ANR planning preview coverage of local elections

Who are you going to vote for in the Nov. 5 General Election?
That’s a hot topic of discussion these days and the News-Register is gearing up to help voters make decisions on races to be decided here in Hamilton County.
As is our custom, ANR’s coverage is focused on hyper local content. It’s what we do, it’s what we’re known for and quite frankly it provides information and insight on our local issues that no other news source does. 
I invite readers to share their thoughts on election issues of the day in letters to the editor, which based on reaction and feedback in previous years are extremely well read. Please note that the deadline for submitting letters this election cycle is noon on Oct. 18, since that week’s Oct. 23 ANR is the last edition in which election-related letters will be published. The reason for that is two-fold. First, citizens have the opportunity to vote much earlier now, and secondly we don’t want letters to raise new issues right before the election which would not allow time for follow-up responses.
We published a story last week detailing our election preview plans, though that schedule was incomplete. Our intent is to profile candidates for local office regardless of whether they are throwing their hat in the ring for the first time or are long-time incumbents unopposed in this year’s election.
This week’s edition kicks off our election preview coverage with candidate profiles of those seeking a seat on the Hampton Public School Board. We invited all candidates to share biographical information as well as their positions on issues facing their particular political subdivision and will publish their answers verbatim, giving readers a side-by-side comparison of the candidates. Watch for similar profiles on area races based on the following schedule:
Oct. 2 — Phillips Village Board and Giltner School Board
Oct. 9 — Aurora City Council, Aurora Airport Authority, Giltner Village Board, Hordville Village Board, Hampton Village Board
Oct. 16 — Aurora School Board, Marquette Village Board
Oct. 23 — Hamilton County Commission
Thank you to all the candidates who are offering your time and talents to serve this community. Best of luck on Nov. 5.

KURT JOHNSON can be reached at kjohnson@ hamilton.net