Staff of The Valdosta Daily Times pose with a plaque signifying the newspaper’s first place finish in the Georgia Press Association’s General Excellence category. From left are page designer Beth Yeary, Publisher Laurie Gay, Editor Kevin C. Hall and page designer Nadia Harris.

JEKYLL ISLAND — The Valdosta Daily Times continued to receive accolades for its journalism at the Georgia Press Association annual conference last week on Jekyll Island.

At the Better Newspaper Contest awards banquet Friday night, the VDT racked up 19 awards, including first place in the coveted General Excellence category.

This is the seventh year in a row that the VDT has earned the top spot in that category.

Awards are presented in divisions based on circulation, so the Daily Times was competing against other newspapers of about the same size from across the state.

Placement in General Excellence is determined through a point system based on the newspaper’s awards in the other categories in the contest.

The newspaper received the second place Community Service Award for its coverage of the foster care crisis both in Georgia and locally. While the staff as a whole contributed and was recognized, CNHI state reporter Asia Ashley and VDT reporter Kasmira Smith were singled out for their individual contributions.

Several individuals were recognized, as was work created by the staff as a whole.

Staff awards included:

— Local News, 1st place.

— Lifestyle Coverage, 2nd place.

— Headline Writing, 2nd place.

Individual awards included:

— Editor Jim Zachary, who left in July 2023 for a corporate role with CNHI, placed 2nd for Editorial Writing.

— Editor Dean Poling, a longtime VDT staffer who replaced Zachary but retired Sept. 1, placed 1st for Lifestyle/Feature Column, 2nd for Humorous Column and 3rd for Serious Column.

— Sports editor Shane Thomas, who left the VDT late in the summer, placed 1st in News Photo, Sports Photo and Sports Feature Photo. He also placed 2nd in Sports Feature Photo and 3rd in Sports Coverage.

— Sports Editor Becky Taylor, who replaced Thomas, placed 2nd for Sports Column.

— Reporter Brittanye Blake placed 1st in Education Writing and 3rd in Investigative Reporting — the latter for her coverage of Lowndes County School Superintendent Shawn Haralson, who was accused of using school system fuel for his personal vehicle. Haralson was later released by the board, and earlier this year was indicted in the case.

— Reporter Kasmira Smith placed 2nd for Breaking News Reporting.

— Page designer Nadia Harris placed 3rd in the Page One category.