The Honolulu Advertiser today took the most awards, and grabbed the top honors in nearly all the major reporting categories, in this year's Pa'i Awards sponsored by the Hawaii Publishers Association.

Advertiser columnist David Shapiro became the ninth recipient of HPA's Hall of Fame award, and the HPA gave its first-ever Industry Person of the Year award to Erwin Hudelist, president of Hagadone Printing Co.

Shapiro was the longtime managing editor of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin instrumental in publishing the Broken Trust essay which led to the downfall of the Bishop Estate.

He has spent 42 years in Hawaii journalism, and currently writes "Volcanic Ash" for The Advertiser.

Hudelist, who has been with Hagadone since it was merged with Harbor Graphics in 1998, was honored for his pioneering work involving environmental and recycling issues.

The Advertiser grabbed 10 first-place awards to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin's seven.

Overall, The Advertiser took home 25 trophies while the Star-Bulletin took 21.

Advertiser military reporter William Cole's "Bad Blood: The ambush of Chosen Company in Afghanistan" series documenting and analyzing the Battle of Wanat, the worst single direct-combat loss for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, took first place in both the Editorial Series and Investigative Series categories.

Public money reporter Sean Hao took first place in the Editorial Enterprise Reporting category for "Hybrid buses not living up to promise," which detailed the true cost of the city's purchase of hybrid buses. The Advertiser staff headed by reporter Dan Nakaso took first place for "A New Day," a package of stories from both Washington, D.C., and Hawai'i on the day of native son Barack Obama's inauguration.

The Advertiser also took first place in the Editorial Opinion, Editorial Column, Breaking Business News, Feature Photography-Newsprint, Excellence in Informational Graphics and Program Booklet categories.

The Star-Bulletin did well in visual categories, taking home first-place trophies in the Business & Industry Reporting, Sports Photography, Spot News Photography, Essay Photography-Newsprint, Excellence in Design-Coated Stock, Excellence in Illustration-Newsprint and Special Section Excellence categories.