The Napa Valley Register won first place awards for investigative journalism and photography in the 2005 California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest.

The awards, along with second-place finishes in four categories and four honorable mentions, were announced at the CNPA conference in Los Angeles this weekend. The Register competed in the category of daily newspapers with circulation between 10,001 and 25,000.

The Register earned first place in the investigative or enterprise category for "Learning to Divide," a three-day series of articles in March 2005 by then-Register reporter Heather Osborn about the Napa Valley Unified School District. Osborn's stories, accompanied by photographs by then-Register Photographer Lindsay Miller and informational graphics by Register Graphics Editor Kelly Doren, exposed and explained considerable differences in education for Latino and Anglo families in Napa.

The Register also earned first place in the photo essay category for former Photo Editor Sarah Orr's February 2005 essay "On the Mend," about Napa residents Megan and Mandie Swiger. Megan Swiger gave one of her kidneys to her sister Mandie, whose life would have been threatened without the transplant.

The Register won four second-place awards:

* Public Service, for "Help & Harm," a series written by Staff Writer David Ryan and shot by Photo Editor Andrea Roth about the state of nursing homes in Napa.

* Spot News Photo, for Staff Photographer Jorgen Gulliksen's photo of accused double murderer Eric Copple at Copple's arraignment last fall.

* Page Layout and Design, for two consecutive issues in October 2005.

* Editorial Pages, for two consecutive issues in October 2005.

The Register also received certificates of achievement in four categories:

* Sports Story: "Meeting the Challenge" by Sports Editor Randy Johnson, with photos by former photo intern Allen Bryant, about a baseball league for children with special needs.

* Feature Story: "State of the Arts," a two-day series by Features Editor Sasha Paulsen and Staff Writer Kevin Courtney, with photos by Staff Photographer Jorgen Gulliksen, about the gulf between the haves and the have-nots in the local arts community.

* Investigative or enterprise: "Eat at your own risk," former City Editor Chris Tribbey's articles, with Doren's graphics, on local restaurants' compliance with state health laws and inspections by the Napa County Environmental Management Department.

* Photo Essay, for Photo Editor Andrea Roth's work on the "Help and Harm" series.

Among the former staffers, Osborn left the Register to attend law school. Miller joined the staff of the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, Ariz. Orr is now the news picture editor for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Tribbey is now an editor at the North County Times in Escondido, Calif.

The St. Helena Star, which like the Register is owned by Napa Valley Publishing, took home five first place awards and one second in its category, weekly newspapers with circulation of 4,300 or less.

The Star won for general excellence, local spot news, editorial pages, lifestyle coverage and sports coverage. The Star also took second in the Best Web site category.