Moran mayor Steve Taggart, city councilman Tyler George, and new employee Kristin Bishop took a Nitrification Action Plan class on Mach 6.

Texas Rural Water Association instructor Quintin Turner presented material that included where to test for nitrification in a water system, what measures to take to decrease the likelihood of nitrification, and what to do if it develops.

“Moran purchases from Fort Griffin, who does all the treating,” said Taggart. “But Moran does have a licensed water works employee that monitors it.”

Moran ISD is closed this week, March 11-15 for spring break, with classes resuming at the usual time on Monday, March 18.

The final school holidays of the year will be for Easter weekend on March 19 and 22, and Memorial Day weekend on May 24 and 27. 

School will release at 12:30 p.m. the last two days of the semester, May 30 and 31. 

High school graduation will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, May 31. 

A blood drive is scheduled to take place in Albany this afternoon, March 14, and Hendrick Regional Blood Center (formerly Meek Blood Center) will park its bloodmobile at First Baptist Church from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. 

Blood drives in Albany have been sponsored by the Kiwanis Club for over 20 years.

Randall Palmore started playing the steel guitar almost 30 years ago and the acoustic guitar a decade or so before that, and this spring his musical skills are being acknowledged by his peers, who have selected him to be inducted into the Cowtown Society of Western Music’s “Heroes of Western Swing” at the non-profit’s 21st Annual Western Swing Fest on May 4.

Financial figures for both the upcoming year and last year were significant topics during the Albany city council’s meeting on Monday, when a $3.29 million budget was adopted for fiscal year 2019-2020, and the audit was approved for 2017-2018.

City manager Billy Holson told council members that he had trimmed the $275,000 deficit discussed during a budget workshop to about $126,000.

“I cut some things I didn’t really want to cut, but at the same time, I didn’t feel like realistically we could get to it,” said Holson. “We just don’t have the manpower.”

“Leo” the Southern Ocean Carbon and Climate Observations and Modeling (SOCCOM) float adopted by Albany Junior and Senior High School last year has resumed sending data after being trapped beneath ice in the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean for several months.

SOCCOM is a multi-institutional study designed to try and unlock the mysteries of the Antarctic Ocean and its influence on climate. One of the ways the group is collecting data is through the use of oceanic floats that are launched into the Southern Ocean to collect and send back data.

Albany ISD students, faculty, and staff are scheduled to dismiss for the spring break holiday at noon on Friday, March 8.

Prior to the break, cheerleader try-outs will be held Friday morning, with the sixth graders bused over to the Albany High School gym for the competition.

Pre-kindergarten, Head Start, and kindergarten will be released at 11:30 a.m., with all other students leaving at noon. 

Spring break will take place March 11-15. 

Classes will resume at the normal time on Monday, March 18.

T-shirts, sweatshirts, and coffee cups, all sporting the Fellowship of Christian Athletes logo, are available in a wide assortment of colors from FCA Big Country East area representative Paul Johnston.

“I’m selling the stuff to get kids to camp,” said Johnston. “Money made from the fundraiser will be used to send Big Country East kids to an FCA camp that will be held at Hardin Simmons University on June 17-21.”

The $30 coffee cups are RTIC brand, stainless steel, double wall vacuum insulated, 20 ounce tumblers. 

Thomas Aly, CEO and founder of Live Missions and former Albany First Baptist Church youth minister, has once again organized a spring break mission trip to Uganda, and six local residents are among the group traveling to Africa.

“We have 21 people on our trip and will be leaving out today,” Aly said on Tuesday. “We will be doing door-to-door evangelism with Pastor Deo and his church in Namayumba, Uganda. We are not doing a specific project this trip but will be involved in street evangelism the entire time.”

Even though the mercury dipped down into the mid-teens for several days earlier this week, county residents were not reporting any serious problems associated with weather as of press time.

The official low temperature in Albany on Sunday night was 17 degrees, but a north wind made it feel even more frigid.

The National Weather Service posted that the wind chill in Albany at 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning was 7°F, and soon thereafter KTAB News reported that the “feels-like temperature” in Albany had dropped even lower, to four degrees.