The Augusta Chronicle has won three awards in the inaugural Best of Morris competition among newspapers published by Morris Communications Co. LLC, including the prize for breaking-news reporting for its coverage of the Graniteville train crash in January 2005.

The Chronicle, which competes in the company's largest circulation category, also won the William S. Morris IV Innovation Award, which was given to News Editor John Gogick and Night News Editor Adam Smith for creating the Back Story box. This breakout with news stories is designed to sum up for readers an issue's background and recent developments.

Also, graphic artist Nate Owens won for "A Deadly Cloud," a graphic that was part of the Graniteville coverage. The graphic traced the path of the chlorine gas as it escaped from the wrecked train and pinpointed the locations of the nine people who died.

Augusta-based Morris Communications's publishing division owns and operates 27 daily and 12 nondaily newspapers, five city magazines and numerous free community publications in the Southeast, Midwest, Southwest and Alaska.

The company's other divisions own billboard, broadcast and Internet media assets.