By Melinda L. Lucas

The 2018 audit for the Shackelford County Hospital District was approved during the regular Oct. 21 meeting, bringing the entity up to date after the former auditor was unable to complete the two prior years.

Chase Sims of Condley & Company LLC gave a “clean report,” citing no deficiencies and only three minor problems, two of which have already been corrected or partially corrected for the current fiscal year.

By Kathy Thomson

Cloudy night skies, no moonlight, and cool temperatures might make it harder for spotlighters to find youth competitors during The Feed Store sponsored Running Man event this Saturday night, Oct. 26 after Fall Fest.

Albany’s freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors, and junior high students will each work with their respective classmates to form alliances and strategies designed to get the largest possible percentage of their peers safely back to the Feed Store without being “caught” by spotlighters during the 22nd running of the annual event.

By Kathy Thomson

All 4-H and FFA youth who plan to exhibit lambs and goats at the county show and/or at majors this year need to get them validated on Monday, Oct. 28.

Validation will be done on animals at the Albany High ag farm during school hours on Monday, and at other locations in the county starting at 4:00 p.m. on the afternoon of Oct. 28.

A monthly country and western musical will continue this month on Saturday, Oct. 26 from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. at the Moran Community Center.

Moran singer-songwriter M.L. “Marty” Clifford is coordinating the event, which got underway in May.

Clifford plans to hold the musical on the fourth Saturday of each month.

Proceeds will benefit local organizations such as the fire department and Moran’s city park, said Clifford.

There is no cover charge, but snacks will be available.

For more information, call 325-668-5084.

By Kathy Thomson

Quail hunting season begins across the entire state of Texas this Saturday, Oct. 26, and although bird numbers are expected to be up slightly compared to last year, according to surveys the quail population in the Rolling Plains, which includes Shackelford County, they are still well below average.

By Kathy Thomson

Monday, Oct. 28 is a fifth day optional/required school day at Moran Independent School District.

“Please remember that only students with excellent attendance, behavior, citizenship, and classroom performance are permitted to take these optional days off,” said superintendent Danny Freeman. “If you have not been contacted directly by your child’s teacher, then please send your student to school.”

Children who attend school on Monday, Oct. 28 will be released at 12:00 noon.

Cooler weather is finally making an appearance, and there are several activities planned in Moran during the fall season.

Halloween is next week, and the annual PTO organized Trunk or Treat will be held in the Moran school parking lot on Thursday, Oct. 31 to give children a safe place to trick or treat.

The City of Moran Volunteer Fire Department will not be offering game booths this year, but they will host a hayride starting at 8:00 p.m. that evening. 

Other Events

Other upcoming events include commodity pick-up on Tuesday, Nov. 5.

By Kathy Thomson

Albany residents will soon be seeing red as the annual Red Ribbon anti-drug campaign kicks off next Monday morning.

The annual “Red Ribbon Campaign” has been officially set for Oct. 21-25 at the Albany school district. 

This is the 31st straight year that the event, which is designed to draw as much attention as possible to the problems of drug and alcohol abuse and its prevention, has been conducted locally. 

The national theme for 2019 is “Send a Message. Stay Drug Free.” 

By Donnie A. Lucas

The annual Albany Chest campaign is off and running, with directors setting a 2019 goal of $42,000, the same as last year’s. 

Twenty-four different organizations, including one new applicant, submitted requests for this year’s funding, all of which were considered by the board during a meeting held on Wednesday, Oct. 9. 

By Melinda L. Lucas

Fires on opposites sides of the county had all available volunteers busy on Tuesday night, as well as a number of surrounding fire departments.

Rural fire chief Brad Henry said that local firefighters concentrated on a fire that burned about 550 acres on Davis and Van Zant properties, caused by a malfunctioning wind turbine.

Henry thought that a second fire to the north was actually in Throckmorton County and was taken care of by firefighters there.