By Sandy Morris Two Albany seniors, Sidney Bartee and Hannah Trail, have been identified as College Board National Recognition Program Scholars in the National Rural and Small Town Recognition Program.

By Sandy Morris National Wreaths Across America Day 2020 has been scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 19, and local residents have arranged a ceremony to honor service members buried in the Albany Cemetery.  A brief observance is set to begin at 11:00 a.m.

By Donnie A. Lucas The Lion basketball teams finally were able to get on the court last weekend, with the JV beating the visiting Ballinger Bearcats while the varsity came up short. The boys teams were open on Tuesday but will be in action again in Roby on Friday.

By Donnie A. Lucas The Lady Lions dropped all three games last week as they continued to prepare for the opening of district competition next week against Haskell. Albany hosted Richland Springs on Tuesday, getting back in the win column 41-26. Details will be reported next week.

J.E. Mikeska, Jr., M.D., age 93 of Albany, passed away Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Graveside services were held Tuesday, Dec. 8 in the Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Abilene under the direction of Morehart Mortuary.  Joe Edward Mikeska, Jr. was born to Joe and Lillie (Malechek) Mikeska on Oct.

Judy Ann Davis, 73, of Pearland Texas, went to be with the Lord on Dec. 1, 2020.  A virtual celebration of life will be held at 6:00 pm on Dec. 11, 2020 . You can contact the family for information. An interment will follow later at the Albany Cemetery.

Dear Editor: I am past-president of the medical staff for Houston Methodist Hospital (best hospital in Texas and in the top 20 in the USA out of 4600 hospitals according to US News).

By Sandy Morris While nasty weather and COVID cancelled the Albany Chamber of Commerce’s annual Parade of Lights, shoppers were still able to knock out some holiday shopping and earn tickets to win Albany Bucks.

By Sandy Morris Last week, the Albany Chamber of Commerce made the difficult decision to cancel the annual Lighted Christmas Parade, along with all of the associated festivities, due to concerns over the increase in area COVID-19 cases.

By Melinda L. Lucas With 10 positive COVID tests reported by the Shackelford County Health Clinic during the first two days of this week and more symtomatic patients on site at press time Wednesday morning, Albany and Moran seem to be mirroring the national surge of coronavirus cases.