When Texans see a pillar of smoke rising out of a forest or state park, with Texas A&M Forest Service on the ground, our gut instinct is always the same: wildfire. However, that isn’t always the case.

By Sandy Morris The Parent Teacher Organization at Nancy Smith Elementary School will hold the traditional Scholastic Book Fair beginning Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 16. PTO members plan to set up the book fair on the cafeteria stage at NSES.

By Sandy Morris Albany High School seniors will be able to begin applying for local scholarships this week.

By Sandy Morris The Albany High School  band will compete in the UIL Region 2, East Zone Concert and Sightreading contest in Abilene next week. The contest will take place at Wylie High School in Abilene over a two-day period, and Albany is scheduled to perform on Tuesday, March 30.

By Sandy Morris Albany High School  FFA members competed in the Cisco College Invitational Career Development Events (CDE) contest on Monday, March 22.  AHS ag teacher and FFA sponsor Chris Beard said the students competed with either the horse judging team or the wildlife judging team.

By Sandy Morris Thursday, April 1 is the last day to register to vote or make a change of address effective for the May 1 local election.

By Melinda L. Lucas Shackelford County commissioners voted to purchase a new battery backup for the Law Enforcement Center (LEC) at a cost of about $9,000 during a morning session on March 22.

By Melinda L. Lucas Monday’s monthly meeting of the Albany ISD board of trustees, postponed one week from its regular time because of spring break, was mostly COVID updates in various areas, with a couple of motions made on routine agenda items.

By Sandy Morris The April distribution pickup dates for the commodity food program will be pushed back one week due to the Good Friday holiday on April 2. Pickup dates have been scheduled for Thursday, April 8 and Friday, April 9.

By Melinda L. Lucas A Shackelford County grand jury met last Tuesday, March 16, issuing local indictments for the first time in more than a year, according to county sheriff Ed Miller.