The United Way of Lee County will officially launch its 2020-2021 campaign this week with the goal of raising $925,000, the amount needed to support area agencies that fulfill Lee County’s most basic needs and provide support in times of community crisis. 

The Auburn area has seen a sharp decline in the number of new cases of Covid-19 over the past two weeks, although health officials are still waiting to see whether Labor Day weekend activities will result in an increase in the coming week ahead. 

At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Auburn City Council approved an extension of its state of local emergency declaration through early October, as the area continues to battle the spread of Covid-19 in the community. 

Pioneer Park in Loachapoka is open and free to the public on the Second Saturday of each month. 

When Chandler Wooten arrived on Auburn University’s campus to join the football team in the spring of 2017, the then-17-year-old linebacker from Kennesaw, Georgia, fully expected his experience on the Plains to be a smooth ride. 

Auburn City Schools announced on Tuesday that it would provide free meals for breakfast and lunch to all students, whether learning traditionally or remotely. 

Life on Harmon Drive was more than peaceful for the Threadgill family. For Amber Threadgill, alongside her husband and her children, Kounte, 13, Kish, 6, Koa, 5, Kountess, 2, and 3-month-old Kross, Harmon Drive was home.

Positive cases of Covid-19 among Auburn University  students and employees continued to climb last week, as hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center saw a slight uptick after reaching the lowest point in months. 

Editor's Note: The Villager is reprinting the following essay by EAMC infectious disease specialist Dr. Ricardo Maldonado, which was shared by East Alabama Medical Center last week, in order to provide the most clear information straight to readers from area experts. 

The Auburn City Council unanimously approved the biennial budget for fiscal years 2021-22 at its virtual meeting on Tuesday night, charting the financial path forward for the city as it deals with the economic effects and uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Many in the Auburn community are collectively holding their breath as they wait to see whether a sharp uptick in positive Covid-19 cases at Auburn University spills over into more hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center. 

In a special-called meeting on Thursday afternoon, the Auburn City Council issued a state of local emergency and further restrictions to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the community after scenes of students crowding into downtown bars without social distancing or wearing masks went viral on…

The Auburn City Council reviewed the projected budgets for Fiscal Years 2021 and 2022 at a work session on Monday, as the city grapples with uncertainty around future revenues due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Auburn City Schools will host two public budget hearings on Tuesday, as the school system works toward finalizing the budget for the 2021 fiscal year. 

While the daily Covid-19 case count and moving averages have trended downward over the past month, Lee County has now passed 3,000 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. 

The Auburn City Council approved a conditional use request for a grocery store on South Gay Street at its meeting on Tuesday, paving the way for the return of a grocer downtown. 

Montgomery native Will Cleland recently joined the Auburn Villager staff to serve as advertising director. 

The Auburn City Council approved an extension of a moratorium on new student housing at its meeting on Tuesday, the second time the council has authorized an extension during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The Auburn City Council approved a conditional use request that will bring a Guthrie's to the corner of North College Street and Glenn Avenue. 

Auburn residents have about 70 days left to apply for an absentee ballot for the General Election in November, amid concerns that policy changes at the Postal Service instituted by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy would impact the delivery of absentee and mail-in ballots. 

The city of Auburn announced on Tuesday that the Auburn Police Division will begin taking measures to enforce the state's Safer at Home regulations, including issuing citations for those not in compliance. 

Auburn City Schools began an academic year like no other, as students started school this week in the midst of a pandemic, with some returning to on-campus instruction and some opting for an online setting. 

The Planning Commission will consider a conditional use request for a grocery store on South Gay Street at its virtual meeting tonight. 

After falling over the past two weeks, the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 at East Alabama Medical Center has ticked slightly upward, while the number of confirmed cases in Lee County continues to climb, passing 2,700 this week. 

In early August, the U.S. Census Bureau announced that it would be changing the timetable of the Census, opting to close counting on Sept. 30, 2020 instead of the original Oct. 31 date. 

Auburn residents can now grab some grub, a cold drink and hit the links, all without doling out for a membership fee as the County Club of Auburn opened its doors and course last week. 

The Auburn City Council approved a development agreement with AuburnBank at its meeting on Tuesday night, as the downtown mainstay plans to begin redevelopment of its site in the coming months. 

While the coronavirus pandemic has made an impact on us and society, it has also changed the lives of many of our four-legged friends as well. 

The Auburn area continued to mourn this week the passing of native son and Lee County Commissioner Johnny Lawrence, who died last Friday at the age of 62 after a weeks-long battle with Covid-19. 

If you're seeking a little outdoor fun and exploration to help you break out of the coronavirus containment blues, the city of Auburn's Itty Bitty Scavenger Hunt has you covered. 

Alabama’s general election is less than 100 days away now and it is turning out to be of more importance than we imagined. 

The vision for the old Burger King and Tiger Rags properties on South Gay Street is coming into focus, as plans to include a grocery store as part of re-development are set to come before the Planning Commission next week.

While many will turn to mail-in ballots to cast their picks in the general election in November, plenty of voters are still expected exercise their vote the old-fashioned way — by standing in line at their voting precincts. 

East Alabama Medical Center joined other hospitals in the state this week in asking Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to extend the statewide mask mandate before it expires on Friday. 

Auburn residents who like to wind down the day with an adult beverage at their favorite watering hole will have to get their orders in early as the Alabama Beverage Control Board set an 11 p.m. last call for alcohol at bars and restaurants in response to the surging Covid-19 pandemic in the state. 

The redevelopment of AuburnBank downtown will soon move forward, as retail banking has already moved into the adjacent Operations Center on Gay Street and preliminary work for a parking deck is slated to start in August. 

Every decade the United States conducts a census of its citizens and while for many this may feel like an inconvenient questionnaire, the results of the Census impacts $675 billion dollars in funding and congressional representation in the House of Representatives.

At its meeting on Tuesday night, the Auburn City Council passed a resolution in support of the statewide mandatory mask requirement that went into effect last week. 

Cases of Covid-19 in Lee County and hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center both climbed into uncharted territory this week, as the county's confirmed cases surged past 2,100 and hospitalizations reached a new high. 

East Alabama Medical Center is asking those in the community who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate blood plasma, a potentially critical treatment for patients currently infected and hospitalized. 

As families across Alabama continue to struggle with food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic, the Food Bank of East Alabama has had its hands full keeping up with the increasing demand. 

With people being cooped up over the last couple of months, a team of performers at the Auburn Area Community Theatre believes they have found the cure to quarantine blues. 

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced a new statewide health order that will mandate the wearing of masks or face coverings when in public spaces at a news conference on Wednesday morning. 

Auburn City Schools unveiled its plan to return to school this fall during the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night. 

The novel coronavirus, which causes the disease Covid-19, is sweeping through Lee County and the state of Alabama once again, as the increase in confirmed cases has spilled over into a rise in hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center and EAMC-Lanier. 

As many people have been stuck at home over the past couple of months, some have begun to explore or returned to the world of books in order to quench their boredom during these strange times. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, repeatedly stressed the importance of wearing masks and voiced support for statewide mandatory mask orders during a livestreamed Q&A session with Alabama Sen. Doug Jones on Tuesday. 

Covid-19 cases in Lee County continued to climb over the last week, as did hospitalizations at East Alabama Medical Center and EAMC-Lanier, as the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down in the area. 

Area voters have until next Thursday to apply for an absentee ballot for the Primary Runoff Election slated for July 14. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to sweep throughout the nation, food insecurity continues to be rampant throughout Alabama. The expected expiration at the end of the month of the CARES Act's weekly $600 federal unemployment payment could jeopardize even more people's food security.