JACKSON — The Natchez Democrat captured the top photography prize and won several other photography awards and one for layout and design Saturday as the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press Managing Editors group honored the best journalism in the two states for the past year.

The Democrat took home the C.P. Liter picture of the year award for Laura Skelding’s ”Finding Faith.”

And Democrat Editor Stacy Graning was elected to the board of directors of the Louisiana-Mississippi APME.

Other awards for The Democrat included:

Feature photo, first place, Laura Skelding, &uot;Hammock Fun&uot;; second place, Laura Skelding, &uot;Looking for Fun&uot;; third place, Laura Skelding, &uot;Torah Reading.&uot;

Spot news photo, third place, Kevin Cooper, &uot;Fatal Fire.&uot;

Multi-picture, first place, Laura Skelding, &uot;Finding Faith&uot;; third place, Laura Skelding, &uot;Acre of Love.&uot;

Sports action, second place, Tim Isbell, ”USM Catch”; third place, Laura Skelding, ”Up and Over.”

Layout and design, first place, Christina Hall.

In other awards, The Times-Picayune of New Orleans took top honors in writing for staff coverage of a Mother’s Day bus wreck that killed 22 people.

The Bolivar Commercial of Cleveland received the Margaret Dixon Freedom of Information award for a series of editorials calling for more government openness.

The Vicksburg Post and The Advocate of Baton Rouge, La., were awarded special honors for news and photo cooperation to The Associated Press, the nation’s oldest and largest news-gathering organization.