Becky Brown was recognized during the first football game of the 2026 season as she prepares to retire after 20 years as public relations director for Opelika City Schools. An Opelika High School and Auburn University graduate, Brown has spent two decades helping tell the story of the school system through periods of growth, leadership changes, facility projects, athletic success and countless school and community events. Her work extended well...
Annual fundraiser brings local teams together to support adult literacy programs BY VANESSA ECHOLSFOR THE OBSERVER LEE COUNTY — Lee County’s new spelling champions are a department chairman and an English teacher. But these spelling wizards aren’t in middle or high school. They are this year’s winners of The Great Grown-Up Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Lee County Literacy Coalition.For the second year in a row, Doss Buckalew and Heather...
BY SAM VISETHE OBSERVER EAST ALABAMA — Integrea Mental Health, the regional community mental health provider headquartered in Opelika, has been awarded an $867,545 grant through the Alabama Rural Health Transformation Program.The funding is part of a statewide rollout announced by Gov. Kay Ivey on Aug. 24, distributing more than $144 million across 138 grants to healthcare institutions in all 67 Alabama counties. The program, administered by...
BY MICHELLE KEYPUBLISHER LEE COUNTY — The Lee County Commission opened its Aug. 31 meeting by recognizing a group of employees and citizens credited with helping save the life of a woman who suffered a medical emergency inside the county’s driver’s license office on Monday, Aug. 24.Probate Judge Jere Colley said Grady Latimore first noticed something was wrong with the woman while she was sitting in a chair in the office. After she collapsed,...
Photo caption: Auburn head coach Alex Golesh speaks to the media during a press conference at the Woltosz Football Performance Center in Auburn. Photo by Austin Perryman | AU ATHLETICS BY GATOR KINCAID FOR THE OBSERVER AND GATOR MEDIA AUBURN — Focused, determined and fully committed to the process — that is the mindset surrounding the Auburn Tigers as they prepare to open the 2026 college football season against Baylor in Atlanta. Auburn...
CONTRIBUTED BYALI RAUCH OPINION — College football is back on Saturday, Sept. 5, and I know exactly how it goes at my house.A flag hits the grass. I am off the couch. I have strong opinions about holding calls that I am in no way qualified to have, and I share them at full volume with someone who cannot hear a word of it.I have done this my whole life. I suspect a lot of you have too.Here is what I have never done. I have never once thought...
Community
CONTRIBUTED BY THECITY OF AUBURN AUBURN — Seohan Auto USA, the North American manufacturing subsidiary of South Korea-based Seohan Group, announced plans to invest $64 million to expand its operations in Auburn.The construction of Plant III will...
CONTRIBUTED BYTHE OPELIKA LIBRARY OPELIKA — After a highly competitive national search, Opelika Public Library is one of just 20 public libraries nationwide to host Pulitzer on the Road: Prize-Winning Works That Inform, Empower & Inspire, a...
BY DANIEL SCHMIDTTHE OBSERVER AUBURN — Before Bentlee Williams was old enough to walk, her body had already survived more than most people face in a lifetime. She had stomach surgery at two days old, complete kidney failure at a week and open-heart...
Want to Advertise with us?
