In conjunction with Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, which was observed on Jan. 20, several local church congregations are participating in the annual Baby Bottle Boomerang to help raise funds for The Open Door Ministry based in Cisco and servicing area communities including Albany.

The members of the Albany Ministerial Alliance will not host a chili luncheon this year. In past years, the chili lunch was prepared by members of the Ministerial Alliance, and the community was invited to the fundraising meal.

Pick-up dates for the February distribution of the commodity food program are Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. On Thursday, Jan. 31, 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.

Kyle Viertel, who along with his son Mackenzie is a worship leader at First Baptist Church, has invited locals of all faiths to a Worship Night at FBC from 6:45 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 30. “Everyone in the community is invited,” said Viertel.

Three Albany siblings showed goats at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado last week, and all three placed in both their goat classes on Wednesday, Jan. 16, and in the showmanship finals on Tuesday, Jan. 15.

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $51,963 from the state this January. The amount is up 19.81 percent from the $43,371 payment received in January of 2018. The city of Moran will receive a net payment of $1,475 this period, for a 5.

The Shackelford County Youth Livestock Show starts Thursday, Jan. 31, one week from today.  “We’ll start clipping pigs sometime toward the end of this week, probably Thursday or Friday, then start work on the lambs and goats over the weekend,” said Albany ag instructor Chris Beard.

The Lion varsity basketball team has gone 4-0 in district thanks to another a pair of wins in the last week, setting up a showdown against the Stamford Bulldogs on Friday for control of the District 8-2A race.

The Lady Lions slipped to second place in the district race with a loss last Friday to the Haskell Maidens. Albany opened the second half of district on Tuesday with a 43-38 win over Cross Plains. Details will be reported next week.

Fifth and sixth grade youth basketball season continued with games in Eula and Stamford Jan. 19. Both fifth grade teams brought back victories from Eula, but the sixth grade boys and girls did not fare as well in Stamford.