By Lynsi Musselman
The month of July has been a scorcher, not unlike most summers in Albany.
Temperatures have hit 108 degrees twice in one week with more hot, dry, and windy days in the forecast, drying out vegetation and causing more concern for wildfires.
Shackelford County Rural Volunteer Fire Department secretary Kristy Brooker said last week alone there were five small local wildfires with one mutual aid fire in Lueders.
By Donnie A. Lucas
The number of confirmed test results for COVID-19 continues to rise, with a cumulative total of 14 positive results as of Monday, compared with nine at the same time last week.
County Judge Robert Skelton received an update on Wednesday morning from the regional office of the Texas Department of Health Services reporting the 14 total positive cases, corrected from 16 confirmed cases reported earlier in the week. According to a state dashboard, 77 tests have been administered.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Albany school officials rolled out the plan for opening the 2020-2021 school year this week, with the first day of classes still set for Wednesday, Aug. 19.
While the instructional plan does provide some alternates for parents who are considering keeping their child at home due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, most of the plan outlines business as usual for students in the district.
Photographs taken of various teams and individuals by The Albany News during the local t-ball, coach pitch, and baseball seasons are available for pickup.
Summer baseball packages are priced at $18 plus tax. Many of the packets have already been paid for, and although many have already been picked up, there are dozens still at the News office.
Graduation photos of the 2020 Albany High School seniors are also in, but several members of the class have not yet placed their orders.
By Lynsi Musselman
Like most planned events for 2020, ResourceCare’s CareFest has met a similar fate with the cancellation announced this past week.
Festival directors Mindy Ary and Ragan Riley explained that due to circumstances beyond their control, they have made the decision to postpone CareFest until Summer 2021.
“We were running out of days to ‘hope and pray’ that the current restrictions in the state of Texas would improve,” Ary said. “With the uncertainties that lie ahead, we could not continue to move forward.”
By Melinda L. Lucas
A “sold out” event in March 2019 celebrating his 100th birthday was a perfect example of how Albany residents felt about John Matthews. The free tickets to the musical held at the Aztec were gone within a few hours, with a long waiting list in case someone was unlucky enough not to be able to attend.
Matthews, an authentic Old Timer who belonged to the legendary pioneer Shackelford County family, died Saturday at the age of 101.
By Melinda L. Lucas
Shackelford County Hospital District directors decided to purchase a Lucas 3 chest compression system for the ambulance service at Monday night’s meeting, but opted to continue to look for grants for the more expensive self-lifting Stryker stretcher proposed by EMS director Tina Ulbrich.
The CPR machine, which can be used both on-scene and in-transport, is available temporarily at a reduced price because of a COVID-19 “Disaster Purchasing Program.”
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany ISD trustees had a better idea about how the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year will look after their Monday night meeting.
Superintendent Jonathan Scott reviewed the plan being developed by local administrators, but stated that it hadn’t been finalized as of Monday.
“We are trying to roll out plans, even though it feels like we’re starting over just about every day,” Scott said. “TEA finally released online instruction guidelines a couple of weeks ago, but we’re still waiting on guidance to get back on campus.”
More than 175 Angelo State University student-athletes, including Levi Britting of Albany, have been named to the Lone Star Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the 2020 spring semester.
The list is announced at the conclusion of each fall and spring semester with student-athletes qualifying based on grade point average for the current semester.
To be eligible, student-athletes must have a minimum 3.30 GPA and be on their team’s active roster.
Britting is the son of Rod and Susan Britting and Kristi Espinosa.
By Donnie A. Lucas
Shackelford County elected officials learned Monday that the county has been designated to receive over $355,000 in grant money from the state’s County Transportation Infrastructure Fund for local road projects, and commissioners put plans to repave the courthouse parking lot on hold.
County Judge Robert Skelton reported that the grant funding was awarded, but he still has to receive approval for each proposed portion of the work in advance, plus providing a 20 percent funding match.
