Early voting in the political party primaries continues this week. Salado precinct voters can cast their ballots at the Salado Civic Center, 601 N. Main St.
Early voting will be conducted in person each weekday. Following are the hours for early voting:
May 14-18: 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
May 19: 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
May 20: Noon-5 p.m.
May 21-25: 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Primary Day is 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on May 29 at the Salado Church of Christ Activity Center.
The deadline to reserve early ballots by mail is May 29. May 22 is the last day to apply for a ballot by mail request, which must be mailed to Bell County Clerk, Attn: Election Department, P.O. Box 480, Belton, TX 76513.
Registered voters that fall into one of the four following categories are eligible to vote by mail: 1. Individuals 65 years or older; 2. Disabled; 3. Will be out of the county on Election Day and the entire period of early voting and 4. Confined to jail, but otherwise eligible to vote.

Voters elect new aldermen,
return Reed to SISD board

Salado voters elected a new Mayor, two new Aldermen and a new school board trustee on May 12.
Melanie Kirchmeier was elected with 581 votes and Jim Reed was re-elected to a three-year term on the Salado Independent School District board of trustees with 490 votes. Kirchmeier led the ticket with 581 votes. Jim Reed was re-elected to his second three-year term on the board with 490 votes. Pam Oakes received 387 votes, Mark DePoy 252 votes and Kristi Jarvis 248 votes.
Meanwhile, Shannon Ashe and Bryan Fritch were elected to the Village of Salado Board of Aldermen. Ashe received 284 votes and Fritch received 261 votes. Aldermen Stephen Peters received 225 votes in his bid for re-election. Ted Williamson received 183 votes in the aldermen election.
Danney V. McCort was elected as Mayor of the Village of Salado, running unopposed.
Three candidates for the Salado Library District Board of Directors were also elected since there was no opposition: Dr. Bob Denton, Bill Kinnison and Sara Pettijohn.

Reception for longtime SISD Trustee

Salado Independent School District will honor longtime trustee Miriam Ervi during a 5:30 p.m. reception at the Salado Civic Center on May 21.
The reception will precede the regular meeting of the board of trustees at 6 p.m.
Ervi has served four terms on the SISD Board of Trustees. In her first year on the board, the school district had 991 students and just two campuses: Thomas Arnold Elementary School and Salado High School. Now, Salado ISD has four school campuses housing 1,359 students.

Aldermen reception set May 17
The Village of Salado will hold a reception for the incoming and outgoing mayor and aldermen at 5 p.m. May 17 in the Municipal Building, prior to the 6 p.m. regular meeting.
Danney McCort, Shannon Ashe and Bryan Fritch will be sworn-in following the canvassing of the May 12 votes. Once the new mayor takes his position, the board will fill the vacancy McCort will leave. The board will appoint an alderman to complete McCort’s unexpired term.