The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 2006 Page: 1 of 10
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Coming soon
Fundraising is moving into high gear for the
upcoming Shackelford County Youth and
Livestock Show, scheduled to start in just
three weeks on Jan. 26.
See story, pg. 3
v
* M
Back in action
Albany High School basketball teams were all
back in action this week as the Lions and Lady
Lions hosted Hawley in preparation for the
start of the district schedule on Friday.
See story, pg. 6
The
Albany News
"Oldest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos"
Thursday, January 5, 2006, Albany, Texas 76430
10 Pages in 1 Section
Volume Number 130 Number 32 Price 75<t
5 more candidates file before deadline
JP only contested
race in primaries
Five names were added to the
2006 primary election ballots
before the filing period ended on
Monday, January 2.
As expected, the two incum-
bent county commissioners filed
for reelection last week on the
Democratic ticket. Precinct 2
County Commissioner Greg
Simpson and Stan West from
Precinct 4 will both be unop-
posed in the March primary, al-
though Simpson will face an
opponent in the general election
later in the year.
Larry J. Cauble Jr. filed as a
Republican on Monday morning
for the Precinct 2 post. The two
candidates will not be on the
same ballot until November.
Also filing during the last few
days before the deadline was
Tinker Cauble, who turned in
her petition Friday afternoon as
a Republican candidate for the
Justice of the Peace office being
vacated by Judy Wood.
James Breeden and Belinda
Perez are both vying for the JP
position in the Democratic pri-
mary. The winner will face
Tinker Cauble in the November
election.
The fifth candidate was Sam
Conway, who put his name on
the primary ballot for Demo-
cratic County Chairman.
Both primaries are set for
Tuesday, March 7. The early
voting period is February 21
through March 3.
Other Candidates
The other four candidates for
county and district offices will
not face any opposition in the
Democratic Primary or the gen-
eral election in November.
Those who submitted appli-
cations earlier in the filing pe-
riod were District Judge Brooks
Hagler of Anson, along with
Shackelford County Judge Ross
Montgomery, County and Dis-
trict Clerk Cheri Hawkins and
Shackelford County Treasurer
Sherry Enloe.
Voter Registration
Qualified county residents
have one month to register for
the March primary, if they are
not already registered to vote.
The deadline to register or to
change precincts within the
county is Monday,'February 6.
Local voter registrar Gayala
Askew stated this week that new
voter registration cards were
mailed several weeks ago. Any
corrections on the cards should
be addressed as soon as possible
in order to be completed before
the deadline.
Corrections should be made
in the appropriate blanks on the
back of the cards, then mailed or
taken back to the tax office on
the first floor of the Courthouse.
The corrections have to be in
Askew's office or postmarked by
(See Primary elections, pg. 2)
Sheryl Spore / Albany News
Republican Chair Cayle Mikeska and County Clerk Cheri
Hawkins (r) finalize the paperwork that officially lists Tinker
Cauble (I) as a candidate for the office of Justice of the Peace.
T
County fire conditions
con
Officials ask citizens to use extreme caution
Alan Sherman,
one of several
RFD volunteers
who spend
countless hours
at the fire barn
working on old
equipment.
Sheryl Spore / Albany News
a light bar
operating on
one of the
trucks.
With several large wild-
fires in the Big Country area,
including two that claimed
multiple structures and two
lives in Callahan and
Eastland counties, local offi-
cials are concerned about
equally dry conditions in
Shackelford County.
"There are some definite
risks and I see no quick way of
reducing those risks," com-
mented Albany City Manager
Bobby Russell. "We have lots
of tall, very dry vegetation,
and even when it starts get-
ting green in the spring, there
will still be tall, dry vegeta-
tion mixed in. So we've got
problems for several months."
Tom Hart, Shackelford
County's Emergency Manage-
ment Coordinator, voiced a
few worries of his own. "One
of my biggest concerns is not
having enough bulldozers
available for fighting fires.
That's been a problem for a
long time."
Hart is also uneasy about
the Rose Addition area in the
event of a fire-carrying south-
west wind. 'Those wooden
fences up against that hill
could just act as a wick. Fd
really hate to see a fire come
over One-Mile Hill."
County Sheriff Richard Wag-
man agreed. "The rest of town is
protected a little by the highway
and the creek, although winds
as high as we've had lately will
carry sparks over just about
anything." c
All local officials are urging
county residents to "please,
please be careful" as long as
windy, dry conditions persist.
An outdoor burn ban contin-
ues in Shackelford County and
mo6t other Big Country coun-
ties, which means that there
should be absolutely no open
fires of any kind. "No trash, no
brush, no leaves, nothing,"
state<yW*gman. "It can get away
from you before you can do any-
thing about it, so just don't do
it!"
County officials recently en-
acted consequences for disobey-
ing the county-wide burn ban,
including fines up to $500. The
first ticket for outdoor burning
was given during the last week
in December and Wagman an-
ticipates that more will be given
over the next few weeks. 'There
(See Fire danger, pg. 2)
Smekyl Spore / Albany News
Fire Chief Brad Henry tightens a connection on one of the rural fire depart-
ment trucks as he and other volunteers get the vehicles in running order.
Year ends with below-average rainfall
As predicted, the year
ended with below-average
rainfall totals in Shackel-
ford County and the Big
Country area, with tempera-
tures taking a roller coaster
ride in recent weeks.
Although the 2005 pre-
cipitation does not seem
drastically low at 21.20
inches, there were tfnly two
months during the 12-
month period in which rain-
fall was significantly above
average, while six months
showed below-average fig-
ures. The remaining four
months were close to the
average amounts.
The totals for 2005 were
also considerably less than
the previous year, when
39.60 inches were recorded.
Precipitation records in
Albany have been kept since
1896, with the yearly rain-
fall 6ver the 110 year period
averaging 26.68 inches.
Disappointing Rainfall
The year 2005 was fairly
promising at the beginning,
with at least average pre-
cipitation recorded during
the first three months.
Levels dropped to nothing
in April, which is typically
considered a relatively moist
month with an average of
almost three inches. May and
June were below the norm,
but not devastatingly so.
Then, almost half of the
rainfall for the entire year
fell in July and August,
months that in West Texas
are known for their precipi-
2005
MONTHLY TOTALS
2005 TOTAL
AVC.
JANUARY
1.22
1.12
FEBRUARY
1.61
1.41
MARCH
1.45
1.58
APRIL
.00
2.59
MAY
2.72
3.89
JUNE
1.44
2.93
JULY
5.86
2.24
AUGUST
4.77
2.44
SEPTEMBER
.00
2.83
OCTOBER
2.11
2.69
NOVEMBER
.00
1.57
DECEMBER
.02
1.37
TOTALS
21.20
26.68
tation totals.
Hopeful expectations of
area landowners dried up as
totals came up way below
average for the last four
months of the year. In spite
of a few rainy days in Octo-
ber, the remainder of 2005
passed with dry, windy and
dusty days all across the
area.
There was no measurable
rainfall in either September
or November, and only .02-
inch in December.
U npredictableTemperatures
The year 2005 began with
a balmy New Year's Day,
with a reading of 72 degrees.
This week has exceeded that,
however, with a record high
of 89 degrees on Tuesday
and 81 on New Year's Day.
The last freeze of the sea-
son was March 27, when tem-
perature rocketed from 30
degrees that night to a high
of near 80 the next afternoon
and back to 33 degrees a few
hours later.
Following a mild spring
and early summer, the 2005
thermometer didn't hit the
century mark until June 30,
registering 100 degrees. Al-
though there were a few 100-
plus days, July and August
were relatively moderate for
West Texas, tempered by the
above-average rainfall. Daily
highs were mostly in the mid
80s to mid 90s.
Then both the precipita-
tion and mild temperatures
(See Weather, pg. 2)
■ PROPERTY TAXES
Collections hit
41 % by year-end
End-of-year property tax collections in Shack-
elford County were almost exactly the same as the
amount received by the end of 2004, but still
higher than most previous years, as almost 41
percent of the total levy was taken in at the central
tax office by the end of the year.
Chief Appraiser Teresa Peacock reported that
$1,883,355 had been collected to date, translating
into 40.75 percent of the 2005 total tax levy of
$4,621,838. That figure includes mailed payments
received with an acceptable postmark of Decem-
ber 31 or before, which Peacock expects to con-
tinue receiving through the end of the week.
Historically, less than 40 percent of the total
levy is collected by year-end, although that has
changed over the past five years. Last year, year-
end figures totaled 40.82. The previous year, col-
lections added up to 40.66 percent and in 2002,
they amounted to 40.56 percent. However, at the
end of 2001, close to 50 percent of the total tax levy
had already come in. At the end of 2000, the office
had collected 37.79 percent of the total levy, and
the previous year, year-end collections totaled
36.96 percent.
The staff of the tax office stayed busy, as usual,
during the final few days of the year, recording
more than one-third of the total collections so far
during a four-day period from December 28 until
Tuesday, January 3. Because the last day of the
year occurred on a weekend and the office was
closed on Moffday, January 2, year-end payments
> were accepted through Tuesday.
Since reported at the end of the day on Decem-
ber 27, a total of $725,709 in taxes has been
received by the office.
Payment Deadline
Although many taxpayers prefer to pay by
year's end for income tax purposes, many others
wait until January 31 since the taxes do not
become overdue until after that time.
Terms for payment can be negotiated for tax-
payers unable to pay the entire amount by Janu-
ary 31, but over the past several years, the central
tax office has become more aggressive in the
collection of delinquent accounts.
Collections by Entity
As of Tuesday, 46.49 percent of all current
taxes, or $140,508, had been collected for the City
of Albany, as compared with 42.67 percent at the
end of 2004. The city's levy is $801,906.
Collections for the Shackelford County Hospi-
tal District and Shackelford County both stood at
41.56 percent - $209,881 for the hospital and
$502,932 for the county- about a percentage point
below the 42.55 percent collected by year's end in
2004. The hospital district's total levy is $504,765,
while the county stands to collect $1,209,459.
Albany ISD's collections as of Tuesday totaled
$848,360 of the $2,112,705 levy, at 40.10 percent.
Last year, the local school district had collected
40.05 percent of its levy.
The City of Moran had received tax revenues of
41.39 percent, or $5,367, several points above the
39.04 percent collected by the same time'last year.
The 2005 levy for the City of Moran is $13,010.
The Moran school district had brought in
$176,307, or 36.62 percent of its total levy of
$479,993, almost the same as last year, when
collections stood at 36.55 percent for the same
time period.
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Lucas, Melinda L. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 32, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 5, 2006, newspaper, January 5, 2006; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth413191/m1/1/?q=j+w+gardner: accessed June 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The Old Jail Art Center.