By Melinda L. Lucas

The list of honor students in the 2022 Albany High School senior class was released last week, naming Luke Ivy as valedictorian and Sarah Cotter as salutatorian.

Ivy, son of Paul and Ginny Ivy, has a near-perfect four-year average of 99.586.

The salutatorian, daughter of Mike and Darla Cotter, has earned an overall average of 96.857.

Both are Albany natives, and both are extremely active in all aspects of student life, ranging from success in multiple sports to appearances at UIL state academic events.

By Donnie A. Lucas

About 125 tickets remain available for the Radney Foster concert set for Friday, April 29 at the Aztec Theater, with doors opening at 7:00 p.m. for the 8:00 p.m. show.

The performance is sponsored by Albany Live, a nonprofit organized last year to bring live musical events to Albany. Foster’s show is the fourth in an ongoing singer/songwriter series that will wrap up in June.

“We still have plenty of seats available,” Trey Davis said Tuesday. “People can buy tickets on the website, and any that are left will be available at the door.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

In-person early voting started Monday for the May 7 constitutional amendment election and the Shackelford County Hospital District trustee election and continues through Tuesday, May 3.

All voting is being conducted at the Shackelford County courthouse from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. each workday, including during the lunch hour.

The deadline for requests for a ballot by mail ended Tuesday, with a total of 70 ballots sent out including annual ballot requests.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Shackelford County commissioners spent much of Monday’s regular meeting on two items on which no action was taken, although they will probably get back to both at a future date.

Jeff Propst, 104th Judicial District Court Judge, and Taylor County commissioner Chuck Statler presented a proposal to establish a Big Country Regional Public Defenders Office, which could be based in Abilene and serve several surrounding counties, of which Shackelford has the smallest case load.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The first general rehearsal for all cast members of the Fort Griffin Fandangle has been set for Tuesday, May 3 starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Prairie Theater.

Only the first general rehearsal for all scenes is set for next week, with remaining practices starting on Sunday, May 8 and continuing almost nightly throughout May and June.

The performance dates for the show this year are June 17-18 and June 24-25, with the annual parade set for Saturday, June 18.

Tickets for the show are currently on sale on the Fandangle website.

By Melinda L. Lucas

In just one week, ResourceCare will host its second annual Murder Mystery Dinner fundraising event at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 5.

With help from Albany Mainstreet Playhouse’s Traveling Troupe, ResourceCare will perform “Cinco de Mayo Mayhem: Murder at Isadora’s ­Fiesta” at the Albany Youth Center, which has been transformed into the scene of a typical Mexican celebration.

ResouceCare programs assistant Ragan Riley said all attendees are encouraged to get into the spirit of the evening by wearing fiesta attire.

By Melinda L. Lucas

The 36th annual Polo on the Prairie fundraiser benefitting cancer research and patient programs at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center will take place at the Musselman Brothers’ Lazy 3 Ranch on Saturday, April 30.

Tickets to the event must be purchased in advance, and range in price from $25 for children 12 and under to $125 for adults, or more for those willing to sponsor a player or a team. To see if tickets are still available, call 866-262-9029, ext. 3 and leave a message, or send an email to events@md anderson.org.

By Donnie A. Lucas

For the third week in the last, no new cases of COVID-19 were recorded at the three Albany testing sites last week, with only one positive case reported three weeks ago.

No new cases were reported for the week of April 18-22, according to a report by Shackelford County judge Bob Skelton.

Just four tests were administered during the period, which is the same as the report from the previous week of April 11-15.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Four Albany high students brought home seven medals and a team plaque from the Region II-2A  Academic Meet in Denison, with two competitors advancing to the state meet.

Seniors Sarah Cotter and Susie Cormack both qualified for the state meet on May 6 in Austin in journalism events.

Cotter took second in Editorial Writing, and Cormack won third in News Writing to advance. The top three places in each event moved on to the state meet.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Organizations planning to award scholarships at the 2022 Albany High School graduation exercises on Friday, May 27 are asked to report their scholarship amounts and recipients by this Friday, April 29.

Ann Riley at the AHS office is organizing the scholarship announcement and distribution, handing out the seniors’ application letters to committee representatives last week.