The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 134, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 17, 2009 Page: 1 of 20
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Schedule scramble
Delivery time for the
Christmas Baskets was
shifted to today to side-
step Saturday's game.
See story, pg. 8A
SOW THUS It
m m&
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mm
ALBANY vs CAYUGA
Saturday, Dec. 19
Vernon NewsoM Stadium • 3 pm
Mansfield, Texas
For all the marbles
With five playoff wins in
hand, the Albany Lions
will play for the state
title against Cayuga.
See story, pg. IB
The Albany News
Oldest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos "
www.thealbanynews.net
Thursday, December 17, 2009, Albany, Texas 76430
20 Paces in 2 Sections Volume Number 134 Number 30 Price 75c
Deadline
for News
set Friday
Readers are reminded
that early deadlines have
been set for the papers
of December 24 and De-
cember 31, as the staff of
The Albany News works
around the Christmas and
New Year's holidays.
According to News edi-
tor Melinda Lucas, the
deadline for the December
24 issue has been moved up
by several days to Friday,
December 18 at 5:00 p.m.
Typically, the deadline is
at 5:00 p.m. on Mondays for
display ads and 12:00 noon
on Tuesdays for editorial
content and classified ads.
"With Christmas falling
on Friday this year, we
can't observe our usual
deadlines because we'll
need to get the out-of-town
papers to the post office in
time to be mailed prior to
the holidays," said Lucas.
The Christmas paper
will be available on news
stands Wednesday night
and will be in post office
boxes Thursday morning.
The Albany News office
will be closed to the public
on Christmas Eve through
Friday, December 24-25.
The deadline for the
New Year's holiday has
been set at 12:00 noon on
Monday, December 28. The
office, will be closed that
week on January 1.
Trash pickup
to be adjusted
for holidays
Allied Waste, trash pick-
up contractor for the City
of Albany, announced a
holiday schedule change for
the week of Christmas.
Residential poly carts
normally picked up on
Tuesday will be collected
Monday, December 21 and
the usual Friday collec-
tions will be Wednesday,
December 23. •
Metal dumpsters will
still be picked up on Mon-
day, December 21 and
Thursday, December 24,
according to Cindy New,
city employee.
The trash roll off con-
tainers will be available
December 17 and Decem-
ber 31, but there will be
no roll off on Thursday,
December 24.
r Week
December 8-14
DATE LOW HIGH PREC.
12-8 19 62 .09
12-9 15 36
12-10 27 40
12-11 39 49
12-12 42 60
12-13 48 75
12-14 24 70
December total 0.64
Year-to-date-total 21.57
Tax office deficit discovered
♦ $7,073 shortage
found during audit
By Melinda L. Lucas
An internal investigation
of a $7,073 shortage in cash
deposits from the Shackelford
County Central Tax Office
(CTO) was turned over to the
Texas Rangers several weeks
ago and was reported to the
CTO's participating entities
in a certified letter mailed
December 8, according to Chief
Appraiser Teresa Peacock.
She stopped short of linking
a recent employee termination
with the ongoing investiga-
tion.
The deficit was first noted
when CPA Cameron Gulley
conducted the annual audit for
the Albany ISD, for which the
fiscal year ended August 31.
Gulley, who also performs
yearly audits for the Central
Tax Office, notified Peacock
in late October that there ap-
peared to be cash discrepan-
cies.
After being assured by the
company that provides soft-
ware for the tax office that a
"glitch" could not have resulted
in this type of inconsistency,
Peacock and assistant apprais-
er Kim George began searching
through the daily, weekly and
monthly reports.
"We found that a number
of bank deposits differed from
the totals on the batch reports,"
said Peacock, starting in late
January 2009 and continuing
through July.
The discrepancies appeared
to stop in August when Peacock
developed a spreadsheet for
employees to use in reconciling
their reports.
Next Steps
Peacock then contacted CTO
board member Don Koch, who is
the City of Albany's representa-
tive on the tax office's board of
directors.
"I called Don because it
seemed to be the same kind
of problem the city has dealt
with, so I thought he could tell
me what the next step should
be," said Peacock.
County Attorney Colton
Johnson was notified and
then the District Attorney's
office, followed by the Texas
Rangers.
Other CTO board members
learned of the problem after
that and have had a couple of
special sessions in addition to
a regular quarterly meeting in
November.
Peacock also said that Gul-
ley has completed an internal
audit, and along with a letter
from CTO board chairman,
Betsy Parsons, a copy of the
audit was mailed to entities
that contract for the Central
Tax Office's services, including
the Albany ISD, Shackelford
County, Moran ISD, City of
Albany, Shackelford County
Hospital District, City of Mo-
ran, Clyde ISD and Lueders-
Avoca ISD.
Albany ISD trustees were
made aware of the shortfall at
(See Tax office, pg. 10A)
STATE BOUND
Boosters plan activities
for state playoff week
# DoNNif Lucas / Ai bany Ntws
With one hand on the semifinal trophy, junior Armando Salazar (r) gets an
emotional hug from big brother Francisco Salazar following the Albany's
28-14 victory over Stratford last Friday. Many Lion fans plan to be at New-
som Stadium in Mansfield this Saturday as the Lions try for their first state
title since the back-to-back championship teams of 1960 and 1961.
SCHOOL BOARD
By Kathryn Stapp
The Albany Lions are
one of only two Class A
Division II football teams
left standing in the 2009
playoffs.
The Lions will challenge
the Cayuga Wildcats in the
state championship game
this Saturday afternoon,
traveling to Mansfield
and the Vernon Newsom
Stadium for a 3:00 p.m.
kickoff.
Fan Bus Tickets
First National Bank
is again sponsoring a 57
seat fan bus to the game,
with tickets sellingfor $20.
The seats will be sold on a
first paid basis and may be
purchased from Ramona
Reames or Paige Adair at
the bank.
The bus will depart from
the Albany Visitors Center
(Depot) at 11:00 a.m. on
Saturday. Estimated ar-
rival back in Albany after
the game is at 10:30 p.m.
Planned Activities
The regular pep rally
will get underway at 9:30
a.m. on Friday in the
AHS gym. School will be
dismissed at 12:00 noon
on Friday.
Several additional ac-
tivities have been planned
this week by the AHS
cheerleaders and the Al-
bany Athletic Booster
Club, with a Friday night
community pep rally kick-
ing off the schedule of
events.
Parents and other
boosters are asked to meet
at 5:00 p.m. on Friday to
decorate the team bus.
All parents, students
and other fans are urged
to gather at the Bank Park
at 7:45 p.m. on Friday for
the rally, which will begin
the weekly beating of the
playoff drum.
Anyone who would like
to sign up to beat the drum
is asked to contact Jennifer
Corbin at (325) 762-3974
or Susan Montgomery
at (325) 762-3655. The
beating of the drum is a
playoff tradition that will
continue throughout the
(See Playoff, pg. 10A)
Trustees consult with attorney
♦ Officers elected
for Foundation
By Melinda L. Lucas
Albany ISD trustees con-
sulted by phone with the
district's attorney in an hour-
long closed session Monday
morning concerning a recently
discovered deficit in funds at
the Shackelford County Central
Tax Office.
The school board met at 7:30
a.m. December 14 prior to the
Christmas break rather than at
thfeir usual third Monday time.
Following the regular meet-
ing, trustees convened for the
first session of the recently
established Albany ISD Educa-
tion Foundation Inc.
Tax Office Deficit
A letter was distributed
to board members in the last
agenda item of the regular
meeting, explaining a discovery
at the Central Tax Office of a
$7,073 cash shortage.
The board then closed the
meeting to the public for a
telephone consultation with an
attorney regardingthe trustees'
potential liability in any pos-
sible legal action.
"Our attorney was satisfied
with the action of the CAD
board and no action was taken
after the executive session,"
said AISD superintendent
Shane Fields.
More information about the
tax office shortage is available
in a separate article in this
issue.
Foundation Meeting
AISD trustees, who are
also the board members of the
district's new nonprofit Foun-
dation, reviewed the by-laws
and elected officers after con-
vening around 9:51 a.m.
Betsy Parsons was named as
chair, with Pam Davis elected
secretary and Clint Bumguard-
ner treasurer.
The primary purpose of the
corporation is to "solicit, collect
and provide additional financial
resources to faculty, staff and
students of the Albany ISD in
order to support and enhance
educational programs and op-
portunities."
The Foundation can ac-
cept private funding. Fields
explained.
In addition, the corporation
has issued an invoice to Hack-
berry Wind for $970,694 that
will be paid to the Foundation
as the result of an- agreement
(See School, pg. 10A)
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Lucas, Melinda L. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 134, No. 30, Ed. 1 Thursday, December 17, 2009, newspaper, December 17, 2009; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth393571/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.