The following articles appeared in the November 2024 print edition of Open Line.

Know where to vote

Election Day is around the corner, Auburn residents, and depending on where you live, you might be voting in a new location this year.

After the 2020 census, the City of Auburn and Lee County have redistricted, which could mean you’re in a different ward or district than you were in prior elections. The city and county have also created additional polling places in response to population changes. As a result, you might not vote in the same place this year as you did in the 2020 presidential election or the 2022 Auburn municipal election. If you voted in the March 2024 primary, your voting place should be the same in November if you haven’t moved to a new home address.

Still in the mix as polling places in the Auburn city limits are Boykin Community Center (410 Boykin St.), Frank Brown Recreation Center (235 Opelika Road) and Dean Road Recreation Center (307 S. Dean Road). New voting locations include Embrace Church (2142 N. College St.), Church of the Highlands (1920 E. Glenn Ave.), Parkway Baptist Church (766 E. University Drive), Auburn Community Church (2200 Hamilton Road) and our new Wire Road Soccer Complex (2340 Wire Road). Voting will no longer take place at the Clarion Inn and Suites on South College Street.

Lee County administers all county, state and federal elections, so they will have your best election resources for November. You can find information on voter registration, absentee voting, how to apply to be a poll worker, important dates and deadlines leading up to Nov. 5, and a list of all county polling places at leeco.us/government/elections. You can also call Lee County at (334) 737-3670 (Office of the Probate Judge) with general election questions; the Absentee Election Manager, James Majors, at (334) 737-3670 for absentee voting questions; or (334) 737-3635 (Board of Registrars) with voter registration questions.

Just need to verify your voting location? Visit myinfo.alabamavotes.gov/voterview. Enter your name, date of birth and address to verify your voter registration information and voting location for November.

Absentee voting is already underway. You can obtain an absentee ballot application at the Bennie G. Adkins Meeting Center at 205 S. 10th St. in Opelika between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. For more information on absentee voting, visit leeco.us/government/elections/absentee.php or call (334) 737-3670.

As always, polling places on election day will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and a photo voter ID is required. Please remember to verify your voting location before you vote!

Dates to remember

• Oct. 21: Voter registration deadline
• Oct. 29: Last day to apply for an absentee ballot by mail
• Oct. 31: Last day to apply for an absentee ballot in person
• Nov. 4: Completed absentee ballots must be received. Each voter’s absentee ballot must be returned in individual envelopes with a copy of the voter’s photo ID. Absentee ballots returned in person must be returned by the voter, who must have their photo ID with them.
• Nov. 5: Election Day

State of the City Address

The Auburn community is invited to join Mayor Ron Anders as he reflects on Auburn's challenges and successes at the fifth annual State of the City Address. The event will be held Tuesday, Nov. 12, at the Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center. Doors will open at 5 p.m., and the event will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Auburn residents will get a glimpse of what their local government has been up to in 2024, and Mayor Anders will conclude the evening by presenting the 2024 Mayor's Lamplighter Awards that recognize the efforts six community members have made to make Auburn even brighter.

The event is free and open to the public. The Jay and Susie Gogue Performing Arts Center is located at 910 S. College St.

Veterans Day Ceremony

You’re invited to honor those who have served our country at the 2024 Veterans Day Ceremony on Monday, Nov. 11. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at the Veterans Memorial located at the northeast corner of Ross Street and Glenn Avenue.

Attendees are encouraged to park at Felton Little Park, the East Glenn Avenue Municipal Parking Lot and at the Douglas J. Watson Municipal Complex. Accessible parking will be available on Ross Street between Glenn Avenue and Harper Avenue, which will be closed to through traffic during the ceremony. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Municipal Court at 141 N. Ross St.

November holiday closures & schedules

Most City facilities will be closed on Monday, Nov. 11, in observance of Veterans Day and Thursday and Friday, Nov. 28 and 29, in observance of Thanksgiving.

Downtown parking will be free on both holidays. Public Safety services, including police, fire and communications will remain on their regular schedules. Garbage, trash and recycling pickup routes will be adjusted as follows:

VETERANS DAY

Monday, Nov. 11 - HOLIDAY
Tuesday, Nov. 12 - Monday’s route
Wednesday, Nov. 13 - Tuesday’s route
Thursday, Nov. 14 - Wednesday’s route
Friday, Nov. 15 - Thursday’s route

THANKSGIVING WEEK

Monday, Nov. 25 - No change
Tuesday, Nov. 26 - No change
Wednesday, Nov. 27 - No change
Thursday, Nov. 28 - HOLIDAY
Friday, Nov. 29 - Thursday’s route

The Auburn Public Library will be closed on Nov. 11, 28 and 29. Book drops will remain open, and the online collection of e-books, e-audiobooks and digital magazines are always available at auburnalabama.org/library.

Auburn Drive-Thru Toy Drive

The drive-thru Auburn Toy Drive will be held at the Dean Road Recreation Center (307 S. Dean Road) on Saturday, Dec. 14. Help us bless disadvantaged children in Auburn by donating newly purchased unwrapped toys from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Volunteers will be needed on Dec. 14 and Dec. 15 as we sort, package and distribute toys to registered families.

Keep an eye on auburnalabama.org/toy-drive for registration and volunteer details.

Board & commission vacancies

The Auburn City Council is looking for volunteers to serve on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. Two vacancies on the board will be filled at the Nov. 5 Auburn City Council meeting.

Applications will open on Oct. 2 and close on Oct. 28. Find more information and apply at auburnalabama.org/boards.

Auburn's finest sniffers: A look into what it takes to become an APD K9

Game days require hundreds of law enforcement officers to keep our community and visitors safe — both on campus and around the community. Among those ranks are a team of trained sniffers that are key to ensuring kickoff goes off without a hitch.

Ikia, Jet, Kenzie, Leon, Max, Mia, Spectrum and Underdog report to work just like their handlers. And, just like their handlers, they go through intensive training before they can report for duty.  Ranging from nine years of service to just a few months on the job, the Auburn Police Department’s K9s are one of the most valuable tools our officers have.

“There's no technology out there right now that will replicate a dog's nose,” said Lt. James Perry, the department’s senior K9 handler.

If you want to understand the ability of a dog’s nose, Perry has two words for you: beef stew.

While you might be able to identify your grandma’s stew simply by the smell, a K9 can tell you how much salt is in it, what kind of beef was used, whether it includes carrots or potatoes — they’re true experts. While they have a keen natural ability, training is an essential and ongoing requirement for K9s and their handlers.

Training, training and more training.

Most of our K9s come to the job with their innate smelling-skills honed to detect and react a certain way to certain odors. The department’s four narcotics K9s are trained to locate about eight odors — such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl — and double as search and rescue dogs that help locate missing people or suspects on the run. The other four K9s are trained to identify around 15 different odors related to explosives.

While our narcotics K9s came from different kennels across the Southeast, the department’s explosives K9s were all bred and trained through Auburn University’s Canine Performance Sciences program.

That relationship also opened the door for the Auburn Police Department and Canine Performance Sciences to partner on research, training and certification efforts. A few years ago, that included training the narcotics K9s to detect fentanyl when the drug became more prevalent. On the explosives side, our K9s have participated in research to increase their ability to recognize odors that are harder to detect, such as explosives in airtight containers or trace amounts of substances that might usually go undetected.

Regardless of the K9’s specialty, training is a constant. While they never lose their sense of smell, they need practice to keep their skills up.

They train as a unit at least every other week, and most handlers do additional one-on-one training with their K9s — all to ensure they’re prepared when they’re called upon. Sgt. Webb Sistrunk, the lead K9 narcotics handler, has worked with his K9 Leon, a Belgian Malinois, for five years. The pair haven’t stopped training since day one.

Building a bond.

When a K9 and their handler are first paired up, they can quickly form a bond, but it takes six months to a year to “polish” their ability to work as a team, Sistrunk said.

“For the first few months, you question whether your dog is going to get things right,” Sistrunk remembered. “Sometimes that’s on the K9, and sometimes that’s because of the handler’s behavior. But now, after years together, we know what each other are thinking.”

“While the dogs come with training, detecting odors is just the bare basics,” said Perry, who has worked with his K9 Ikia, a Deutsch Drahthaar and Labrador mix, for nine years. “There’s so much more to learn about working with another living, breathing animal. It takes time to really build that relationship and understanding.”

That relationship is built 24/7 — handlers and their K9s are together around the clock. The dog becomes a part of its handler’s family, but they don’t get treated as pets.

“I’ve always tried to make the work more fun than home because I want Leon to be excited about going to work,” Sistrunk said. “I have to be careful about saying the ‘w’ word at home, because as soon as I say it, Leon lights up and is ready to go.”

Perry has two non-working dogs at home, but there’s a strong distinction between his relationship with Ikia and his pets. Ikia isn’t part of their pack.

“She understands that her place is with dad,” he said, adding that Ikia isn’t allowed on furniture and doesn’t get table scraps, either.

Focused on the mission.

This level of discipline and delineation keeps K9s focused on the task at hand. On a recent call, Leon was searching for narcotics in a cluttered house with food everywhere. Because of the years of work he’s put in, he “just didn’t care about it,” Sistrunk said. “He knew what the mission was.”

That drive equips our K9s to serve when they’re most needed, regardless of their surroundings. On a typical day, a narcotics K9 may assist with searching a vehicle during a traffic stop or be sent on a search for a robbery suspect. They’ve helped find elderly people with dementia and even located a child that went missing at school and was hiding in the bushes

The department’s explosives K9s regularly work large-scale events and respond to bomb threats, sweeping venues and buildings to search for potential threats. They’ve assisted with inaugurations of governors, presidential visits, City events, parades and of course, Auburn University sporting events.

Around 15 K9s work each Auburn University home football game, arriving at least five hours before kickoff to clear the venue. Along with the department’s eight K9s, we bring in other agencies to support game day public safety efforts. This year, K9s with the Lee County Sherrif’s Office, Enterprise Police Department and Global K9 Solutions out of Opelika will be among those protecting Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The dogs screen every contractor and vehicle that enters the stadium and conduct constant sweeps to make sure nothing is awry. K9s also patrol outside of the stadium, sniffing for any person-borne or vehicle-borne threats.

The same goes for downtown parades and community events. While these events are opportunities to connect and educate, the K9 unit is there to work. Their number one priority is always ensuring the safety of everyone at an event. Just like football games, K9s arrive at the event long before it begins, allowing them to sweep the streets and the event area to secure it before crowds arrive.

Thanks to generous gifts from the community, the Auburn Police Department has been able to expand the K9 unit in recent years. In 2022, we stationed two K9s at Auburn High School and Auburn Junior High School full time. When the students are there, so are Jet and Underdog protecting them from potential risks.

Along with keeping us safe at home, our K9s have gained a good reputation across the region and are called on by state, federal and local law enforcement agencies and partners to assist with public safety efforts. Our K9 unit has also served as a resource for other agencies looking to establish K9 programs. But first and foremost, our eight K9s are dedicating to serving the Auburn community just like their human partners.

So, next time you see one of our K9s out and about, thank them for their service! Make sure to ask the handler before reaching out to pet one of the dogs, though. Some K9s may not be up for a pat between the ears, but you can always ask handlers for their K9’s trading card that features the dog’s photo and info about its age, breed, favorite toy and more.