Dawson Community News took first place honors this month for local news coverage in the annual Georgia Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

The award, announced June 10 at the GPA's 125th annual convention at Jekyll Island, was among five won by Dawson Community News.

The newspaper also took second place for layout and design, third place for page one coverage, third place for newspaper Web site and third place for its City of Dawsonville special section.

The City of Dawsonville publication examined the municipality's 150-year history, which included profiles on business owners, the lineage of longtime residents and decades-old photography from early days of the North Georgia town.

The GPA awards honored the achievements of reporters, editors, photographers, page designers and columnists in newsrooms across the state for work published in 2010.

The Better Newspaper Contest is an annual competition to recognize the best print journalism in Georgia. Dawson Community News competes with other newspapers that have a circulation of 3,000 to 4,999.

For more information, visit www.gapress.org.