We have a wild year ahead of us! 

President Trump begins his second presidency. God set him in office. He is not perfect, as you and I are not. But God is going to use him mightily!

God is getting ready to bring forth many things this year. Hang on in faith!

You will see breakthroughs in science, AI, and more. You will see governments changing worldwide. You will see signs and wonders as well as hear them. And you will say, “What is that?” It is the Lord Jesus trying to get your attention, all of mankind.

Look to the Lord Jesus! Trust Him!

By Melinda L. Lucas

With just about two weeks left before the official deadline, a large percentage of the county-wide tax levies will be collected in the next few days.

Taxes assessed during 2024 are officially due on Friday, Jan. 31. 

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions basketball team continued to struggle last week in losses to Cisco and Anson as the District 10-2A girls schedule reached the midway point.

The Lady Lions (4-16 overall, 1-6 district) began the second round of the league schedule Tuesday, Jan. 14 with a 56-16 loss at Hawley. Details will be reported next week. Albany has the district bye on Friday, Jan. 17 and returns to action Tuesday, Jan. 21 against Stamford at home.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions varsity boys basketball team endured a rough second week of the new year with losses to Cisco and Anson.

The Lions (8-6 overall, 3-3 District 10-2A) returned to action Tuesday, Jan. 14 with a 48-65 loss at Hawley in their only outing this week. Albany has the district bye Friday, Jan. 17 that fortuitously coincides with the Shackelford County Livestock Show.

By David H. Waller

The Shackelford County Commissioners Court held its regular meeting on Monday, addressing several important topics, including IT system upgrades, internet improvements, and road equipment replacement.

Discussions on implementing a burn ban took place, but no action was taken, leaving no burn ban currently in effect.

By Melinda L. Lucas

The filing period for local elections opened Wednesday for several entities such as the school board, city council, and hospital board and will continue until Friday, Feb. 14.

The election date set by the state for all local elections is Saturday, May 3.

Candidates have the 30-day filing period to sign up for a spot on one of the local boards or councils.

By Sam Waller

The 2025 Shackelford County Livestock Show is set for Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 16-18, at the county show barn.

Annually the largest single extracurricular activity in the County, this year’s show has 132 students from Albany and Moran FFA chapters as well as Shackelford County 4-H entering approximately 225 animal projects. Each student will be allowed to sell one project in the premium sale, scheduled for 1:00 p.m. Saturday.

By Melinda L. Lucas

With the Albany Chest goal now over the top, members of the board of directors originally planned to meet Wednesday, Jan. 8, to distribute funds collected during the 2024 campaign.

However, with the weather forecast uncertain, the decision was made on Monday to postpone.

According to board president Jana Kitchens, the directors are scheduled to meet at the Feed Store on Jan. 15.

Goal Exceeded

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lions broke their losing streak with a win over TLC Abilene last week, also picking up the first district win for the season.

Albany hosted Haskell on Dec. 31, falling 60-25, but picked up a 37-23 win over TLCA on Jan. 3 in Abilene.

The girls hosted the 18-2 Cisco girls on Tuesday in a district game, falling to the Lady Loboes 66-17 to post a season mark of 4-15 including 1-4 in district.