Amanda Ayers and Debbie Steele are the newest staff members at the Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal, and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin.

Ayers, a copy editor and page designer, came to Marion from the Kansas City area.

She was raised in Olathe and went to college in San Diego, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She then worked at the Palo Alto Daily News, in California.

“I’m kind of a word nerd,” Ayers said. “I like grammar.”

Her husband, Michael Ayers, is an English teacher at Marion Middle School. They have a daughter, Lyla, 8 months.

Steele joins the newspapers as an advertising salesperson.

She was born in New York but raised in Kansas. She moved to Pilsen in June 1993.

Steele has three grown children: Paul Mansfield of Wichita, Danielle Steele of Las Vegas, and Shawn Steele of Topeka.

She worked in the banking industry for several years. Steele looks forward to working with advertisers.

“I enjoy people contact, so this will be great,” she said.