Looking back...

100 YEARS AGO...

Superintendent G.L. Marshall announced the faculty of the Rockdale Public Schools for the coming school year. Sept. 13 has been set as the date for the opening of the fall session. In the mean time, the school building is undergoing repairs so as to make it as comfortable for the children as possible.

Cotton picking was delayed in Pleasant Hill on account of rains and some farmers are complaining of the boll worm since the rains set in.

A few loads of a new sweet potato crop have been brought to Rockdale and found ready sale. Potatoes are now bringing better than $3 per bushel.

The Band Boys wish to extend their hearty thanks and appreciation to Hal Harris for a liberal cash remembrance. The boys deserve much praise and support and no one is barred from doing as Mr. Harris has done.

40 YEARS AGO...

Despite hearing objections from around 50 area residents concerning a proposed 60-unit, low-rent housing project, Rockdale City Council members voted 4-2 to approve the 125-acre annexation proposal which gives the housing project the green light.

A 74-year-old Rockdale man shot by an arrow last week is recuperating at Rockdale Memorial Hospital where he underwent surgery for the removal of a portion of his intestine.

Three people were killed and a fourth critically injured in a fiery head-on collision on SH 36 about five miles south of Milano.

“Midway is a tough outfit. It should be a productive session.” That’s how the newest new Tiger head football coach Jim Carson summed up Rockdale’s first scrimmage opponent of 1981 – the Waco Midway Panthers.

20 YEARS AGO...

Rockdale ISD taxpayers got some good news, as school trustees gathered in regular session to set the 2001 tax rate. After adopting a $12 million budget based on a 3-cent tax hike in June, trustees shifted gears and left the rate at its current $1.595 on a recommendation by Business Manager Arnold Proctor.

Parking spaces, and even tempers, were in short supply around Rockdale Elementary School as school opened with traffic chaos, centered around a new traffic scheme that was attempting to change 50 years of driving habits.

It will be an opportunity-rich environment for ambitious Tiger athletes when Rockdale travels to Gonzales on for the season first preseason scrimmage of 2001.

10 YEARS AGO...

The Rockdale ISD, as a district, has missed federal “No Child Left Behind” standards for the fourth consecutive year. No federal sanctions are kicking in, yet, for any RISD campus but there are now some requirements for the district as a whole, according to Supt. Dr. Howell Wright. “We are required to provide additional professional development that focuses our staff on student needs based on instructional data,” he said.

An all-time Rockdale heat record fell during the past few days as 2011 elbowed its way into the forefront of the town’s all-time hottest summers. Monday was the 63rd day of 2011 in which the temperature climbed to 100 or greater in the U. S. Weather Service thermometer at KRXT-FM. That breaks the old record of 62, set in 2009.

Milam County Judge Dave Barkemeyer filed a proposed $17.3-million budget for 2012 with the county clerk’s office. The budget was compiled based on a 60-cent tax rate, same as the current rate. Milam County was operating on a $16.3-million budget at the time.

A gym full of eager bidders and a pantry full of tasty baked goods was the perfect recipe for a successful evening. The 11th annual “Meet The Tigers” cake auction raised $5,400 for the athletic program, surpassing the past two year’s total haul.