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NILES — The Niles Daily Star was awarded 11 awards in the Michigan Press Association’s Better Newspaper Contest Thursday, including second place Newspaper of the Year.

Members of the Montana Press Association judged the contest, which received 2,739 entries from 83 Michigan newspapers.

“I could not be more proud to be a member of this team,” said Ambrosia Neldon, general manager. “The year 2020 was one of the most challenging to be a journalist, but also the most important. Through coronavirus shutdowns, surging case numbers, political division, social discourse and unfathomable tragedy, we continued to report the news. This is a testament to not only the individuals on our news staff, but the advertising sales professionals, delivery drivers and support staff, as well as our readers.”

The newspaper was also awarded 10 other awards, including:

• 1st place, Best Special Section, “Horizons”

• 1st place, Best Columnist: Ambrosia Neldon

• 1st place, Best Design: Ambrosia Neldon, Emily Sobecki, Sarah Culton

• 1st place, Best Page Design: Emily Sobecki, “Superheroes save the day”

• 2nd place, Best Page Design: Emily Sobecki, “Cleaning service expands”

• 2nd place, Feature Story: Sarah Culton, “Girl power”

• 2nd place, Government/Education News: Ambrosia Neldon, “The next chapter”

• 3rd place, Feature Story: Sarah Culton, “Girl online”

• 3rd place, Photo Story: Emily Sobecki, “Carvers continue to sculpt”

• 3rd place, Spot News Story: Sarah Culton, “Say His Name”

“COVID-19 created a strain on industries across the country — and the news business is no exception,” said Sarah Culton, managing editor. “After a year of constantly hitting the ground running, adapting to new protocols and procedures and working on the front lines of the pandemic to bring up-to-date, award-winning news to our readers, we are honored to be recognized by the Michigan Press Association for our efforts. We promise to continue to work hard to continue to bring quality news to the people of southwest Michigan. Finally, we want to thank all of our loyal readers and advertisers — we couldn’t have done this without you.”