Retiring county judge Ross Montgomery was presented with a special award during Monday afternoon’s open house to show off the new repairs and restoration of the Shackelford County Courthouse.

Winners were chosen from among the large number of participants in the 12th annual Lighted Christmas Parade that filled the downtown area last Saturday evening, and Albany Bucks were awarded to the top parade float as well as to those whose tickets were pulled out of the hopper in the drawings.

Weekly printing of The Albany News continues to be a moving target with the usual press at the Abilene Reporter-News (ARN) still out of commission because of a Nov. 15 fire.

Pick-up dates for the December distribution of the commodity food program are Dec. 6 and 7. On Thursday, Dec. 6, certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $50,264 from the state this November. The amount is up 29.30 percent from the $38,873 payment received in November of 2017. Payments to date for the 2018 year to the city of Albany are $495,735, up by 0.

Santa letters and holiday essays for the 2018 Christmas issue published by The Albany News should be submitted by the end of this week if possible.

The Christmas season has officially begun and preparations are underway for the upcoming 2018 performance of the Albany Nativity.

There is one month left in the annual Albany Chest campaign and many more contributions are needed in order to meet the 2018 fundraising goal of $42,000 set by the directors at the start of the campaign after they reviewed the submitted funding requests from over two dozen organizations.

The Old Jail Art Center is hosting two special events this Christmas season including free puppet shows and inexpensive gift-making opportunities.  Puppet Shows Holiday marionette shows will be presented by the master puppeteers from Peeler-Rose Productions on Tuesday, Dec. 4, and Wednesday, Dec.

Applications from parents requesting that their children be included in the 2018 Toys for Tots program must be filled out and turned in to ResourceCare before the close of business on Friday, Nov. 30.  As of Tuesday, 45 children were signed up.