The Ely Timberjay has received the state's most prestigious award for weekly newspapers— the Mills Trophy, awarded to Minnesota's "Most Outstanding Weekly Newspaper" for 2009.

The Timberjay was awarded the traveling trophy at the Minnesota Newspaper Association's annual convention in Bloomington, held Jan. 27-29. The Mills Trophy is awarded to the weekly newspaper that receives the most points in the MNA's annual Better Newspaper Contest.

The Timberjay had come in second for the Mills Trophy three times in recent years, but this was the first time the newspaper had brought home the trophy. The Timberjay is the first northeastern Minnesota newspaper to ever win the coveted award.

While the prize was awarded to the Timberjay's Ely newspaper, Publisher Marshall Helmberger noted that the attributes that so attracted the judges are shared by all three editions of the Timberjay. The annual contest was judged this time by newspaper publishers and editors from the state of Maryland.

The Timberjay took home the trophy after sweeping most of the contest's general categories, taking first place awards for General Excellence, Typography and Design, General Reporting, Editorial Page as a Whole, Best Use of Photography as a Whole, and Advertising Excellence.

Judges had high praise for the Timberjay. "This is a great newspaper!," stated the judges. "Strong news content with lots of local hard news. Good commentary, excellent photos, strong design, good ad flow, sports, printing and photo reproduction. First rate. This is the total package."

The Mills Trophy, which has been awarded annually since 1982, was named for the late Charles Edward Mills, who founded the Montevideo American-News and whose family has continued a long history in the newspaper business in Minnesota.