About Us

Kurt Johnson
Co-Publisher/Co-Owner
kjohnson@hamilton.net
Kurt and his wife, Paula, purchased the Aurora News-Register from R.L. Furse in 2000. He grew up in a newspaper family and always knew he wanted to carry on that tradition. What made this leap even more special was having Paula by his side. Kurt has a deep passion for telling the stories of Aurora and Hamilton County, as well as a commitment to this community and the mission of local journalism.
Hometown: Imperial, NE
Hobbies: Spending time with friends and family; playing, watching and talking about golf.

Paula Johnson
Co-Publisher/Co-Owner
paulajean@hamilton.net
Paula, along side her husband, Kurt, stepped into the role of co-publisher in 2000. She brings her business and accounting expertise into the fold, balancing book work, subscription services, and an ongoing knowledge of public notices. Paula enjoys managing her employees, as they all have become like family to her over time.
Hometown: Verdigre, NE
Hobbies: Using her sewing machine to quilt blankets for her children, family, and future grandchildren.

Rich Rhoden
Sports Reporter
sports@hamilton.net
Rich (Big Rich) began covering Hamilton County sports in 2015 and his favorite is the one on the calendar for the day. He is all-in for ANR sports, faithfully covering as many weekly games of the four area schools as he can each season. Big Rich loves seeing area athletes improve and develop over their high school careers and being able to share those stories along the way. He is quoted saying, “Life is temporary. Sports are forever.”
Hometown: Endicott, NE
Hobbies: Sports, Sports, Sports – When he’s not covering games for work, Rich enjoys watching anything remotely classified as a sport he can pull up on the TV, helping with community events, and serving on the A’ROR’N Days Committee.

Ron Burtz
New Editor
newsregister@hamilton.net
Ron started his news editor journey back in 2023, although his experience in journalism dates back to his first internship after graduating from high school. His personality and love for storytelling shines bright as he interacts, learns, and gets to interview new faces each week.
Hometown: Winner, SD
Hobbies: Creative writing as well as penning short stories, poems and essays. Ron also enjoys reading, photography, cooking, drone flying, music, theater, photography and videography.

Elizabeth Hunter
News Reporter
features@hamilton.net
Elizabeth joined the Aurora News-Register staff as a news reporter in 2023. Changing pace from writing screenplays, she has grown tremendously as a writer covering weekly news and feature stories. Lizzy thoroughly enjoys writing the “Where Are They Now” articles and covering both Aurora marching band and cross country meets in the fall.
Hometown: Aurora, NE
Hobbies: Writing stories in the form of screenplays, taking care of her dog, Shadow, and loves playing the table-top roleplaying game ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ with her friends.

Bekah Mead
Advertising Manager
advertising@hamilton.net
Bekah joined the advertising team in 2022. She works with individuals and businesses to create effective marketing across print and digital platforms, as well as commercial printing products. She enjoys the creative side of the job; coming up with clever ad content.
Hometown: Aurora, NE
Hobbies: Gardening, socializing with family/friends, and spending time with/bragging about her adorable dog, Lyla.

Bev Eastman
Advertising Representative
newspaper@hamilton.net
Bev has been a part of the ANR staff since 2024. She overseas advertising accounts to help them any way she can. Bev’s favorite part of the job is being out in public, as she previously held a remote home-based position for many years.
Hometown: Giltner, NE
Hobbies: Spending time with family, reading, camping, crafting, and watching Husker football/volleyball.

Karla Senff
Graphic Designer
newsregisterad@hamilton.net
Karla is a life-long employee starting her newspaper-based career in 1999. Tucked away in an office corner, her attention focuses on computer graphics and design elements. Karla enjoys the creative aspect of her job, challenging herself to put images and text together in ways that are artistic and visually appealing.
Hometown: Seward, NE
Hobbies: RV Camping with family and friends.

Jill Bartling
Print/Digital Compositor
anr@hamilton.net
Jill began her position at ANR in 2002. Although she may be the first face you see when you step into the office, her main duties are composition, designing advertisements, commercial printing, and web ads. Jill loves the variety of work she is able to do and the ability to be creative in a lot of different ways. She is thankful for the great group of people she works with daily.
Hometown: Hebron, NE
Hobbies: Attending exercise classes at Tri-Fit, gardening and planting flowers, deer hunting, and she absolutely loves watching all levels of football/volleyball/basketball — attending live games whenever possible.

Marc Russell
Lead Pressman

Jesse Schelkopf
Assistance Pressman

Sonja Schaffert
Inserter