By Donnie A. Lucas

A pair of Albany High sophomores brought home the gold from the District 10-2A Cross Examination Debate contest held Monday in Cisco.

Ella Webb and Leddie Leech won the first place plaque for the event, and both girls received individual speaking awards based on points awarded by the judge.

Webb was named the top speaker, followed by Leech in second place.

By Melinda L. Lucas

The 2021-2022 budget and a contract extension for city manager Billy Holson were the main topics of discussion at Monday’s Albany city council meeting, but no action was taken on either item.

Holson plans to present a finalized budget proposal at the March 8 session, and mayor Susan Montgomery expects Holson’s contract to be approved the same night.

Montgomery reported that new furniture and accessories were delivered last week to the new pilots lounge at the Albany airport, funded by the AVJ Foundation.

By Sandy Morris

The Albany Chamber of Commerce’s annual membership meeting was held last Friday, Feb. 5 immediately after the 12:00 noon luncheon at The Beehive, with a new president taking over for the next year.

Landy Warren, who has been active in the Chamber as a director for several years, is now heading up the local organization. 

Ramby Anderson, who has been serving as Chamber president, decided to step down from that position but was willing to continue to serve as an officer. He was elected as vice president.

By Sandy Morris

With only one day left to file for local offices, as of press time on Tuesday, there was still a shortage of candidates for several of the local boards.

All incumbents currently serving on the Albany City Council have filed for re-election including mayor Susan Montgomery and council members Don Taggart, Austin Sherwood, and Lynsi Musselman.

Cory Brown and Kalico Leech have filed for re-election to their seats on the Albany school board.

By Sandy Morris

While many local residents are anxiously waiting for their names to be called for a COVID vaccine, others are looking for convenient places to be tested for the virus.

Shackelford County EMS supervisor Tina Ulbrich announced that the local ambulance service recently received 640 rapid tests to be administered free of charge.

“We received these tests through a special program,” said Ulbrich. “The tests are completely free, and results will be available in 15 minutes.”

Ulbrich said appointments must be made for the tests.

By Sandy Morris

After a string of warm, windy days, local residents began this week to brace themselves for a cold front bringing bone-chilling temperatures to the area.

The National Weather Service out of San Angelo predicted a week starting out with a high near 60 degrees on Monday and spiraling downward the rest of the week.

Shackelford County residents will probably experience the lowest temps of the winter this week with expected lows of near 10 degrees by the weekend. 

Michale Dean Peacock, 59, of Gorman passed away Feb. 2, 2021, doing what he loved…ranching. He was born Aug. 3, 1961, in Breckenridge, Texas to Dean and Joy (Trout) Peacock. He married his loving wife, Donna Lynn Maltby, May 3, 2015, in Desdemona.

Michale was raised on the Nail Ranch in Albany, Texas and graduated from Albany High School. He attended Eastland High I.S.D. for a number of years and played baseball.  

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Albany Youth Basketball League played games on the road last Saturday, with the final day of double elimination bracket play tournaments to be held this Saturday for the boys’ teams. The girls’ teams will be unable to compete due to conflicts.

The fifth grade boys won both games against Jim Ned teams last weekend.

Albany beat the Jim Ned Blue 20-15. Scoring were Clay Chapman 15 and Aiden Vickers 5.

Albany also defeated Jim Ned Red 37-5. Scoring were Clay Chapman 19, Aiden Vickers 16, and Akunda Mugoya 2.

By Sandy Morris

The Moran varsity girls and boys basketball teams are both in the middle of district competition with both teams hosting Cross Plains on Friday, Jan. 29.

Both teams are scheduled to travel to Rising Star on Friday, Feb. 5. 

Lady Bulldog 

Basketball

The varsity girls basketball team lost the contest with Cross Plains 62-20. 

Johnnie Hise was the leading scorer with eight points, followed by Emily Murk with six points, Hannah Noble with five points and Alli Scott with one point. 

By Sandy Morris

Even though it’s still cold outside, it isn’t too soon to start thinking about spring sports, and the Albany Girls Softball Association is ready for action.

Jacey Shack, president of AGSA, said board members met last Wednesday, Jan. 27 and set registration dates and fees. 

“Registration forms are available at the schools or on the Albany Softball Facebook page,” said Shack. “All forms are due back to the schools by Friday, Feb. 12.”