By Kathy Thomson

November is Diabetic Awareness Month, and one Moran student is personally aware of dangers and hardships caused by this life-long disease.

According to the 2017 National Diabetes Statistics Report, there are 30.3 million people in the United States living with diabetes, and of those, 90 to 95 percent have type two diabetes, where their bodies do not respond correctly to insulin.

Baylee Orsak has the less common type one, where the pancreas does not make an adequate amount of insulin.

By Kathy Thomson

Moran Independent School District will host its annual Thanksgiving Meal on Friday, Nov. 22 in the school cafeteria from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.

Parents and other family members are invited to eat with their students.

Moran has a staff comp day and a student holiday on Monday, Nov. 25. The school will be closed the rest of the week, Nov. 26-29, for Thanksgiving.

Classes will resume on Monday, Dec. 2.

Local residents can help the Abilene Salvation Army with Thanksgiving meals by bringing homemade or purchased pies to the First United Methodist fellowship hall by 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

FUMC member Lance Thomas said this week that the Salvation Army serves 4,000-6,000 meals a month and is especially busy at Thanksgiving.

“We collected lots of pies a couple of years ago, and they were very grateful,” said Thomas. “I think pies came from every church and many individuals.”

By Kathy Thomson

Members of the Albany Chamber of Commerce are getting organized for the upcoming Christmas season with plans that include decorating the downtown area and hosting special events including prize drawings and a lighted parade on the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

“We are decorating downtown on Saturday, Nov. 23,” said Chamber manager Mary Beth Jones. “Our annual kick-off to Christmas and lighted Christmas parade will be on Saturday, Nov. 30. We’ll also have prize drawings, music, wine, entertainment, and shopping.”

By Kathy Thomson

The Moran Independent School District’s annual Veterans Day hamburger luncheon was held at the MISD Event Center at noon on Monday, Nov. 11.

Several members of the student body helped put on the event, including Andrew Farner and J.T. Holland, who cooked the meat, and Emily Murk and Chloe Hendricks, who served as greeters.

All local veterans and their families were invited to attend the Veterans Day meal as guests of honor.

3rd Six Weeks Starts

By Melinda L. Lucas

After reviewing options presented by West Central Texas Municipal Water District, Albany’s city council voted to enter into a 26-year contract to  purchase 130 acre feet of water rights annually from Possum Kingdom Lake through WCTMWD, beginning August 2020.

The cost of the guaranteed raw water supply is $20,540 per year regardless of whether or not it is drawn, explained city manager Billy Holson, who also said that WCTMWD wanted the contract decision by Dec. 1. 

By Kathy Thomson

The Albany Athletic Booster Club has several activities planned in preparation for Albany’s bi-district playoff game with the Miles Bulldogs tonight.

The game will be held at the Gordon Wood Stadium in Brownwood, with kickoff set for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 14.

Thursday Schedule

Beating the spirit drum began Wednesday after the 7:30 p.m. pep rally at Bank Park and will continue until shortly before today’s send-off. The cheerleaders took the first shift and other Lion fans kept up the activity all through the night.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Two prospective county candidates had already picked up applications before press time this week and were expected to file by petition.

Incumbent Precinct 3 commissioner Lanham Martin of Moran is working to obtain the needed signatures to file for office.

Announcing his intention to file for the office of county attorney is Albany attorney Rollin Rauschl.

The incumbent, Colton Johnson, is not planning to run for reelection.

By Kathy Thomson

Shackelford County senior adults 60 and up are invited to attend the Resource Center’s October senior luncheon on Friday, Nov. 15 at the Youth Center beginning at 11:15 a.m.

Matthews Memorial Presbyterian Church will host the meal this month, according to program assistant Ragan Riley.

The menu is turkey, dressing, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberries, and yams, with a Thanksgiving theme.

By Melinda L. Lucas

A routine meeting of the Shackelford County commissioners on Tuesday morning, delayed 24 hours because of the Veterans Day holiday, saw several agenda items tabled for various reasons. 

The elected officials opted to reinstate the county-wide burn ban that had been temporarily lifted after last week’s rainfall, mainly due to high winds this week.