News
A look back at the year that was, 2025
'25 in review - Part 2
News Staff
A new year is here, but before we close the book for good on 2025 here is a look back at the events that made headlines on the local front. What follows is a week-by-week capsule summary of the top news stories from July through December 2025.
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Hamilton County Sheriff Jeromy McCoy (left) and Deputy Joseph Dearth
Deputy Dearth graduates top of class
News Staff
Hamilton County Sheriff Jeromy McCoy has announced that incoming Deputy Joseph Dearth recently graduated from the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center and was awarded the Outstanding Class Leader by his fellow students and staff members. Dearth begins his field training this week.
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Caleb Arnett
Arnett declared mentally competent to stand trial
Ron Burtz
More than two years after he was arrested for the stabbing death of his stepfather in Aurora, Caleb Arnett has been declared mentally competent to stand trial for first degree murder and five other charges. In a hearing in Hamilton County Court on Tuesday morning Jan. 6, Judge Lynelle D.
Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Rebecca (Obermeier) Golden is the director of resource development for Florida Gateway College’s nonprofit foundation which helps students receive the financial support and resources they need to succeed. She is pictured with her husband, Ross, her son, Graydon and daughter, Raylen.
Golden draws on Aurora upbringing in work at Florida Gateway College
Elizabeth Hunter
While she still misses her home town, Aurora native Rebecca (Obermeier) Golden and her family are thriving in Lake City, Fla. where she serves as the director of resource development for Florida Gateway College’s nonprofit fundraising organization known as The Foundation.
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
Sen. Loren Lippincott gives his perspective on the upcoming 2026 session of the Unicameral
Lippincott prepares for ’26 session
Ron Burtz
With a projected state budget shortfall of more than $470 million looming over the upcoming 2026 session of the Nebraska Legislature, the state budget rises to the top of the list as the most pressing issue state senators will face starting next week. However, in a recent interview Dist. 34 Sen.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
ANR readers have made their choice of the top 10 news stories of 2025
City’s budget woes top story of 2026
Kurt Johnson
The city’s auditor pulled no punches in March, advising city leaders that the ambulance service has all but drained Aurora’s cash reserves over the past five years, to the point that EMS or other departments will have to be cut in next year’s budget.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Ryan and Jen Ramaekers of Aurora pose for a picture in Uganda with Filda Lakite, Fig Tree and Vine vice president, who is leading the nonprofit in country.
A village built for self-sufficiency
Elizabeth Hunter
“Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid,” (Micah 4:4) is the motto that nonprofit organization Fig Tree and Vine strives to live by in its mission to grow a village that will become home to 3,000 Acholi people in northern Uganda.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
A look back at the year that was
'25 in review
News Staff
A new year is almost here, but before we close the book for good on 2025 here is a look back at the events that made headlines on the local front. What follows is a week-by-week capsule summary of the top news stories as documented in the Aurora News-Register from January through June 2025.Jan.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
Jamison Giddings
Omaha man arrested on Christmas
Ron Burtz
Sheriff’s deputies checking on an unoccupied farm house in southern Hamilton County on Christmas Day led to the arrest of an Omaha man on multiple charges.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
William Sisson
Search warrant results in arrest
Ron Burtz
The 900 block of 14th Street was a flurry of activity last Tuesday morning, Dec. 23, as officers from the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) SWAT Team and the Aurora Police Department executed a search warrant at a home located there.
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
