By Kathy Thomson The city of Albany will receive a sales tax allotment of $30,781 from the state this April. The amount is down 8.29 percent from the $33,565 payment received in April of 2019. Payments to date for the 2020 year to the city of Albany are $158,000, down by 23.

By Donnie A. Lucas Albany students and parents should receive report cards for the fifth six-weeks starting today for the junior/senior high campus and on Friday for elementary students.

By Kathy Thomson Representatives of local organizations and boards that award scholarships to Albany High School graduates are asked to contact administrative assistant Ann Riley or principal Edward Morales at the AHS office by next Wednesday, April 22, to pick up student application packets.

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.