On the strength of a state best nine first-place awards, the Southern Standard received the general excellence award for the newspaper exhibiting the highest overall quality at the Tennessee Press Association banquet Friday in Nashville.The newspaper placed in nearly every category and won top honors for education reporting, spot news story, news reporting, news photo, single feature, series of features, single editorial, group of three editorials, and personal column.The newspaper earned second place for headline writing, makeup and appearance, sports, and humor column.“It’s impressive to see the Standard compete against the best newspapers in the state and shine the way we did,” said publisher Patricia Zechman. “Nine first place awards are a record for us. I think representatives from other newspapers got tired of hearing our name called.”Stories on the tragic death of local soldier Jeremy Brown and a photograph from the funeral resulted in three first-place awards for editor James Clark in the news category.Clark wrote the winning personal column titled “Bridge delayed for dignitaries” about delays in opening Westwood Bridge because certain officials could not attend a ceremony.Clark wrote the winning editorials, including the best in the state titled, “Strengthening alcohol policy wise, but keep kids in school.”