Albany News readers and advertisers are asked to be aware of an early deadline next week, as well as the staff’s annual vacation week coming up later in July. Because the Fourth of July holiday falls on Thursday, the usual Tuesday noon deadline is being moved back a full day to noon on Monday, July 1.

Pet owners are urged to enter their pets in the annual Pet Parade planned for Saturday, June 29. Pets of all sizes, types, and colors are welcome to take part, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

A local couple has been selected as the Shackelford County 150 King and Queen and will be presented on a float in the annual Fandangle Parade on Saturday, June 22 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the county in 1874.

Officials table agreement decision Well over half of Monday’s two-hour meeting of the Shackelford County commissioners was spent discussing the request for a tax abatement for an energy storage facility. Loyd Drain from Solvent Energy told elected officials that the company, owned by a French family, had been negotiating with two landowners just northwest of Albany for a battery-operated energy storage facility, which would be connected to the state power grid.