VIEW ONLINE • PLACE YOUR AD ONLINE • www.ThriftyNickelofAbilene.com
VOLUME 45 • ISSUE 9 • FEBRUARY 27, 2025 (2/27/25 - 3/5/25)
Special:
METAL SHEDS & CARPORTS!
BUY SELL TRADE
Custom Built Metal & Wood Buildings, Garages, and More. No Credit Check!
NEW Pokemon, Comics and Sports Cards!
275/week + tax
$
7nights 1st floor room only
Call Today! 325-669-9511
LAYAWAY AVAILABLE
Abilene Owned & Operated
www.RicksCollectibles.online
3532 NORTH 6TH ST. 325-704-3130
Open Thursday, Friday & Saturday 12-6
Subject to Availability
FREE High Speed WiFi • FREE Microwave in Room • Pet Friendly (Pet Fee Applicable) • FREE Fridge in Room FREE Truck Parking
6217 South 1st • Abilene, TX 79605 Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm www.buildingmastersstructures.com
THE MALL OF ABILENE 325-695-3700
2nd floor room only
EconoLodge Inn & Suites
Low payment financing available • FREE Delivery and Builds
840 East Hwy 80 • ABILENE 79601
CALL 325-677-8100
BE A PART OF THE #GARAGESALEGUIDE www.ThriftyNickelofAbilene.com/garagesaleguide (updated every Thursday & Friday)
• Alloy • Magnesium • Aluminum • Steel
“Honesty Is The Best Policy” 23 Yrs Experience, Call for FREE Estimates. FREE Mulch/Wood Chips!
Victor Hernandez 325-518-8031
65 wit $
SONNY JONES WELDING 1902 N Treadaway • 325-672-1731 FARM FRESH PASTURE raised Eggs $5.00 a dozen. Call 361-8168176. Can pick up in Eastland, Tx.
WARRIOR WEDNESDAY at Curbside Cuts – Discounted Haircuts for Active Military & Veterans every Wednesday! 3291 S. 14th St, 325-795-6731 1998 INTERNATIONAL w/Belly Dump Trailer, Asking $18,500 / Strong C12 Cat Engine. Too much to list. Call or 817320-7428 TABLES, CHAIRS, TENTS for Rent • Call 325-627-5812
3900 North 1st, Suite 2
Blue J Landscape & Tree Service
Repair & Straighten Cracked Wheels
Abilene Young Professionals
Proud Partner of Abilene Chamber of Commerce
h coupon
OLD GUITARS WANTED! Gibson, Fender, Martin, etc. 1930’s to 1980’s. Top Dollar paid. Call Toll Free 1-800-433-8277
1980 CHEVROLET K5 BLAZER – Silverado Package. Asking $3,500 Reasonable offers considered. (Lake Brownwood) 432-770-8777
CLEAN SEASONED FIREWOOD - Mesquite, Oak, Pecan & Pinon (325) 762-4262 Old time Washing Machine with wringer. Car tow dolly/ 325-669-6313
5X10 TILT TRAILER w/2500lb winch, new paint & new landing gear, submersible LED lights, lock cables. Great for motorcycles, lawn equipment, etc. $900 obo. 325-2730091
POP & GO UNLOCKING, Abilene & The Big Country. Auto, Home or Business (24/7) Call 325232-1982
2021 PALOMINO PUMA 32BHQS, practically new, too much to list. If no answer, please leave message 325-642-0377
“WANTED”
(325)
˜ 673-4521 Hablamos Espanol
MUSIC LESSONS for all ages! Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano, Flute, Guitar, Ukulele. Contact Amanda Mylcraine at 325-627-5737
311 SAYLES BLVD. – 1 bedroom, 1 bath duplex w/appliances, gas heater, carport. No Pets, No Smoking. Maximum 2 persons. $695 plus utilities 325-721-2429 WANT TO BUY Live Rattlesnakes. Call Patrick @ 432-425-2992
Frontier Inn 2A | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2025 | ABILENE REPORTER-NEWS
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS Betty White stamp finally arrives: Post office to unveil design Betty White was already an American icon. Now she had the stamp to prove it. The U.S. Postal Service announced Thursday that they would release a previously announced round of post$ age bearing the image of the “First
Lady of Television.” The stamp will debut in her lifelong hometown of Los Angeles on March 27. “This collectible Forever stamp honors beloved American actress and comedienne Betty White (1922-2021), whose impish smile is depicted on the stamp and lit up performances in a career that spanned more than 60 years,” USPS said in a statement. “Often referred to as the ‘First Lady
of Television,’ White was honored with five Primetime Emmy Awards for her work in television, as well as three Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Grammy Award, and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame,” it continued. The stamps will be available in panes of 20 and will always retain a value equal to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce price.
The design of the new Betty White stamp features a digitally created portrait of the star wearing a blue polka-dotted top over a violet background “and, in a lighter shade, bubbly spots that befit her sparkling personality,” USPS said in their statement. “Betty White” is printed in white near the bottom of the stamp just above “FOREVER USA” in violet text.
retention due to compensation, with the teacher base salary being around $33,000 in Texas. To help incentivize teachers to stay, Gore said Snyder utilizes the state’s Texas Incentive Allotment — an added bonus to teacher salaries that is meritbased. Gore said TIA works for the district, with SISD seeing less turnover for teachers during mid-year, having only seven teachers leaving so far in the 2024-25 year compared to 21 in 202223. “However, if you’re a parent of one of the students of the seven teachers that have left, you feel that impact,” Gore said. Another thing Snyder uses, and something Lubbock ISD helped established, is the TechTeach Program. Kathy Rollo, superintendent for LISD, said she and a previous TTU College of Education dean collaborated to build a program that allowed college students in the education program to be student teachers in LISD classrooms for an entire year and to become certified. “Our TechTeach teachers who are now in our district are some of the very, very best that we have,” Rollo said.
LISD currently has 87 TechTeachers this year. Snyder — the first rural district involved in the program — has seen 27 TechTeachers since 2015, with 23 still teaching. Rollo noted that LISD has a policy to only hire individuals with at least a bachelor’s degree. While these programs and other district-specific initiatives help, the truth about Texas’ K-12 education is bleak. The supply is not meeting the demand, which is causing a reliance on uncertified teachers. “We’re not doing this in other professions,” said Ryan Franklin. “We don’t have unlicensed attorneys practicing out there. We don’t have unlicensed barbers or hairdressers out there. Teaching is one of the few things that we would call professionals, that we are letting people come in completely uncertified and do this.” Franklin, managing director of policy and advocacy for Philanthropy Advocates, said there is a need for a comprehensive plan from state lawmakers rather than fixing one issue at a time. “The Nation’s Report Card results were released, and this is the only sort of benchmark we get to compare all the
states in the country on how they’re doing on educational outcomes, and unfortunately, we saw some backward trend lines,” Franklin said. Some of those findings, which compared 2022 to 2024, included: h Texas fell from 33rd to 37th in 4thgrade reading. h Texas fell from 41st to 44th in 8thgrade reading. h Texas fell from 25th to 34th in 8thgrade math. The only area that saw improvement was 4th-grade math, in which Texas jumped from 14th to 8th place nationwide. While districts are finding ways to combat these issues, and some solutions are in place, Franklin said there is more that can be done by state leaders. “We are hopeful this session, with the examples and the support and the leadership of people in this room, with the legislative delegation from this area, and the leadership we have there, we’ll be able to continue to elevate these changes and these issues, to move this forward and get us down the road,” Franklin said.
Come Stay With Us!
Monthly 750 and Weekly $322 (no tax) Teachers ROOM AMENITIES:
FREE WIFI Microwave Refrigerator Cable TV Guest Laundry Facility Ground Floor Pet Friendly Trucking
Continued from Page 1A
ties with a teacher workforce of 80% uncertified teachers in the 2022-23 school year. Lubbock County was in the 4060% range of hiring uncertified teachers. h 72% of uncertified teachers have no previous experience in working in Texas schools. h Around 1 in 5 uncertified teachers do not hold a bachelor’s degree. Kirksey said the research also showed that mentorship education for future teachers is not only beneficial in retention but also in student learning. West Texas school districts, including Snyder Independent School District, are feeling this effect. “The challenges in a rural district are much deeper than I ever experienced in a 6A (school district),” said Jessica Gore, chief academic officer for Snyder ISD. Gore said the school district does hire uncertified teachers because the supply of certified teachers does not meet the demand. Another issue SISD faces is teacher
Surrounded by all kinds of Restaurants, Grocery & Liquor Stores and Hospital.
3210 I-20 & Pine St. • Abilene, Tx 79601 CALL: 325 677 2687
Looking for a new career?
Always Deliver more than ExpectedAbilene Reporter-News - 02/23/2025
American Classifieds / Thrifty Nickel © (325) 673-4521 Call us to place your next ad. Remember, not everyone is on social media. Print Still Works!
CENTRAL TEXAS ESTATE LIQUIDATION CO.
Turn Your Scrap into CASH! Page : A02
75th Anniversary Savings Certificate Special!
Turn Ordinary
INTO EXTRAORDINARY
Turn your scrap into
WATCH FOR UPCOMING AUCTIONS!
CASH!
We buy gold, silver, platinum, diamonds, & precious stones
REPAIR • RESTORE RESTYLE
Visit one of our convenient locations to get started.
50% OFF
3849 Antilley Road 2801 N. 6th Street
®
2555 Buffalo Gap Road
New Items Added Weekly!
1181 E. N. 10th Street
Too Much To List!!!
Cash, credit card, with Convenience fee., Venmo, and Approved checks. Bring help to load large items. All items sold as is, where is with no warranty. Somefor items mayFREE have a reserve. Call today your in-home quote!
John Morris Auction #18438 (325)• TX. 305-8395
VisitKohlerWalkInBath.com/performance us on Facebook. 325-642-1874 Offer ends 2/28/2025. Participating dealers only. Not available in AK; HI; Nassau Cty, Suffolk travtreasures@web-access.net †
Cty, Westchester Cty, or City of Buffalo, NY. $1,000 off average price of KOHLER walk-in bath. Scan for more information Dealer sets all prices and is responsible for full amount of discount. Cannot be combined with any other advertised offer. Contact local dealer for financing details.
All residents of Taylor & Callahan Counties are eligible for membership *APY = Annual Percentage Yield - Limited Time Offer 6LJQLʳFDQW ,QWHUHVW 3HQDOW\ IRU (DUO\ :LWKGUDZDO AB-41269233
4541 Catclaw Dr 325-513-2743
goldbuyerabilene.com
10433763
NOW TAKING CONSIGNMENTS THIS MONTH ONLY * 2 AUCTIONS MONTHLY * WE SPECIALIZE IN ANTIQUES INSTALLATION COLLECTIBLES On Your KOHLER Walk-In Bath VINTAGE SIGNS, DOLLS NO PAYMENTS UNTIL 2026†
Invest $500 to $7,500 for 7 months and earn 7.5% APY*
Big Country Gold & Custom Jewelry
SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY/SSI
Denied? Never Ever Give Up! If I Don’t Win Your Case You Don’t Owe Me a Dime! NEVER, EVER FACE SSA ALONE!
Local: 404-964-7285