By Melinda L. LucasAlbany High School students selected class members as royalty for the 2022 Winter Formal, including this year’s Mr. and Miss AHS. The Winter Formal is organized each year by the AHS student council, and this year’s gala was held last Saturday, Jan. 8 at the Whitney Theatre.

By Donnie A. LucasA presentation originally scheduled for today for students and the public on the use of vaping products and synthetic drugs has been postponed, according to Albany secondary principal Glen Hill.

By Sam WallerThe Albany Chamber of Commerce will conduct its annual business meeting on Feb. 4 with two board positions up for election at the Beehive.“Ramby Anderson and Clayton Snyder’s terms are up, but I feel like they will be nominated again,” Chamber manager Mary Beth Jones said.

By Donnie A. LucasThe filing period for local elections opened Wednesday for several entities such as the school board, city council and hospital board and will continue until Friday, Feb. 18.The election date set by the state for all local elections is Saturday, May 7.

By Melinda L.

By Melinda L. LucasAs is typical, property tax payments at the Shackelford County Appraisal District accelerated just before the end of the year and have continued to come in steadily, according to chief appraiser Clayton Snyder.

By Sam WallerFinal preparations for the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock show are underway with a workday scheduled for 8:00 a.m. Saturday at the show barn.The 2022 show starts with weigh-in on Thursday, Jan. 20 and runs through the sale on Saturday, Jan. 22.

By Donnie A. LucasThe number of local ­COVID-19 cases has snowballed over the last week, with test results increasing four-fold and rising.

By Sam WallerHarmony Slaughter and Arren Hawley were crowned queen of the Winter Formal as Moran High School students celebrated the end of the fall semester.The event, which was sponsored by Moran’s senior class, was held Dec. 18 at the Moran Community Center.

Hunters still have a chance to bag a trophy during special seasons on the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department calender.Youth-Only (16 and younger) and Special Late white-tailed deer seasons run through Jan. 16. A Youth-Only fall turkey season also is open through Jan. 16.