We are extremely saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our high school students this morning and our thoughts and prayers are with the families at this time.

We finished (the pier) on Wednesday and by Friday, we had about 200 high school students standing on it for the Auburn Explorer program.

It's an important opportunity for students to actually get to meet, get up close and hear a viable candidate in person.

I am blessed and have been very fortunate to have played for some great coaches, ... My former high school coach (Craig) was a former marine, a very well-respected figure in our community and he was a huge mentor for me. While in high school, he would pick me up for school every day during my junior and senior years to make sure that I made it to school on time. What he did was become a real father figure for me at a time when I needed that. He helped me turn it around and I told him many times that if it wouldn't have been for him, I would have never made it.

We're going to have to figure out a way for students to go through school faster so more can come in.

They tried to recruit some students from Dowling Middle School.