Photo by Barry Stephenson.
Hewitt-Trussville’s Jacob Serena (14) carries the ball during a game between Hoover High School and Hewitt-Trussville High School on Sept. 13 at Hewitt-Trussville High School.
ORANGE BEACH — Cahaba Sun sports editor Kyle Parmley earned statewide recognition for his coverage of Hewitt-Trussville athletics, finishing third in Division E for Best Sports Feature Story in the 2025 Alabama Press Association Media Awards.
Parmley’s award-winning story, “Serena steps up in big moments for Huskies,” profiled standout student-athlete Jacob Serena’s impact on the Hewitt-Trussville football team.
Parmley's coverage of Hewitt-Trussville and Clay-Chalkville athletics also contributed to the success of Under the Lights, the preseason football magazine and podcast series produced for all Starnes Media publications. Entered under the Hoover Sun, Under the Lights was named Best Niche Publication in both the editorial and advertising divisions. The podcast version also earned a first-place award in its category.
Cahaba Sun’s recognition was part of a strong showing for Starnes Media at the APA’s 2025 awards, held in June at the organization’s summer convention at Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach.
Leading the way was the Hoover Sun, which received 30 awards — 23 in editorial and 7 in advertising — and claimed the top overall honor, General Excellence, for Division E. The paper also won Best Newspaper Website, Best Public Service and the Advertising Sweepstakes award.
Village Living, based in Mountain Brook, earned multiple honors including first place for Best News Feature and second-place awards for both feature and news photography. Savannah Schmidt’s work contributed to each of those awards, as well as others across the Starnes portfolio — she earned eight total awards for writing, photography and multimedia storytelling.
280 Living also notched a first-place win for Best Business Feature for Taylor Bright’s story, “Reimagining the Landscape,” about the city of Hoover’s plans for a tech corridor on the U.S. 280 corridor. The story ran in both 280 Living and the Hoover Sun and featured a commercial project based in Meadow Brook.
The Homewood Star and Vestavia Voice also collected wins.
In total, Starnes Media earned 46 awards across its six publications. The contest drew 1,725 entries from 53 Alabama newspapers and was judged by members of the Michigan Press Association
