The staff at the Picayune Item received two awards at this year’s Associated Press awards luncheon, held at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Thad Cochran Center at the main campus in Hattiesburg.
Lifestyles writer Cassandra Favre brought home a second place award for her coverage of the Creel family’s struggle in dealing with breast cancer.
The story covered how Rossie and Brittany met, fell in love and later married before delving into the hardships and hurdles that come with a loved one being diagnosed with cancer.
Former sports and news reporter Dart Spiers also won second place for his work on personal columns. The entry included three columns, one about how simple words can have great meaning, another on how random acts of kindness can affect a person’s life in a big ways and the third was about the New England Patriot’s controversy over deflated footballs and how the NFL needs a new commissioner to ensure the rules are followed.