Everyone in Albany is invited to the First Christian Church Labyrinth at 12:00 noon today, May 3, for a community-wide prayer and worship gathering during the National Day of Prayer (NDP). 

The Albany Ministerial Alliance is hosting the lunch-time event, and invites the general public to join in the national intercession for unity for America and her leaders.

Albany Ministerial Alliance president Brad McBee encouraged everyone who is available during the lunch hour to stop by for the outdoor event.

District, area, and state wide FFA contests took place last week and local ag students competed at some of the events.

The Big Country FFA District speaking events and officer elections were held in Cisco on Monday, April 22 and several members of the local FFA chapter attended as voting delegates, officer candidates, degree applicants, and/or speaking event contestants. In addition, the Albany chapter applied for the Golden Horizon Award and the National Chapter Award.

Alayna Koemel was elected to serve as the Big Country District vice president.

USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) recently announced that higher levels of coverage will be offered through the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), a popular safety net program, beginning April 8. 

The 2018 Farm Bill also increased service fees and made other changes to the program, including service fee waivers for qualified military veterans interested in obtaining NAP coverage. 

The Texas A&M Agri-Life Extension Service in Callahan and Shackelford Counties are partnering together to conduct a private pesticide applicator training session on Monday, May 13 in Baird, with a deadline of this Friday.

The training will be at the Callahan County extension office at 100 West 4th Street, Suite 201.

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m., and the training will start at 6:00 p.m., but participants must pre-register by Friday, May 3, according to Shackelford County extension agent Michaela Bradford.

A house fire in Brownwood at 6:30 a.m. on the morning of April 18 caused major damage to the home of Albany alumnus Aidalu Delgado Price, and although the family is fine and has a temporary place to live, the home was uninsured.

According to Brownwood fire marshal Buddy Preston, the cause of the fire was an overheated plug on a window air conditioner unit.

Bobby Price was at work at the time of the fire, and Aidalu Price was on her way to work at the Brownwood school district.

Pick-up dates for the May distribution of the commodity food program are May 2 and 3.

On Thursday, May 2, certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon.

Albany families who have been certified eligible for the April food distribution program can pick up their commodity food Friday, May 3, at the rear door of the JP office (the former county jail) from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. 

The Texas Historical Commission announced that everyone is invited to visit the THC Historic Sites, including Fort Griffin, free of charge this Sunday, May 5, from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

The free day includes all of the organization’s sites, unless they are currently closed for renovations or restorations. 

The free day is in celebration of National Preservation Month and Texas Travel and Tourism Week.

THC sites include military strongholds, house museums, plantations, and American Indian settlements.

The latest episode of “Texas Country Reporter” features the local Beehive restaurant and owner Ali Esfandiary, along with Cactus Book Shop owner Felton Cochran, Buffalo soldier painter Bob Snead, and the show’s host Bob Phillips. 

Episode 1652 aired on Abilene’s KTXS (channel 12) at 6:30 p.m. last Saturday and is scheduled to be broadcast on RFD TV at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, May 3, repeated at 12:00 a.m. early on the morning of Saturday, May 4, and rerun another time at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 5. 

A recap of Albany High’s athletic success during the 2018-2019 school year was given at the annual All-Sports Banquet on Tuesday, including the announcement of several special memorial awards.

Coaches for each sport also recognized their teams, along with handing out various sport-specific awards.

A total of 10 senior athletes were presented a total of 13 special awards in memory or honor of local citizens that exemplified special qualities.

The banquet was sponsored by the Albany Athletic Booster Club.

Retiring school board members Pam Davis (l) and Betsy Parsons (c) visit with each other and with Sara Head (r) during a well-attended special reception last Sunday afternoon at the Aztec. Residents of Albany and the Albany school district got a chance to say thank you to the two women, who have served as trustees for 21 and 30 years respectively.