1. AU FOOTBALL
SPORTS, 1B
Informing more than 42,000 readers daily in print and online
Business...............................6a
Classifieds..........................1c
Comics...................................3c
Crossword..........................4c
Local.....................................3a
Lotteries..............................3b
nation...................................7a
opinion..................................4a
scoreboard........................3b
state......................................5a
Weather
High: 86 Low: 65
Page 2A
Index
PARTIAL
SUNSHINE
By Drew Taylor
ctaylor@oanow.com
B
efore awarding the nation’s high-
est military honor to Bennie
Adkins on Monday, President
Barack Obama told a story
about the Opelika resident.
“Let me just say the first thing you
need to know is when Bennie
and I met in the Oval Office, he
asked if he could sign back up
(for the Army),” Obama said
during the tele-
vised ceremony.
“His lovely wife
(Mary) was not
amused.”
Adkins,
retired Com-
mand Sergeant
major in the Army,
was awarded
the Medal of
Honor at the
White House
Monday by
Obama.
Adkins, who
served three
tours in
Vietnam
between
1963 and
1971,
By Sara Falligant
sfalligant@oanow.com
Officials representing Au-
burn University, the City
of Auburn and Lee County
kicked off the annual Trav-
el with Care-Auburn week
Monday on Samford Lawn.
Travel with Care is a col-
laboration between the
City of Auburn, Auburn Po-
lice Division, Auburn Uni-
versity and the Lee County
Sheriff’s Office to encour-
age awareness of pedes-
trian, bicycle and vehicle
traffic.
“We’ve been doing it for
almost 10 years,” said APD
Chief Paul Register. “About
10 years ago we were see-
ing too many accidents
with pedestrians, cyclists,
distracted drivers.”
The number of accidents
decreased by 75 percent
from 2008 to 2013, Register
added.
“We’vealreadyseensome
significant improvements
in the reduction of the
number of accidents,” said
Auburn Mayor Bill Ham.
This week, members of
the APD will be patrolling
city streets and the uni-
versity’s campus to bring
awareness to traffic issues.
Volunteers are also set to
distribute information and
freebies throughout the
week. Monday, volunteers
passed out and installed
bike lights at Toomer’s Cor-
ner.
See TRAVEL, Page 8A
The Associated
Press photo
OPELIKA
Bennie Adkins receives Medal
of Honor from President Obama
By Lindy Oller
loller@oanow.com
Many families who have
children with special
needs find it hard to go
to the movies without
worrying about how other
people might perceive
them.
The Lee County Autism
Resource and Advocacy
hosted a sensory-friendly
movie screening at
Carmike Tiger 13 Mon-
day. The movie that was
shown was “Dolphin Tale
2.”
Some of the things that
sensory-friendly movies
offer for children with
special needs include
leaving the lights low,
having the sound at an
acceptable level and not
allowing previews.
Sensory-friendly
movies started in 2007
after a mother and her
special needs daughter
were asked to leave after
complaints were made
from other people in the
theater.
Lee County families
used to have to travel to
Columbus, Ga., or Mont-
gomery in order to watch
sensory-friendly movies.
Maria Gudierrez and
her children were among
the families enjoying
Monday’s movie.
See
MEDAL,
Page 8A
‘TRUE AMERICAN HERO’
See MOVIE, Page 8A
College, city officials urge
residents to travel with care
Sensory-friendly movie
screening held at Tiger 13
Army Command
Sgt. Maj. Bennie
G. Adkins during
his enlistment.
tuesday, september 16, 2014 www.oanow.com VOL. 109 NO. 259 75 CENTS
Coach Malzahn discusses
Thursday’s K-State game.