The Democrat staff took home 10 awards, including seven Gold Awards, during Saturday afternoon’s KC Press Club Heart of America Awards banquet.
The annual journalism contest includes publications in western Missouri and eastern Kansas. The Democrat competed in the small market print category for work published in 2016.
“I am speechless,” Editor Tim Epperson said. “The extraordinary accomplishments and quality of this news team and their unswerving dedication to our readers is rare in the newspaper business today. I’m just ecstatic and proud of this team. They’ll only improve and will continue to be the best source of local information in our readership.”
News Editor Nicole Cooke, arts and entertainment reporter Faith Bemiss and education reporter Hope Lecchi led the Breaking News category with a Gold Award for their combined coverage of the First United Methodist Church fire in downtown Sedalia in March 2016.
Lecchi received her own Gold Award in the Feature category for “A life of dignity” about Cely Gonzalez’s battle with cancer. She also received a Silver Award in the Breaking News Photojournalism category for her photo of the Pettis County Fire District battling a blaze at an auto sales yard.
Bemiss nabbed a Gold Award in the Breaking News Photojournalism category for her photo of the Sedalia Fire Department battling a house fire in April 2016. She also received a Silver Award in the Feature category for “Clowning around, fighting bulls.”
Cooke also took home a Silver Award in the General Reporting category for her two-part story on the Williams family and heroin in Sedalia.
Sports Editor Alex Agueros received a Gold Award in the Sports Reporting category for “Bombers earn second MINK title.”
Columnist Bob Satnan took home a trio of Gold Awards in the News Column and Non-News Column categories, as well as in Arts and Entertainment Reporting for “WLW star Kyle Roberts stands tall in the ring.”

