This week's featured stories

  • Members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War visited the Hampton Cemetary to recognize the legacy of the late Civil War veteran Clinton B. Condon.
    Members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War visited the Hampton Cemetary to recognize the legacy of the late Civil War veteran Clinton B. Condon.
  • The National Life Chain observance Sunday in Aurora.
    The National Life Chain observance Sunday in Aurora.
  • A combine churns through a corn field west of Hampton along 14 Road.
    A combine churns through a corn field west of Hampton along 14 Road.
  • Linda Ross-Happy is the author of “Keys to Faster Learning” and was previously a professor of music at Missouri State University in Kansas City.
    Linda Ross-Happy is the author of “Keys to Faster Learning” and was previously a professor of music at Missouri State University in Kansas City.
  • Pictured front from left are Savanna James, Paityn Wyatt, Jordyn Slagle, Tainee Merrihew. Back from left: Canon Allen, Ryan Staehr, Brett Mellies, Brooks Handrup.
    Pictured front from left are Savanna James, Paityn Wyatt, Jordyn Slagle, Tainee Merrihew. Back from left: Canon Allen, Ryan Staehr, Brett Mellies, Brooks Handrup.
  • Workers lay the foundational bricks for the new courthouse steps.
    Workers lay the foundational bricks for the new courthouse steps.

    It was a clear, warm Saturday afternoon on Sept. 27, when 12 members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War (SUVCW) conducted a ceremony dedicating a plaque on the grave of Pvt. Clinton B. Condon at Hampton Cemetery. Condon, who died in 1937, was Hamilton County’s last surviving Union Civil War veteran. Dressed in Civil War Union uniforms, the group placed a special commemorative marker on Condon’s grave.

    More than 25 people stood silently Sunday along Highway 34 in Aurora, part of a peaceful National Life Chain observance. Many drivers honked in support as they drove by.

    The 2025 harvest season is well underway in Hamilton County. Before Monday’s rains interrupted the work, combines, grain carts and trucks could be seen in fields across the county harvesting both corn and soybeans. See photos of the work both on this week's front page and on Page A7 in our Ag Life Section.

    After 30 years of teaching as a professor of music at Missouri State University in Kansas City, Aurora High School grad Linda Ross-Happy has turned the page to a new career as a writer. Last year, Ross-Happy published her first book, “Keys to Faster Learning.” She said she was inspired to develop her love of writing when she began writing articles for the Missouri Journal of Research in Music Education. “I got all kinds of compliments on it,” she said. “People were saying, ‘Oh you write beautifully.’ Ross-Happy is the subject of this week's “Where Are They Now?” feature story on B12.

    Aurora Public School officials have announced revised plans for this year’s Homecoming celebration, which is scheduled for Friday. Due to ongoing construction at the courthouse, the parade will go down M Street to 13th Street, then proceed south to L Street and back to the football field, where this year’s pep rally will be held. The Homecoming court was announced last week with this year’s king and queen to be crowned during halftime of Friday’s football game against Lincoln Christian.

    Much progress was made last week on constructing the new east steps of the Hamilton County Courthouse. The courthouse work along with the new county Extension building to be constructed over the next several months contributed to a spike in city building permits in September. Read about that on this week's Business Page (A6).

    Find these stories and much more, along with our new Law Enforcement Dispatch Log and all the local sports action, in this week's print and e-editions of the Aurora News-Register.