BAY ST. LOUIS – The Daily Leader news staff won 18 awards,including five first place honors, Saturday during the MississippiPress Association’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.

The newspaper received a third place award in the overallGeneral Excellence category for newspapers with circulations under9,000. The Greenwood Commonwealth was first and the Oxford Eaglewas second.

The Daily Leader’s annual Focus edition again won first place inthe category’s Best Special Section or Issue competition. The DailyLeader also won second place in that contest.

Other first place awards went to Tom Goetz for Best SportsColumn, Staff Writer Scott Tynes for Best General Interest Column,Publisher Bill Jacobs for Best Editorials, and Managing Editor J.Ben Kelly for Best Headlines.

Second place honors went to photographer Joel Bonner for BestGeneral News Photograph, Lifestyle Editor Cassandra Johnson forBest Lifestyles Page or Section and Goetz for Best Sports Page orSection.

News Editor Matthew Coleman received third place recognition inthe Best General News Story contest. Also winning third placehonors were Jacobs for Best Commentary Columns, Tynes for BestFeature Story, Kelly for Best Editorials and the staff for BestFront Page.

Honorable mentions went to Coleman in the Best Spot News Storycontest, Bonner for Best Spot News Photograph and the newspaperstaff for Best Design.