The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 9, 1998 Page: 1 of 14
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Choir and band notes...
/
Albany band and choir"
members are preparing
for several upcoming
contests and trips
See stories, pg. 3A
Easter week special events
Albany residents and
their guests are invited to
Maundy Thursday and
Easter sunrise services
See stories, pg. 6A
The
Runners on the right track
t HUJ> '
i i 1
. | ;. • . , i
Albany News
"Oldest Journalistic Venture West of the Brazos"
AHS athletes placed 2nd
and 3rd in last week's
track meet and are pre-
paring for district April 17
* - -
See story, pg. IB
Thursday, April 9,1998, Albany Texas 75430
14 Pages in 2 Sections
Volume Number 122 - Number 45 Price 50?
ins April 15 for local
Early voting by personal ap-
pearance in the two upcoming
local elections will begin next
Wednesday, April 15 and con-
tinue through Tuesday, April.
The actual election date for
the local races has been set for
Saturday, May 2 from 7:00 a.m.
to 7:00 p.m.
The only elections of conse-
quence this year will be in the
Albany school board and Albany
city council races. None of the
other three election districts had
enough candidates file to make
an actual election process nec-
essary.
According to changes made
aboi'i. two years ago irithe state's
election code, no election is re-
quired when candidates for the
positions are unopposed. Sen-
ate Bil} 680, entitled "Cancella-
tion of Elections" eli minated the
need for unnecessary elections,
saving taxpayers thousands of
dollars.
On the Ballots
Albany voters will head to
the polls this election period to
select three city council mem-
bers and three school board
trustees.
Positions up for election on
the Albany school board this
include Place 5 currently held
by Herb Hawkins, Place 6 held
by Prissv Harvick, and Place 7
City, school to hold elections
held by Betsy Parsons.
Incumbents Hawkins and
Parsons have both died for re-
election, and both will facechal-
lengers at the polls
Candidates for Place 5 are
Hawkins, Carl Lucas and former
AISD trustee David Schkade.
Vying for Place (i are Pam
Davis, Don Hare and Handy
Parrott. Harvick chose not to
run for re-election
On the ballot for Place 7 are
Parsons and former trustee John
Ta^e.
In the city race, Albany citi-
zens will vote to fill three expir-
ing councilmen seats currently
held by Mike Cotter, Ronnie
Kitchens and Richard Wilson.
Cotter is the only incumbent
who filed for re-election and will
face three other candidates in
the at-targe election, including
former councilman Bob Davis,
Ed Tackett and W.J. Whitt.
Other Seats
Several of the seats in the
Moran races were left unclaimed
this year, so an actual election
process will not be necessary in
the community of Moran.
Three positions are available
on the Moran ISD board of trust-
ees, with only candidate, incu m-
bent Alice Branham. James
Crow had filed for one of the
other positions, but withdrew
his candidacy when he found he
was ineligible for the seat be-
cause of his current post on the
Moran city council.
In addition to Branham's
three-year term, an unexpired
one-year term and another full
term are available.
Following the month-long fil-
ing period, only incumbents Dan
Mauldin and Steve Waller
sought election to the Moran
city council, leaving one full two-.
year position still open.
There are the same number
of candidates as available seats
on the board of directors for the
Shackelford County Hospital
District.
Those who signed up for the
two-year terms were incum-
bents John Ayers and Alma
Neese, along with Nina Jones
and Tom Hart
Wv
.
Primary runoff set next Tuesday
Today is the final day for early
voting in the Republican pri-
mary runoff. The election itself
is set for next Tuesday, April 14.
The brief early voting period
lor the three races in the runoff
actually began Monday, April 6
and will end Friday, April 9.
However, since April 9 is Good
Friday and an official holiday
for county personnel, the bal-
lots will not be available on that
day and the early voting period
will essentially end on Thurs-
day.
Early voting is taking place
at theclerk's office in the Shack-
elford County courthouse dur-
ing regular business hours, 8:30
am to 12:00 noon and 1:00 to
5:00 p.m.
The election will take place
in the Aztec Theater reception
room from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
on April 14.
All county residents who are
registered voters are eligible to
vote in the runoff unless they
cast Democratic ballots in the
March 10 primary election.
Republicahs named on the
primary runoff ballot include
John Cornyn and Barry Will-
iamson for Attorney General;
Vicki Isaacks and Mike Keasler
for Judge, Court of Criminal
Appeals, Place 1; and Cheryl
Johnson and Harvey Hudson for
Judge, Court of Criminal Ap-
peals, Place 2.
There is no Democratic fun-
off election.
Kasey Presley (I) and Robert Mallory (r), whose Paste; Week birthdays got them the
coveted job of leading the "Easter Parade," compare eggs after the preschool (lasses
finished their hunt Tuesday afternoon. Local classes will dismiss Thursday afternoon .ind
reconvene next Tuesday morning, Aprill 4. [Staff Photo I
More craft vendors needed
Discover Albany! isjusta little
over a week away and organiz-
ers are still urging local artisans
and crafters to join the fun ofthe
all-day fair.
The eventi which is sponsored
by the Chamber of Commerce, is
set for Saturday, April 18 in
downtown Albany and will fea-
ture the work of Albany resi-
dents, as well as food, drinks
and entertainment,
As of Tuesday, a total of 23
individuals or groups had signed
up for a booth, according to the
Chamber office.
"We are in pretty good shape
with food booths," said chair-
man Robert Echols, "What, we
need are more people who do
arts and crafts."
Echols stated that the event,
which replaced the? Spring Fling
last year, is designed to show-
case Albany talent.
"Anyone who has a hobby
where they make things to sell
needs to have a booth I know we
have a lot of talented people here
in town because I have seen their
work."
The cost of a booth space is
$15 and can be reserved by con-
tacting the Chamber office in
the Visitors Center, 762-2525.
Vendors will be assigned spe-
cific spaces and must register in
advance.
Echols stated that the event
is being publicized through the
area with advertising funds from
the economic development sales
tax in an effort to help local
residents develop new markets
for their products.
"Our goal is to have 40 booths
this year," said Echols. "It will
also be the same day that a lot of
people are in town for Polo on
the Prairie."
The food booths will be ganged
together at the Bank Park and
include such items as hamburg-
ers, (acos, barbecue sandwiches,
baked potatoes and pastries all
made by loca l non-profit organi-
zations or individuals.
There will also be a petting
zoo, a book sale, re-enactments
by the troops ofthe Fort Griffin
Memorial Regiment and plenty
of entertainment.
"We will have a brass band
playing at various places around
town," said Echols. "Kyle Vier-
tel is putting together a group to
come entertain us."
Performances 'are also ex-
pected from local talents such as
Marc Sanders, Lanliam Martin
and Erank Leone.
"We are just going to have
entertainers moving around the
(See I )is< over, pg. 2A)
County citizens urged to be aware of warnings
Spring is typically the time
for severe weather in Texas and
when weather warnings are is-
sued in the Shackelford County
area, local citizens must be able
to take immediate action to pro-
tect their lives and their prop-
erty. They may only have, one
chance to save themselves or a
loved one, according to informa-
tion provided by the state's Di-
vision of Emergency Manage-
ment.
Even with all the publicity
that has accompanied the oc-
currence of "El Nifto" this yeaV,
Shackelford County did not ex-
perience any severe weather
during March. However, offi-
cials warn that the storm sea-
son is far from over, and every-
one in this area needs to be alert
for all types of severp weather.
Sources of Information
The spring weather season
marks the tirrte when local resi-
dents are encouraged to pay
particular attention to the vari-
ous siren signals Used to alert
the public to warnings.
With the advancement of tele-
vised weather alerts, however,
Shackelford County Sheriff
Larry Bonner advises citizens
that their best sources of infor-
mation during severe weather
are Abilene television stations.
"We are entering the prime
time for bad weather and people
need to be aware of what's going
on -around them and watch for
alerts," he commented.
Bonner added that Doppler
radar has developed to the point
where the meteorologists can
give a warning before local
weather spotters can see a fun-
nel cloud, especially at night, v
Also, the sheriffs department
has been the "host site" for a
EMERGENCY SIREN SIGNALS
1 SH0R1 BIAS!
ire Dept. meetings
1 REGULAR BLASTS
f ire
BLAST LOR 1 MINUTE
. I lash flooding
BLAST FOR .1 MINUTER
I ornado warning
Doppler computer systemfor the
last three years, allowing law
enforcement officers to keep up
with developments in the
weather themselyes,
Since the Alden Nexrad I )op»
pier Radar System .was in
'stalled, Bonner usually keeps a
deputy in the office to monitor
the radar. That officer then com-
municates with other law en-
forcement officers and volunteer
spotters to tell them where to
find the "hot spots." They then
drive to those locations and re-
port the storm situation there.
. "It has really been helpful to
have the system here," the sher-1
iff continued. "Normally, by the
time we get a teletype or call
from NOAA to tell us about a
nearby storm, we already have
someone out there.
"The morit important way to
avoid injuries in severe weather
is to have advance notice. That's
the key," he explained. "With
.the radar system here in the
office, we can watc,h storms
building in the area and deploy
our volunteers before the
weather bureau even notifies
' us. In my opinion, that's very
beneficial."
However, the Alden system
was scheduled to be removed
March 31 by the company that
placed it here free of charge,
and the sheriff's department is
looking at alternatives.
Bonner is expecting the in-
stallation of a new system w i thi n
the next few days, to be used by
local personnel on a 30-day trial
basis. "This is an ideal time to
lest a system and see what it
will really do, and it looks as
through this program will give
us even more information than
we're used to having."
The sheriff stated that the
cost soft lie system will be stud-
ied as well, and after the trial
period, the information will be
presented to the commissioners
with a recommendation.
During actual thunder-
storms, the deputies who moni-
tor the Doppler computer sys-
tem also check any teletype bul-
letins.from NOAA and keep an
eye on the television reports.
The sheriff also said that it is
important for the public to re-
port any possible funnel clouds
to the sheriffs office by calling
911.
, He asked that citizens nut
(See Spring storms, pg. 2A)
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Lucas, Donnie A. The Albany News (Albany, Tex.), Vol. 122, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 9, 1998, newspaper, April 9, 1998; Albany, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth414585/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.