The Atmore Advance received two awards in the 2015 Alabama Press Association (APA) Better Newspaper Contest, according to the results released by the APA on Friday.

The Advance earned third place in Division D’s “Best Special Section” category, for its Progress 2014 publication. Also, Allison Brown earned third place in the “Spot News Photo” category, for a photograph of a house fire on Mobile Street in October.

Brown, the Advance’s office manager and circulation manager, also earned a second-place APA photography award in 2011.

“Allison and (advertising manager) Michelle Smith have always been very willing to step in and take a photo or help cover an event if our reporters are busy,” Advance publisher Justin Schuver said. “We are a small staff, and everyone is often asked to handle duties that aren’t normally in their job descriptions. That cooperative attitude and spirit of teamwork has helped us to be successful.”

Schuver also said he was proud of the newspaper’s award for Progress 2014, which was titled “Unsung Heroes” and included feature stories on community members who volunteer or work in often-unheralded jobs.

“I thought it was an excellent section full of interesting stories, and I am thrilled that the judges in the APA’s contest agreed,” he said.

The awards will be presented Saturday, June 20, at the APA’s summer convention in Destin, Fla.