With a new school year and athletic season just around the corner, the Albany Athletic Booster Club is launching several initiatives to build support for student-athletes and coaches.

For the first time, fans can officially become members of the Booster Club, with multiple membership levels ranging from $25 to $500. Each level offers increasing benefits like recognition in the football program, booster yard signs, decals, flags, and even T-shirts. All memberships and sponsorships apply to the 2025–2026 school year and are now available at albanyathleticboosterclub.com.

This week marks the end of an era and the beginning of a new one for The Albany News.

As I shared in the paper a few weeks ago, the printing facility in Lubbock is shutting down. The news came as a surprise, even to the team up there. The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal is moving its printing operations to Juárez, Mexico. While there was an option to move our printing there as well, it did not feel like the right fit for our paper.

Atmos Energy crews are currently at work along North Main Street as part of a system modernization project to improve the safety and reliability of Albany’s natural gas infrastructure.

Online registration for returning Albany ISD students is expected to open Thursday, July 31 (today), pending the successful rollover of the district’s registration system.

The district will continue using the Ascender Parent Portal for the registration process. Parents can access the portal through the “Parent Sources” tab on the Albany ISD website. A new “Registration Help” tab has been added to provide step-by-step instructions for completing the process.

Once the portal is live, an announcement will be posted on the district’s Facebook page.