By Sandy Morris Members of the AJSH Academic Booster Club’s “Rise and Shine” committee are inviting the public to “adopt” a local teacher. “The committee has created a teacher/staff Christmas wish list event,” said Rise and Shine Committee member Heather Brown.

By Sandy Morris The 2020 Believe Tree for Teens applications have been received and have been disbursed among several local churches. Ministerial Alliance secretary Tisha Wilkins said the total number of applications submitted was down this year.

By Sandy Morris The First United Methodist Women are hosting a chili fundraiser this Sunday, Dec. 6 from 12:00 noon to 2:00 p.m. The chili fundraiser will be take-out orders only with no indoor dining allowed due to COVID-19 concerns.

By Sandy Morris The deadline to apply for a Christmas basket from the Albany Ministerial Alliance has passed, and now the process of preparing the deliveries begins.  Applications were due by Dec. 1, but county citizens can still apply.

By Melinda L. Lucas Despite ongoing coronavirus restrictions, blood is still needed, and a blood drive is scheduled to take place in Albany next Thursday afternoon, Dec. 10.

By Sandy Morris The Christmas season is typically an extremely busy time of year for the United States Postal Service, and this year already promises to be busier than previous years.

By Sandy Morris The deadline to apply for a $100 Brookshire’s gift card courtesy of the CARES Act is fast approaching.

By Melinda L.

By Sandy Morris After much discussion and research, Albany city officials have finalized plans to use the remaining funds of the CARES Act allocation, with $100 grocery gift cards to be distributed to local residents and city employees on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Republic Services, Albany’s trash pickup contractor, will run on a slightly different schedule for the week of Thanksgiving. Residential trash containers and business and industrial containers normally picked up on Thursday will change to Friday this week.