By Donnie A. Lucas

Two Albany High School students have received national recognition by the  College Board through its National Rural and Small Town Award.

Junior John Birkla and senior Maci Hatchett were among the 72,000 students from across the country who earned academic honors from College Board’s National Recognition Programs, according to Albany JH/SH counselor Brittney Harmon.

The honor is based on a student maintaining a 3.5 or higher GPA and scoring in the top 10 percent on the PSAT.

By Sam Waller

Albany students will again participate in the annual See You at the Pole prayer event Wednesday, Sept. 27.

At 7:00 a.m., Nancy Smith Elementary students and their parents will be served breakfast at Albany Church of Christ. At 7:30 a.m., students from kindergarten through sixth grade will walk in groups with adult sponsors from the church to the elementary school for a 7:40 a.m. gathering at the flag pole.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Things are starting to look a lot like fall at the Albany Chamber of Commerce offices as the time for the annual fall decorating of the business district of the town nears.

The Chamber is seeking volunteers to assist with putting up fall decorations on Saturday, Sept. 30.

“The Albany FFA kids brought the first load of cane to use with our fall decorations,” Chamber Manager Brandi Lehew said Tuesday. “I have also been working on fluffing up the bows and getting the pumpkin plaques out that will go up.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

Directors of the Albany Chest met on Wednesday, Sept. 13, to organize the 2023 fundraising drive, elect four board members, and vote on officers.

The deadline for organizations to turn in funding requests was officially set for Friday, Sept. 29, and the board’s next meeting will be held at The Feed Store on Wednesday, Oct. 4 at 5:15 p.m. to evaluate the applications and decide on the fundraising target for the 2023 Chest drive.

By Sam Waller

It’s homecoming week at Moran with several activities on the schedule.

This year’s homecoming will recognize the Classes of 1973 and 1974 for their 50th anniversaries and the Classes of ’98 and ’99 for their 25th.

During the week, students have taken part in dress-up days such as Favorite Jersey, Disney, and Crazy Hair. Thursday, Sept. 21 (today) is Spirit Day with everyone encouraged to wear purple and gold.

On Friday, Sept. 22, an alumni volleyball match is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., followed by an alumni football game at 7:30 p.m.

By Donnie A. Lucas

A ribbon cutting Friday at the Shackelford County Show Barn officially marked the opening of the remodeled facility, giving county officials, donors, volunteers and the public a look at improvements.

The ceremony was sponsored by the Albany Chamber of Commerce, with close to 100 interested parties on hand for the event.

The project was started in the spring with fundraising that totaled $375,000 to bring the 50-year-old structure up to date.

By Melinda L. Lucas

After holding the required hearings for the proposed budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and then for the proposed tax rate for 2024,  Shackelford County commissioners voted unanimously during a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7 to adopt both.

The $4,955,169 budget that had been proposed and filed on Aug. 14, as required by law, had been refined since that time, and the amount that ended up being adopted last week was actually $4,713,006, almost $250,000 less.

By Melinda L. Lucas

After working through line items for all four divisions of the Shackelford County Hospital District in a special session on Wednesday, Sept. 6, board members ended up with a proposed budget based on the “voter approval” tax rate of 19.55 cents.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Albany city council members voted during the regular monthly meeting time on Monday, Sept. 11 to adopt the tax rate that had been proposed on Aug. 21.

Council members also decided, after a short closed session, to give city manager Billy Holson a raise.

Tax Rate

In a special meeting on Aug. 21, the council had proposed a “No New Revenue” (NNR) rate of 56.39 cents.

By Sam Waller

Albany’s Bradee Stautzenberger had a big weekend at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo.

Albany FFA students stayed busy in the fair’s second week, exhibiting livestock projects and competing in judging contests.

Stautzenberger caught a calf in the calf scramble to finish seventh. She earned $700 to put toward the purchase of an animal for next year’s fair.

In the show ring, Alli McDaniel placed fourth and Chase McDaniel was seventh in Full Blood Boer Goats.

In the ORB Heifers, Stautzenberger was fifth and Myleigh Leveridge was sixth.