 coverage was first place in the Editorial Series category for Justice for Janet, an in-depth investigative effort that also earned third place for Investigative Story. The series shed light on a complex unsolved case, sparking local dialogue around justice, accountability, and community safety.
This year, the newspaper also carried a number of exclusive stories like The Purple Heart Series and investigative reports unique to the Wellington Daily News. Our five-part investigative series, The Skull, the Spy and the Secrets, documented the mysterious circumstances surrounding a human skull discovered at the Wellington Landfill.
In addition, our in-depth reporting on the completion of the $480 million Wild Plains Wind Farm addressed residents’ questions and concerns, and we continued that coverage with reporting on NextEra Energy Resources’ proposed Webb Road Energy Storage Project.
In the Story/Picture Combination category, What Are the Odds earned first place, blending powerful visuals with a compelling narrative about two sets of Wellington triplets. The Wellington Daily News also secured first place in Sports Story with A Proud and Powerful Tradition, which captured the spirit and legacy of women in Wellington athletics. Additional first-place honors included Story from a Public Notice (Powering the Future), Supporting Community, Front Page Design, Sports Pages, and Overall Design & Layout.
Beyond investigative and enterprise reporting, the Wellington Daily News continued to deliver strong, consistent coverage of the people, programs, and issues shaping our community. Our sports coverage remained a cornerstone of the newspaper, led by dedicated sportswriter Ace Finch and complemented by the outstanding photography of Ursula Goff. Shelby Wiens’ engaging What’s This? column continued to be a reader favorite, while interior designer Garrison Hullinger offered both memorable insight and practical guidance in his column.
Ally Wysocki’s continued coverage of Wellington City Council meetings, her special music features, and our addition of the Student of the Week spotlight all play a vital role in keeping the community informed and connected to the people and stories that matter most.
This year, we also introduced two new columns. New Health Perspectives, written monthly by Whitney Newberry, APRN, FNP-C, provides timely health reminders along with practical tips for healthy living and maintaining a positive mental outlook. We also added a new weekly recipe feature from the “Coffee Club,” a group of local women who share long-time family recipes and new culinary discoveries.
Our popular 2025 Best of Sumner County feature—celebrating winners in more than 100 business and service categories—was distributed throughout the county last week. We also honored the Class of 2025 seniors and recognized local first responders with dedicated special sections.
We are grateful for our ongoing content partnerships with the Wellington Public Library, Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce, Sumner County Economic Development, Cornejo Wellington Humane Society, the Regent Theatre, and the Wellington Municipal Airport.
To help subscribers stay current on local happenings, we launched a Community Events calendar on our website (wellingtondailynews.com). Subscribers can customize the calendar by setting a coverage radius and may submit events through sponsored or free listings.
In 2026, we will continue delivering exclusive business coverage, uncovering fascinating stories about local residents, sharing compelling pieces of local history, and producing in-depth investigative reporting.
We are deeply grateful for your continued support of the Wellington Daily News. Your subscriptions and advertising support make this work possible and allow us to cover the stories that matter most to our community. We encourage you to tell your friends and family, because the more voices we reach, the stronger and more connected our community becomes.
We also want to hear from you. Please share your stories, milestones, and good news with us at [email protected]—your interests help shape the coverage we provide.
Enjoy a selection of our favorite stories from 2025. All of our 2025 stories, including the full recap series, can be found under “Digital Issues” at wellingtondailynews.com