Just learned yesterday that the former Rockwall Holiday Inn will officially become a Best Western Hotel next week.
It recently became the Rockwall Inn, after a brand new Holiday Inn Express opened in Royse City.
The new owner told me yesterday that renovations will be completed by early July at the hotel, located at 996 I-30 East, between Whataburger and Rockwall Ford.
Watch for a more detailed story soon in TheRockwallNews.com.
I just took the 15 minutes needed to read the whole article in Rolling Stone magazine entitled “The Runaway General” and can’t find one comment that Gen. Stanley McChrystal made which should have caused him to be fired.
In fact, I didn’t see any comment that should have even created all this furor.
The worst thing he said in jest was “Are you asking about Vice President Biden?” “Who’s that?”
Then an aide jokingly said, “You mean, ‘Bite Me’?”
The General and Vice President Biden had differing opinions about how to wage and win the war in Afghanistan.
Big whoop! So what? Isn’t this America?
Very frankly, if this article is all it took to convince Pres. Obama to relieve the General of his command, then the present administration is far too sensitive and insecure.
This article simply describes how tough running this war has been on McChrystal – for instance how much he dislikes attending fancy State dinners rather than hanging with his team drinking Bud Light Lime.
While there is a bunch of profanity, it’s primarily injected by the writer – this is Rolling Stone magazine, after all – and not by the General.
I just don’t get it. At worst, McChrystal is not comfortable with every aspect of his command, but he’s clearly one tough hombre who’s committed to getting the job done. His goal is to win the war.
Will somebody please tell me what the General said that caused his dismissal?
For several weeks now Federal Trade Commission members have been discussing imposing taxes on web publishers like Matt Drudge (The Drudge Report) and myself (with this blog, plus my fast-growing news website, TheRockwallNews.com).
They’ve also discussed taxing consumer electronics such as iPads, laptops and Kindles to help “Old School” newspapers to stay alive. Funds collected would be redistributed to traditional media outlets.
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz finally torpedoed the device tax in testimony Wednesday before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, saying, “I think that’s a terrible idea.”
A poll released Tuesday by Rasmussen Reports found that three out of four of those surveyed opposed taxing gadgets, as well as the “Drudge Tax.”
“The American people have absolutely no interest in taxing new media or consumer electronics to prop up an industry that’s clearly on its way out,” pollster Scott W. Rasmussen said in an interview.
Thank goodness! Even newspaper ad sales people are pushing ads on their websites because of the dramatic shift in readership patterns.
Rasmussen reported last year that US citizens now clearly prefer obtaining their news from the Internet than any other media, although some other surveys say people still prefer to get their new from network and local TV. All those hundreds of laid off news reporters across the country likely agree with Rasmussen.
Billionaire Warren Buffet recently stated that the one industry he absolutely would not invest in is newspapers.
I predict within five years or less, most all newspapers will either have become strictly websites or not exist. By then TheRockwallNews.com should have tens of thousands of readers and be clearly the most popular news source in Rockwall County.
Baseball is a popular sport in Rockwall. Both high school teams do well every year. So do the girls softball teams. What I will call “Little League” baseball is also very popular. It’s where many of our high school players get their start. I think a little publicity about what our youngsters are doing makes sense.
Following is a brief write-up I just received from a father about his son’s team’s success last weekend.
“The Rockwall Rebels won the Memorial Showdown in Greenville over Memorial Day weekend. The Rebels went undefeated for the weekend in both pool and tournament play. In addition to the Rebels, the tournament included teams from Farmersville, Greenville, and Canton. The tournament was a USSSA qualifier sponsored by Piney Woods Baseball. The Rebels are an 8U select team located in Rockwall, Texas. For more information, go to the Rebel’s web site, www.rockwallrebels.com.”
Pictured from left to right: Back row – Assistant Coach Jason Hendricks, Head Coach Brian McCrary and Assistant Coach Cody Thomas. Players (back row) Hunter Smith, Josh Hendricks, Mason Scott, Colby Thomas, and Colin Ethridge; (front row) Jacob Boling, Bryxxton Ramirez, Reagan Kesting, Logan McCrary and Mitchell Jackson.
Congrats, Rebels! See you in Rockwall and Rockwall-Heath high school uniforms in a few years.
Popular, up-and-coming, local country music singer/song-writer “Brittnee Lee” Edmonds, a University of North Texas journalism student from Royse City, is now a reporter and summer intern for TheRockwallNews.com.
Having performed with and personally acquainted with such nationally-known musical artists as Bryan White
, Ty Herndon, Paul Eason, Josh Gracin, Jolie Holliday and Star de Azlan, Lee will use her contacts and knowledge of the local and national entertainment scene to add a variety of entertainment stories not published anywhere else.
“Brittnee Lee” performs solo with her guitar plus with backup bands regularly at public and private events across the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, at such venues as Billy Bob’s, Poor David’s Pub and Lone Star Park.
Her next scheduled public performance is this Thursday, June 3, at the Big D Opry at Gilley’s Dance Hall in Dallas, where she has already performed several times.
Posted in entertainment
For the past two years or more, Nan Ross has worked very hard to build the Rockwall Boys & Girls Club so children would have a fun, safe place to go after school until their parents came home from work.
She apparently did an excellent job, building membership up to all-time levels, despite constant financial obstacles.
But I just learned recently that Nan was either fired or resigned in April, depending upon which version you hear and whomever you talk to.
Several board members also resigned, apparently some because of the way that Ross was dismissed. But I still need to more thoroughly investigate the rumors I’ve heard.
Others apparently left because they had just spent several years on the board and the time had come to leave. I’m told that RISD’s Dr. Debbie Smothermon, one of the Club’s founders, was one of these people.
Ross told me about two weeks ago that she is now happily resettled as the Boys & Girls Club director of the new Club in Marble Falls TX, near Austin. She said she misses the Rockwall Club but has “moved on.”
I’ve also been told that since she left, over 100 kids have dropped out of the program. It sounds like much is happening there.
Watch for a story soon about the Club at TheRockwallNews.com.
The Club is hosting a fund-raising “Harbor Rock” concert June 12 at 6 pm at The Harbor amphitheater. Although the concert is free to the public, VIP seats and perks are available for $25 each and sponsorships are also available. Just contact 214-842-2253 or visit http://harborrock.org.
Rockwall Rocks! 