Auburn University

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Auburn University is receiving $43 million in federal financing for a new agricultural science facility aimed at improving food production in Alabama.

WSFA-TV reports the money, approved by Congress, will help establish a new USDA Agricultural Research Soil Dynamics Laboratory on campus.

Auburn spokesman Preston Sparks says the facility's research will focus on improving the sustainable use of soil and water resources for crop and livestock production.

Former Congressman Jo Bonner has been named as Gov. Kay Ivey's new chief of staff.

Ivey announced the change Tuesday, just one day after her inauguration for her first full term.

Steve Pelham, Ivey's longtime chief of staff, is leaving to take a position at Auburn University.

Ivey's office said Pelham will be the university's vice president for economic development and chief of staff to Auburn University President Steven Leath.

“Another Slice of Life”

Author: Thom Gossom, Jr.  

Publisher: Aquarius Press

Pages: 98

Price: $14.35

Thom Gossom is a name familiar to many Alabamans. In 1975, He was the first black athlete to graduate from Auburn University, having played on the championship team quarterbacked by Pat Sullivan.

Gossom went on to have a career in film and TV acting with a recurring role in “In the Heat of the Night” and guest star appearances on “NYPD Blue,” “ER,” and many others.

 A nonprofit organization is helping Auburn University students with unplanned pregnancies. 

The Opelika-Auburn News reports that Baby Steps was created to provide support to Auburn University students for mothers and fathers who are experiencing an unexpected pregnancy. The nonprofit is renting a five-bedroom house opened in September and is located near the university's campus.

The road map is in place for the 2017 college football postseason. Here's the picture for Alabama's colleges and universities, as well as the bowl games that will be taking place across Alabama this year:

A team of 21 scientists will conduct a study to estimate the number of red snapper in the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The panel of researchers from universities and state and federal agencies was convened by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and awarded $9.5 million in federal funds. The project will receive another $2.5 million from the universities involved.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross highlighted the importance of the long-term sustainability of the red snapper fishery for communities along the Gulf Coast:

Auburn University is proposing an undergraduate degree in sustainability.

Trustees this month approved a new program in sustainable biomaterials and packaging. Officials plan to open enrollment next fall if the plan is approved by the Alabama Commissioner on Higher Education.

A statement from the school says the program would be one of the first of 

  its kind in the Southeast. It would prepare students for careers in the new bio-based industry that's coming up with alternatives to petroleum-based products.

Two men who worked for a company that runs the transit system at Auburn University are facing charges after a student was allegedly raped on one of the buses.

The Alabama Board of Education has named former Superintendent Ed Richardson as interim superintendent of education.   

 Board members by an 8-1 vote picked Richardson to temporarily take the helm of public schools following the resignation of Superintendent Michael Sentance.

Alabama is getting the chance to celebrate its state history in Auburn this weekend.

The Alabama Historical Association is holding its 70th annual meeting at Auburn University this weekend. The meeting is open to anyone who shares an interest in Alabama’s history from its founding and through modern times. It will feature papers on Alabama history and tours of historic houses and sites around Auburn University. The meeting will also feature two keynote speakers, whose speeches will be themed around Alabama’s upcoming Bicentennial and the state’s history during World War One.

University trustees are set to vote on a new president of Auburn University today. Some say that selection process should be more transparent.

The trustees will hold a special meeting later today to name a new president.

The Opelika-Auburn News reports no candidates have been announced in the search to replace Auburn President Jay Gogue. That means there's been no chance for any prospective new administrators to meet with the university community.

 Auburn University is once again replacing its landmark oak trees at Toomer's Corner.

A university statement says workers will plant new trees on Saturday because of damage caused by a fire in September.  

The current trees were planted there after a University of Alabama fan poisoned the original Toomer's oaks.

Toomer's Corner is a traditional gathering for Auburn fans to celebrate football victories by rolling the trees with toilet paper. A German man pleaded guilty last month to setting fire to paper on one of the trees after a game.

Auburn University is planning to build to a brand-new $28 million facility at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

According to Al.com, the Auburn University's board of trustees meeting agenda states the project for the 44,000-square foot facility will begin May and end in July 2018 if approved at a meeting this Friday.

Some of the best athletes in college football are in Mobile this week, gearing up for the annual Reese’s Senior Bowl.

The game is a chance for standout athletes to practice and play before a host of NFL scouts, before NFL teams draft their next class of players in April. A few of this year’s top prospects, including University of Alabama defenders Jonathan Allen and Reuben Foster, have opted to sit out this year’s Senior Bowl. But the roster still includes four Crimson Tide players, two players from Auburn, and one athlete from the University of South Alabama in Mobile.

Former Alabama Governor Albert Brewer has died at the age of 88.

Brewer was known for reshaping Alabama’s public education system during a fill-in term as governor after the death of Lurleen Wallace, then championing constitutional reform as an elder statesman of Alabama politics.

Current Alabama Governor Robert Bentley released a statement yesterday saying the state had lost a great leader.

Wayne Flynt, an expert in Southern history at Auburn University, calls Brewer “the only governor we had who ever came close to being a ‘New South’ governor.”

The Beat Bama Food Drive is Auburn University’s counterpart to Alabama’s Beat Auburn Beat Hunger. The food drive collects money and food for the Food Bank of East Alabama.

The organizers of the food drive encourage all student organizations on the Auburn campus to get involved. Food donations are supplemented with money from benefit nights and a cornhole tournament.

Caroline Jager is the President of the Beat Bama Food Drive. She says the food drive is best summed up by its motto: “Educate, Unite, Serve.”

Mobile County’s probate court will hear arguments today on whether or not same sex couples can adopt children.

Several Alabama counties have already started approving adoptions for gay couples.

Susan Watson is the Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama. She says if adoptions are approved, it will be one step closer to gaining equality for same sex couples.

The car-hailing service Uber is hoping students around the country, including those at some of the South's largest universities, will make the mobile app part of college life this fall.

The company announced Thursday that it will bring service to 22 college towns, including Tuscaloosa and Auburn - home to the University of Alabama and Auburn University.

The app lets users see a map of nearby drivers using personal vehicles or upgraded black cars and SUVs, get an estimated time of arrival and cost and order a ride. It's all designed to compete with traditional taxis.

Alabama State University officials say they're planning to use a National Science Foundation grant to establish a data analytics lab.

University officials said in a release Monday that the school will use the $399,000 grant to focus on "big data," a term that's increasingly used to describe a volume of data so large and complex that it's difficult to interpret using standard database and software techniques.

Officials say the university will partner with Auburn University on a research project aimed at infusing data analytics in mathematics and statistics courses.