By Melinda L. Lucas

After holding the required hearings for the proposed budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year and then for the proposed tax rate for 2024,  Shackelford County commissioners voted unanimously during a meeting on Thursday, Sept. 7 to adopt both.

The $4,955,169 budget that had been proposed and filed on Aug. 14, as required by law, had been refined since that time, and the amount that ended up being adopted last week was actually $4,713,006, almost $250,000 less.

By Melinda L. Lucas

After working through line items for all four divisions of the Shackelford County Hospital District in a special session on Wednesday, Sept. 6, board members ended up with a proposed budget based on the “voter approval” tax rate of 19.55 cents.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Albany city council members voted during the regular monthly meeting time on Monday, Sept. 11 to adopt the tax rate that had been proposed on Aug. 21.

Council members also decided, after a short closed session, to give city manager Billy Holson a raise.

Tax Rate

In a special meeting on Aug. 21, the council had proposed a “No New Revenue” (NNR) rate of 56.39 cents.

By Sam Waller

Albany’s Bradee Stautzenberger had a big weekend at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo.

Albany FFA students stayed busy in the fair’s second week, exhibiting livestock projects and competing in judging contests.

Stautzenberger caught a calf in the calf scramble to finish seventh. She earned $700 to put toward the purchase of an animal for next year’s fair.

In the show ring, Alli McDaniel placed fourth and Chase McDaniel was seventh in Full Blood Boer Goats.

In the ORB Heifers, Stautzenberger was fifth and Myleigh Leveridge was sixth.

By Sam Waller

Three Shackelford County 4-H members received awards for their entries in the Fine Arts Division at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo in Abilene.

Carley Kreitler took three first places and a second with her projects. She was first in junior pillow with a jack-o’-lantern reading pillow, junior holiday with a monster decoration, and junior household sewn accessory with a hanging dish towel. She took second in junior clay with gnomes.

By Donnie A. Lucas

ResourceCare is hosting the 4th annual food drive contest for the Albany and Cross Plains locations, with a Chick-Fil-A lunch on the line for the winning class in both towns.

The contest will continue through Monday, Oct. 9, with students competing by grade level at both schools.

The school that collects the highest number of non-perishable foods will be declared the overall winner, with the top class at both schools with the highest number of donations treated to the special lunch.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Students who are needing extra help can attend one of three after-school programs  offered at Nancy Smith Elementary and the Albany Jr./Sr. High campus.

All students in grades 7-12 can attend Lion Academy on Tuesday through Thursday this year, while fifth and sixth graders can stay after school on Monday through Thursday for Cub Academy.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Open registration for GED classes continues weekly on Monday and Tuesday nights at the Shackelford County Library, according to local instructor Kenzie Fairchild.

Classes started Monday with three students enrolling; however, students are free to begin the program at any point.

Weekly classes are held on Monday and Tuesday each week from 5:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. and will follow the Albany ISD holiday calendar.

By Donnie A. Lucas

It was a banner year at the 37th annual First Impressions pig sale benefiting the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association on Sunday, including the largest number of pigs sold, most buyers, and the highest gross sales.

According to organizer Mike Parsons, a total of 128 head was sold, amounting to $132,700 in sales.

The highest selling individual didn’t set a record but was still a big number at $9,600. That record was set last year with a price of $20,000 paid for the grand champion boar pig. In 2021 the top pig sold for $5,000.

By Sam Waller

A total of 18 participants took part in the Albany Chamber of Commerce’s community garage sale Saturday, Sept. 9.

Chamber manager Brandi Lehew said the event went well.

“I reprinted maps a couple of times Saturday morning,” Lehew said. “It was very busy. I drove around and looked at the sales, and there were a lot of cars at the sale locations.”

Lehew, who organized the event for the first time, said she foresees no changes to the format moving forward.