FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Members of the Alabama Press Association will gather at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach this weekend for the 138th annual summer convention. During the festivities, awards for the 2009 APA Better Newspaper Contest will be presented.

The North Carolina Press Association judged the 2,917 entries submitted by 76 Alabama newspapers.

Several Gulf Coast Newspapers were tapped for awards this year.

The Fairhope Courier took 1st place in Division D in the Freedom of Information-First Amendment Award. Its entry in this year’s contest was a year long project of reporting by staff writer Mike Odom on “the struggle to let the sunshine in public meetings.”

The Onlooker (Foley) staff writer Bob Morgan took 2nd place for Best Headline for “Mountain Lyin.’” He snagged another 2nd place in Division D for Best Spot News Story for an October 2008 article titled “Burglary arrest finds suspect looking ‘chic-k.’”

Morgan took the 1st place award for Best In-Deph News Coverage for his article on the centennial of the Foley Onlooker newspaper.

Daphne Bulletin Editor Thomas Boni and staff writer Jessica Jones took 2nd place for Best News Feature Story for an article titled “What’s going on?”

The Independent (Robertsdale) staff writer Donna Riley-Lein took 2nd place for Best Human Interest Column for “It was truly a wild ride.”

The (Elberta/Lillian) Ledger staff writer Kate Farley snapped the 1st place award for Best Feature Photo for a photograph that accompanied an article titled “Alpacas invade Fairhope.”

The 2009 General Excellence winners are: Division A, The Birmingham News; Division B, The Opelika-Auburn News; Division C, Shelby County (Columbiana) Reporter; and Division D, The Greenville Advocate.

Best Public Service winners are: Division A, The Birmingham News; Division B, The (Athens) News Courier; Division C, Hartselle Enquirer; and Division D, The Greenville Advocate.

Other division winners in the FOI-First Amendment Award are: Division A, The Huntsville Times; Division B, The Daily Home (Talladega); and Division C, Shelby County Reporter.

Bruce Hansen of the Call News (Citronelle) won Photograph of the Year.

Winner of the Story of the Year will be announced at the awards banquet Saturday evening.

For more information on the Alabama Press Association or the contest, visit online at www.alabamapress.org.