BILOXI — The Natchez Democrat’s staff won 33 total awards, including the coveted overall General Excellence category along with 14 other first-place awards Saturday at the Mississippi Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest.

Design Editor Ben Hillyer also won the Aimie Block Herscovici Award for the 2010 Photo of the Year in the state. Hillyer’s spot news photo from a tragic Natchez house fire competed against the first-place winners in all photo categories from every circulation size in the state for the top honor.

In most categories, The Democrat competes against other Mississippi newspapers with a similar circulation size — between 9,000 and 15,000 daily — including The Hattiesburg American, The Vicksburg Post, The Commercial Dispatch (Columbus), The Meridian Star, The (McComb) Enterprise-Journal and others.

First-place awards were:

• Spot news story — Jennifer Edwards, “Two children killed.”

• Sports column — Jeff Edwards.

• General interest column — Julie Cooper.

• Commentary column — Kevin Cooper.

• Sports feature photo — Hillyer, “High Tide, low Tide.”

• Sports action photo — Hillyer, “Broken play.”

• General news photo — Hillyer, “More than turkey.”

• Spot news photo — Hillyer, “Two children die in morning blaze.”

• Graphic — Hillyer, “Stimulating the economy.”

• Front page — staff.

• Opinion page — staff.

• Editorials — Kevin Cooper.

• Headlines — Julie Cooper

• Website — staff

Second-place awards were:

• In-depth/investigative story — Cain Madden, “Counting county minutes.”

• Best series of stories — Madden and Vershal Hogan, “Volunteer fire departments ready to serve.”

• General interest column — Kevin Cooper.

• Feature photo — Hillyer, “Eyeing their future.”

• Pictorial series — Hillyer, “Ready to Rumble.”

• Graphic — Hillyer, “How bad is it?”

• Sports section — staff.

• Special section — staff, “Profile 2010.”

• Design — staff.

Third-place awards were:

• General news story — Cassandra Mickens, “Missing in action.”

• In-depth/investigative story — staff, “Health-care reform.”

• Game story — Jeff Edwards, “Never quit.”

• Commentary column — Julie Cooper.

• Feature story — Emily Ham, “Sharing, caring and surviving.”

• Sports feature photo — Hannah Reel, “Come on ump!”

• General news photo — Hillyer, “Fit for the fight.”

• Pictorial series — Hillyer, “Out of the dark.”

• Community service — judged against all daily newspapers in the state — We CAN do it! food drive.