By Melinda L. Lucas
A fire reported after midnight on Tuesday completely destroyed several mobile homes on property thought to be that of Johnny Novian or members of his family.
Albany Volunteer Fire Chief Travis Gardenhire said that a call came in about 12:30 a.m. from Allsup’s, apparently after someone reported seeing the fire south of the Village Apartments. When firefighters arrived, three unoccupied trailers were “fully involved,” according to Gardenhire.
Charlie Lawrence has been called home to his heavenly father. He was beloved by Julie, his wife, and children.
Born in Breckenridge, Texas on May 19, 1941, he was the youngest of nine children. He grew up on a ranch, riding horses, herding cattle, roping calves, cheekily driving at age six to get this and that, a childhood remembered equally for its hard work and responsibilities, as well as its unparalleled freedom.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Scores on the spring 2022 STAAR testing for grades 3-8 were recently released by the Texas Education Agency, with local scores exceeding state or matching statewide scores in almost all areas.
The results were also higher compared to last year’s numbers for local students in most areas.
“We did well on the testing,” director of student services Leigh Lowe said. “There were just a couple of areas where we scored below the state average, and those were at the same grade level.”
By Sam Waller
ResourceCare’s 24th year of Summer Day Camp is nearing the midpoint of its two-week run.
Day Camp is free to all registered children from age 3 and potty trained to sixth grade.
ResourceCare’s Ragan Riley said numbers are up this year with 168 students registered. About 30 high school workers and 12 volunteers are working this year’s camp.
“Our staff is about a quarter of what we usually have, but they are all great kids who are doing a fantastic job leading the elementary kids,” Riley said.
By Melinda L. Lucas
A local citizen asked for a special session of the Shackelford County commissioners during Monday’s meeting, and another point of discussion was repair or replacement of the Courthouse’s “chiller,” as the air conditioning of offices had not been working correctly for several days.
Following the regular agenda items, the court spent about 30 minutes in an initial budget workshop. They plan to continue budget talks after the next session on July 25.
Citizen Request
By Donnie A. Lucas
Three FCCLA teams advanced to the National Leadership Conference in San Diego at the end of June, with one group taking the top honor in the country and the other two both placing well.
The Level 1 parliamentary procedure team, made up of seven eighth graders, took top honors in the nation.
The Level 2 Digital Stories for change team won second place for their video on mental health among students, and the other Level 2 group of three placed in the top 10 in the nation for a how-to instructional video on car maintenance and safety.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Shackelford County residents have been fortunate not to have experienced any grass fires in the last couple of weeks, but officials say conditions will be favorable through this weekend and probably into next week for that to change.
“Conditions are there for fires to break out; we have just been fortunate,” Brad Henry, resource specialist for the Texas A&M Forest Service, said. “We have just been waiting for that spark.”
Henry also serves as the chief of the Shackelford County Fire Department that covers rural portions of the county.
By Melinda L. Lucas
Six of the seven members of the Shackelford County Hospital District’s board of directors met for a brief special session on Friday, July 1, with all but a couple of minutes held behind closed doors.
The meeting was called to order by the board president, Jo Ann Estridge, at 11:30 a.m., and it was immediately closed to discuss a possible pay raise for nurse practitioner Travis Wilburn, who has been at the local clinic for almost 20 years, starting in 2003.
By Melinda L. Lucas
A new ordinance governing occupancy of recreational vehicles (RVs) inside the Albany city limits was approved during the July 11 meeting of the Albany city council.
Council members also increased water and sewer tap rates.
Mayor pro tem Lester Galbreath conducted the meeting in the absence of Susan Montgomery.
RV Ordinance
By Sam Waller
Shackelford County 4-H elected to scrap the first session of its STEM camps this week, but Shackelford County extension agent Kelsey Bell said two other sessions are still scheduled.
Bell said low registration and staffing issues led to the decision to cancel this week’s session, which was to be held Tuesday, July 12.
