This week's top stories

Celebrating the end of another successful school year, the Hamilton Community Foundation (HCF) announced Aurora High School teacher Brenda Klawonn as the 2024 recipient of the William C. and Delight M. Eloe Award on Friday. The award was presented to Klawonn by HCF Executive Director Tammy Morris at the beginning of the school staff’s Teacher Appreciation gathering on the last day of the school year. As Klawonn accepted the award from Morris she received a standing ovation from her fellow educators and then addressed the staff with heartfelt gratitude.

The Aurora City Council awarded a bid to complete the planned renovation of 1st Street to Mid-Nebraska Land Developers of Aurora last week, noting that the project will also include construction of a Grant Street intersection which will provide access to the new Streeter Fifth Addition. City leaders announced the project in March as a major renovation of the busy 1st Street corridor stretching from the Highway 34 intersection to the railroad tracks south of the school. The initial estimate for the project was listed at $5.6 million, and more recently amended to $4.5 million. When the envelopes were unsealed at an earlier meeting, the low base bid from Mid-Nebraska came in considerably lower at $3,013,028. The work is set to begin July 15.

The Middle School Theater was filled with “Expressions of Love” this weekend as hundreds of family and friends enjoyed performances by TEMPO Performing Arts. Dance students from multiple grades performed ballet, hip hop and other dance forms during the recital. 

The Village of Hampton is moving forward with a plan discussed last month to pipe its municipal water from Aurora. At the monthly meeting of the village board of trustees on May 13, the board heard a report from Chris Miller of Miller and Associates Engineering on the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) put together by his firm. Calling the report the “bible” for Hampton’s water system, Miller reviewed the various options he had outlined at the April meeting, focusing on the Aurora pipeline project as being the most viable and economically feasible. He said since that meeting, he and several members of the village board had met with officials from Aurora to discuss the proposal and he said it was well received.

Progress is more visible by the day at the Mission Critical economic development site on the east side of Highway 14 near the “Welcome to Aurora” sign. Crews are working on the Specialty Ag Formulations structure facing Highway 14, which is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of the year. In addition, a data center is looking more like a structure now on 11 Road, with walls and a roof going up this week.

The NSAA state track and field championships were held over four days at Omaha Burke last week and no records were safe. In all, 44 state and meet records were set across four classes and even a few area school records. The area featured one gold medalist as the HIgh Plains 3200 relay foursome of Derek Talavera Flores, Haden Helgoth, Lance Russell and Carter Urkoski won in a time of 8:24.67. See full coverage from ANR Sports Director Richard Rhoden who was there for every thrilling minute.

Last week’s primary election drew 43 percent voter turnout in Hamilton County with election officials reporting a smooth day of gathering and counting ballots. Election Commissioner Jill DeMers said she was pleased with the final totals, which remain unofficial until confirmed when the canvassing board meets later this week. “It was higher than what the state expected, so I’m happy with that,” DeMers said. “I was impressed because there were a lot of counties that were lower than us.” For all the results and further details see this week's ANR. 

For details on these stories and more, plus our first-ever Splash of Summer guide to warm weather activities in the area, see this week's ANR.