By Kathy Thomson

The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $41,872 from the state this August. The amount is down 13.25 percent from the $48,272 payment received in August of 2018.

Payments to date for the 2019 year to the city of Albany are $375,843, up by 9.32 percent from the comparable time last year, when payments of $343,786 had been made.

The city of Moran will receive a net payment of $1,514 this period for a 12.47 percent decrease from the $1,730 received in August 2018.

By Kathy Thomson

Music fans only have a few more days to purchase their tickets for ResourceCare’s second annual Carefest fundraiser before prices increase on Monday, Sept. 2.

“Ticket sales are going well,” said program assistant Ragan Riley on Monday. “VIP and Preferred tickets are almost sold out.”

Carefest is scheduled to take place Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Happy Wife Happy Life venue just outside of Albany, rain or shine.

Tickets for the music festival can be purchased at www.outhousetickets.com. 

By Kathy Thomson

Hannah Snyder placed well with all three of the barrows she showed at the Gillespie County Fair last Saturday, Aug. 24, winning a reserve champion breed banner, as well as winning two first and a third place ribbon.

Snyder won Reserve Champion Hampshire.

The Albany High junior also claimed a class blue ribbon with the heavy weight Hampshire, and took first in her heavy weight cross class.

Snyder’s Duroc was selected third in its lightweight class. 

By Kathy Thomson

The Albany Chamber of Commerce annual garage sale is just over two weeks away, on Sept. 14, so participants may want to take advantage of this weekend’s slightly cooler temperatures to sort through items stored in garages, spare rooms, sheds, and attics and gather up items to sell.

The signup fee to register a garage sale, be included on the map, and receive a sign number is $25 again this year. 

By Donnie A. Lucas

Head football coach Denney Faith thinks each and every game is important, especially season openers.

But the Lions’ first regular season outing promises special significance both for Faith and the Lions.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The varsity Lady Lions won a five-game battle against Eastland early last week, along with picking up the consolation trophy at the Dublin Tournament over the weekend.

Albany traveled to Clyde on for a rematch with the Lady Bulldogs, coming up short 14-25, 8-25, 20-25.

The varsity will be open this weekend, resuming pre-district action Tuesday, Sept. 3 when they host Bangs in a full set of games starting at 4:30 p.m.

Varsity Beats Eastland in 5

By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany runners will compete in the first cross country meet of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 3 in Eula.

Several junior high and high school runners will participate in the event, starting with the seventh grade girls at 4:00 p.m. and the eighth grade girls at 4:20 p.m. The junior high boys will take their place at the starting line at 4:40 p.m., followed by the varsity boys at 5:50 p.m.

There are not any local high school girls attending the meet due to conflicts with volleyball games.

Season tickets are now on sale at the Albany High School principal’s office for the 2019 football season, featuring stadium seating at Nail Stadium.

The Lions are hosting six home varsity games this year, starting with a Sept. 6 non-district matchup against Dublin.

Because there are six home games this year, reserved season tickets cost $30 ($5 per game) for adults and $12 for students, according to ticket coordinator Ann Riley. 

The seats are not discounted from the regular gate price, but ensure Lion fans of reserved seating at varsity games.

A couple of special projects are in the works to honor Albany football coach Denney Faith, including the dedication of “Faith Field” at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6 prior to the first varsity home game.

More details will be available next week.

In preparation for Faith’s 300th win as head coach for the Albany Lions, members of the Athletic Booster Club are working to put together a video of well wishes and congratulations from past players, coaches, and fans.

Videos should be emailed as soon as possible to khill@albany.esc14.net.

By Melinda L. Lucas

With just one week since the public disclosure of Texas school districts’ accountability performance, Albany ISD administrators and staff have already knuckled down and formulated plans to improve the local ratings – dissecting the reports and breaking down the subgroups so they can see exactly where to dig in.

The ratings rolled out last Wednesday, and although AISD’s overall score was an acceptable B, Albany educators are not happy with the D attached to the elementary campus.