Straight contributing writer Ben Parfitt has been nominated for two National Magazine Awards. Parfitt's Straight cover story last July 8-15, "Killing Fields", is a finalist in the One of a Kind category. The article examined the risks of sour-gas leaks to workers in northeastern B.C.

Parfitt's August 26-September 2 Straight cover story, "Black Plague", which focused on the spread of the mountain pine beetle across the B.C. Interior, is nominated in the Science, Technology, and the Environment category.

The awards will be presented in Toronto on June 10.