Dennis Ray Hawley, age 74, of Moran, Texas, passed away on Saturday, December 27, 2025. A celebration of Life will be held at Moran Community Center.

Dennis was born in Knox City, TX, to 0.C. and Joyce Caldwell Hawley on November 11, 1951. He was an OTR truck driver and worked for Bob Green as a Dozer operator for 15 years.

Dennis was preceded in death by both parents, brothers, Cecil, Geronimo, and Chub, and sisters, Madelene and Esta Rae, son, Dennis Ray “Piney” Hawley Jr.

Jack Hopkins, 73 of Albany, passed away Tuesday, January 6, 2026. A memorial service was held at 11am, Saturday, January 10th at the Albany Cemetery Pavilion. Cremation arrangements have been entrusted to Morehart Mortuary.

The 2025-2026 general deer season officially closed Sunday, January 4, and local game warden Jake Mort says Shackelford County hunters wrapped up an above-average year in both numbers and quality.

“Across the board, I think it was an above-average season,” Mort said. “The quality of whitetails that were taken across the county were up. Not like we saw three or four years ago, but still much better than average.”

The Albany Mainstreet Playhouse will bring back a familiar favorite next month with its production of God’s Favorite, a comedy by Neil Simon inspired by the biblical story of Job, with performances scheduled for February 6, 7 and 8.

This marks the second Neil Simon production for AMP in less than a year, following last winter’s presentation of Rumors. The play was last staged locally in 2010 and was well received, prompting director Lorna Ayers to bring it back more than 16 years later with a largely new cast.