By Lynsi Musselman
Albany High School 2018 graduate and McMurry University sophomore Reyna Garcia has been named 2020 Academic Winter-Spring Academic All Conference for softball.
During Garcia’s Albany softball career, she was named four-time first team All-District and team MVP as a junior and senior.
Garcia is an accounting major at McMurry with the goal to be a CPA after graduation.
She is the daughter of Kristen and Jamie Garcia of Albany.
By Lynsi Musselman
The start of the 2020-2021 school year is just two months away, and many families are anxiously waiting to get their kids registered for the upcoming school year.
Albany Independent School District will soon post an online link to register for current families for the whole district.
Nancy Smith Elementary School principal John Gallagher said the online registration forms are being updated to include areas that will apply to all grade levels.
By Lynsi Musselman
Combines in Shackelford County are getting ready for, and in some cases already working on, the area wheat harvest – with drier conditions than in the previous three years.
Shackelford County extension agent Kloey Cargill said she has been out to visit a few farmers, and most are ready to either harvest or graze.
“We could actually use a little rain this year, but invasive insects have been the primary cause of destruction to crops,” Cargill said.
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany city council members announced news at Monday night’s meeting that many have been anxiously awaiting – the pool at Webb Park will open on June 15.
Although capacity is limited to 50 percent until further notice, city officials do not expect that to be a real problem, at least not until the ResourceCare Day Camp gets underway July 6.
City manager Billy Holson said that full pool capacity is 245, so at 50 percent, 122 swimmers and accompanying adults will be allowed inside the gates.
By Melinda L. Lucas
Two vacant houses on the southern outskirts of Albany were completely destroyed Tuesday afternoon in a fire that was believed to have started from electric lines sparking in a tree branch broken off by high winds.
The same winds, which were already raising dust in West Texas skies that day, pushed the fire south to Hwy. 601 (Ibex highway) and east to the Albany airport, singeing more than 250 acres, including some in the new Clarke Estates subdivision.
By Donnie A. Lucas
After almost a month without any new COVID-19 testing, Shackelford County has recorded three new tests during the last week, according to county judge Robert Skelton.
Two of the recent tests have already come back as negative, while the result for the third is still pending.
Texas governor Greg Abbott enacted the third phase of the plan for the state to safely open the economy while containing the spread of COVID-19.
As of last Wednesday, all Texas businesses were allowed to open with at least 50 percent capacity.
By Lynsi Musselman
Due to COVID-19 and other health concerns, the Albany Lions Club fundraiser “Flags Across Albany” is on hold for Flag Day and the upcoming patriotic holidays.
However, volunteers with the Chamber of Commerce are stepping up in the interim and providing American flags in the downtown area.
“Flags Across Albany” is a project the Lions Club organized several years ago to honor American heritage and military heroes who served this country, as well as to help raise funds for the organization.
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Shackelford County commissioners approved the annual audit Monday and agreed to apply for federal funds available through the CARES Act to assist with added costs at polling places for upcoming elections due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The audit for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2019 was presented by Meredith Churchill of Fullerton and Associates, a CPA firm in Abilene.
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany News customers are reminded that starting this Friday, June 12, the newspaper office will be closed on Fridays.
The Friday closure was decided in light of less in-person customer patronage in recent years, as well as an effort to cut costs in view of the economic impact of the coronavirus impact.
Hours at the News office will be Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., starting Friday, June 12.
By Lynsi Musselman
Low rainfall totals in May and a sunny early June has kept the mosquito population away; however, Albany is far from mosquito free.
Albany city employee Davis Bales said he has yet to spray for mosquitoes this season but the fogging machine is calibrated for the year and there is a full drum of chemicals.
“Albany is broken into two sections that we spray, separated by the highway,” Bales said. “The parks and little league field will be sprayed soon, and other areas will be hit on and off depending on the rain.”
