The AltWeekly Awards announced finalists for its final category today, placing Washington City Paper among the top three for Editorial Layout, circulation over 55,000. That bring’s CP‘s total to seven, second only to L.A. Weekly, which has eight finalists this year.

Congratulations to our former, much-missed, hugely talented art director Pete Morelewicz, whose layout for “Sects Appeal,” a lighthearted look at alternative Christian churches, impressed what we’re sure is an impressive list of judges. The story, written by Aaron Leitko and illustrated by Tom Deja, appeared in the cover slot of the April 6, 2007, issue. That issue also launched Morelewicz’s redesign of the paper.

City Paper‘s other finalists include former staff writers Dave Jamieson and Joe Eaton in the feature category, staff photographer Darrow Montgomery,the CP staff for this very blog, Jeffry Cudlin for arts criticism, and former staff writer Sarah Godfrey for music criticism. Congrats all around!