By Kathy Thomson Recently the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) branch of the U.S.

By Lynsi Musselman Earth Day is April 22, and will present a great opportunity to do something close to home. Planting milkweed and other native grasses can help promote the migration pattern and save the Monarch butterfly. In 1995, the iconic Monarch became the state insect of Texas.

By Kathy Thomson The Fort Griffin General Merchandise & Beehive Saloon was featured on the Texas Bucket List TV program, shown across Texas and also in Nevada, North Carolina, and Tennessee last weekend. The Texas Bucket List is aired in Abilene on KTXS ABC on Saturdays at 5:00 p.m.

By Kathy Thomson The community of Moran, along with towns across the state, throughout the nation, and around the world, is adjusting to the impacts of maintaining social distancing while going on with everyday life as much as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.

By Melinda L. Lucas After a week of working to abide by a shelter-in-place order, Shackelford County residents were among the 73 Texas counties that didn’t have a confirmed case of COVID-19 as of press time.

By Kathy Thomson Five trustees of the Moran Independent School District board met at called meeting in the school auditorium last Friday, April 10, to consider accepting a tax deferment proposal by a windmill company which intends to start a project south of Moran.

By Melinda L. Lucas In a meeting where discussions ranged from COVID-19 practices to trash roll-offs, Albany city council members sat six feet apart at their temporary meeting place in the larger conference area at the Aztec Theater’s reception room, most wearing face masks.

By Melinda L. Lucas Shackelford County commissioners worked through a typical agenda during their regular meeting on Monday, April 13, most of which had little or nothing to do with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

By Kathy Thomson Throughout Texas and most of the nation, only businesses considered essential are allowed to be open, and even those must abide by social distancing rules, causing many stores in Albany to be locked for the duration of the shelter in place order.

By Kathy Thomson The Shackelford County hospital district board of directors met for a short seven-minute phone conference at noon on Monday, April 6, with one item on the agenda at the special meeting. “The state sent us an email advising us that we had to postpone the May 2 election until Nov.