By Melinda L. Lucas

The 2021-2022 budget and a contract extension for city manager Billy Holson were the main topics of discussion at Monday’s Albany city council meeting, but no action was taken on either item.

Holson plans to present a finalized budget proposal at the March 8 session, and mayor Susan Montgomery expects Holson’s contract to be approved the same night.

Montgomery reported that new furniture and accessories were delivered last week to the new pilots lounge at the Albany airport, funded by the AVJ Foundation.

By Sandy Morris

With only one day left to file for local offices, as of press time on Tuesday, there was still a shortage of candidates for several of the local boards.

All incumbents currently serving on the Albany City Council have filed for re-election including mayor Susan Montgomery and council members Don Taggart, Austin Sherwood, and Lynsi Musselman.

Cory Brown and Kalico Leech have filed for re-election to their seats on the Albany school board.

By Sandy Morris

While many local residents are anxiously waiting for their names to be called for a COVID vaccine, others are looking for convenient places to be tested for the virus.

Shackelford County EMS supervisor Tina Ulbrich announced that the local ambulance service recently received 640 rapid tests to be administered free of charge.

“We received these tests through a special program,” said Ulbrich. “The tests are completely free, and results will be available in 15 minutes.”

Ulbrich said appointments must be made for the tests.

By Sandy Morris

After a string of warm, windy days, local residents began this week to brace themselves for a cold front bringing bone-chilling temperatures to the area.

The National Weather Service out of San Angelo predicted a week starting out with a high near 60 degrees on Monday and spiraling downward the rest of the week.

Shackelford County residents will probably experience the lowest temps of the winter this week with expected lows of near 10 degrees by the weekend. 

By Sandy Morris

Three local 4-H teams competed at the Annual Food Challenge on Wednesday, Jan. 27 in San Angelo. 

The local club took two junior teams and one intermediate team with all three teams placing in the competition.

The intermediate team members of Landon Kreitler, Connor Smith, and Rowdy New placed sixth with an appetizer dish, with Chinese wraps being the key ingredient.

By Sandy Morris

The Albany Volunteer Fire Department honored member Jeff Hill with the 2020 Firefighter of the Year merit award at the monthly meeting on Monday, Feb. 1.

According to chief Kyle Tischler, the members of the fire department nominate the individual for this award whom they believe has best met the five following qualifications:

The firefighter must not be on probation.

The firefighter must have shown to be highly active in the department through meetings and fire/emergency calls.

By Sandy Morris

Pick-up dates for the February distribution of the commodity food program will be Thursday, Feb. 4 and Friday, Feb. 5.

Certified eligible families in Moran should pick up their monthly commodity food at the Moran City Hall between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 4. 

Albany families who have been certified as eligible for the February food distribution program may pick up their food on Friday, Jan. 8, from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. at the rear door of the JP office. 

By Sandy Morris

The Big Country chapter of Fellowship of Christian Athletes hosted the second event in their annual Weekend of Champions this past Saturday, Jan. 30. 

This year, the Weekend of Champions camps were designed to be one day only with the boys’ event being held at Beltway South in Abilene. 

FCA Big Country East representative Paul Johnston said the day was equally as amazing as the girls’ event the previous weekend on Jan. 23 in Eastland.

“We had a great turnout,” said Johnston. “Lots of positives came out of this gathering.”

By Sandy Morris

Riley Israel will be the featured speaker at the upcoming high school worship night scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 10 at The Feed Store. 

Israel grew up in Americus, Georgia, and his parents and grandparents made sure he was at church every time the doors were opened.

Growing up, Israel was very involved in all sports-playing baseball, football, and basketball.  

Baseball was his first love, and his father, Renza Israel, who was a baseball coach, shared his knowledge about the sport with his son over the years. 

By Sandy Morris

The Albany High School One Act Play (OAP) has been cast, and students have been rehearsing since Jan. 11, according to director Jenny Scott.

“The play we chose this year is ‘The Love of Three Oranges,’ by Hillary DePaino,” said Scott. “The setting is a fairy-tale kingdom in the imaginary present.”

The cast and crew will be attending the yearly OAP festival in Clyde on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

District competition is scheduled for Wednesday, March 3 in Haskell at the new performing arts center.