By Donnie A. Lucas

Albany runners will compete in the first cross country meet of the season on Tuesday, Sept. 3 in Eula.

Several junior high and high school runners will participate in the event, starting with the seventh grade girls at 4:00 p.m. and the eighth grade girls at 4:20 p.m. The junior high boys will take their place at the starting line at 4:40 p.m., followed by the varsity boys at 5:50 p.m.

There are not any local high school girls attending the meet due to conflicts with volleyball games.

Season tickets are now on sale at the Albany High School principal’s office for the 2019 football season, featuring stadium seating at Nail Stadium.

The Lions are hosting six home varsity games this year, starting with a Sept. 6 non-district matchup against Dublin.

Because there are six home games this year, reserved season tickets cost $30 ($5 per game) for adults and $12 for students, according to ticket coordinator Ann Riley. 

The seats are not discounted from the regular gate price, but ensure Lion fans of reserved seating at varsity games.

A couple of special projects are in the works to honor Albany football coach Denney Faith, including the dedication of “Faith Field” at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium at 7:15 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6 prior to the first varsity home game.

More details will be available next week.

In preparation for Faith’s 300th win as head coach for the Albany Lions, members of the Athletic Booster Club are working to put together a video of well wishes and congratulations from past players, coaches, and fans.

Videos should be emailed as soon as possible to khill@albany.esc14.net.

By Melinda L. Lucas

With just one week since the public disclosure of Texas school districts’ accountability performance, Albany ISD administrators and staff have already knuckled down and formulated plans to improve the local ratings – dissecting the reports and breaking down the subgroups so they can see exactly where to dig in.

The ratings rolled out last Wednesday, and although AISD’s overall score was an acceptable B, Albany educators are not happy with the D attached to the elementary campus. 

By Kathy Thomson

The “Albany Home of the Hereford” sign and three people selected as “Lights of Albany” will all be honored at the Albany Chamber of Commerce’s bi-annual party Friday night, Aug. 23 at the Aztec Theater.

Chamber manager Mary Beth Jones said that several nominees for “Lights of Albany” have been submitted.

“We’ve had quite a few nominations, probably 15 to 20,” Jones said. “Some of those were nominated more than once. Most likely the winners will be selected from those that were nominated multiple times.”

By Kathy Thomson

With a significant impact expected in state funding, Albany Independent School District enrollment totals for the beginning of the new school year are now sitting at 525, 39 more than last August and 14 more than at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.

Several students have registered in the days since classes began last week, but as of press time Tuesday, the official enrollment numbers were 283 at Nancy Smith Elementary School, 87 at the junior high, and 152 at Albany High, for a total of 522.

First Day Count

By Kathy Thomson

Board members of the Albany Chest will meet to organize the 2019 fundraising drive, nominate and elect new directors, and choose officers for the coming year during a 5:15 p.m. meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at The Feed Store.

According to board chair Amy Kelly, four of the current directors will be completing their current term, and positions held by Donnie Lucas, Cllnt Chapman, Austin Sherwood, and Keri Hebel will be up for election this year.  

By Melinda L. Lucas

Proposed budget totals for the Shackelford County Hospital District for 2020 decreased about $50,000 for the upcoming year, primarily due to the fact that $150,000 was included in the current budget for the purchase of a new ambulance, which will be delivered in the near future.

The hospital board worked on budgets for both the district and the clinic at a regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 19, eventually ending with expenditures of $2,918,930 based on the effective tax rate of 18.81 cents, which was also proposed during the evening.

By Melinda L. Lucas

During their regular meeting on Monday, Aug. 19, school board trustees learned details about the Albany ISD’s “B” grade in the state’s accountability ratings, and reviewed some of the plans to make improvements during the upcoming year.

Details about the accountability numbers are included in a page one article in this week’s issue.

The board also looked over the second draft of the proposed budget and made plans to act on the numbers at a special evening meeting on Aug. 29.

Community 

Recognition

ResourceCare’s second annual Carefest fundraiser is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 7 at the Happy Wife Happy Life venue just outside of Albany, and those who want to enjoy some of the special ticket options may be running out of time to purchase their selections.

“Ticket sales are going really well,” said program assistant Ragan Riley. “We are close to selling out on the VIP tickets, preferred seating, and the canopy spaces. But we still have sponsorships available.”