100 YEARS AGO....
Vice-President Marshall’s quick speech in Rockdale was over but the repercussions lingered. Cameron Enterprise Publisher W. M. Cobb said he came aboard the vice-president’s train car and unsuccessfully invited him to Cameron. Reporter Publisher John Esten Cooke termed the comment “sour grapes....from Cuzzin Cameron.”
Also, The Thorndale Thorn lamented that the vice-president “sorely missed it by not coming to a good town.” Cooke ran that comment under the heading: “More Sour Grapes.”
Road Commissioner O. K. Phillips, mulling how to use road improvement bonds recently approved by area voters, suggested graveling the Cameron Road, the Tracy Road and possibly the Koch Road.
The State Highway Commission okayed creation of Texas 44, a road to follow the San Antonio & Aransas Pass railroad tracks between Waco and Giddings, coming through Rockdale. It was the forerunner of what was to become US 77.
FORTY YEARS AGO....
Dr. Walter Vincent, superintendent of the Rockdale ISD for the preceding five years, resigned to accept the superintendent position in Gainesville.
A meeting to discuss a possible US 79 loop around Rockdale was scheduled by the Texas Highway Department. City Councilman Mark Kellar said a loop was being sought to relieve overcrowding on city streets.
The Rockdale City Council voted against participating in an upcoming countywide property reappraisal but left the door open to share tax records with the county.
Stanley Blinka, a recent graduate of Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, and a 1975 graduate of Rockdale High School, was selected by the New York Jets in the NFL Draft. Blinka went on to a standout career playing linebacker with the Jets.
TWENTY YEARS AGO....
Incumbent school trustee Ralph Sifuentes was re-elected, polling 264 votes to 197 for challenger Dr. Dee Ellis.
Reporter co-publisher Peggy Cooke was named president of the South Texas Press Association, the largest regional press association in the United States.
Police weren’t releasing the exact amount of cash taken in a burglary at Texas Burger/Subway but Lt. Tommy Roach termed the loss “substantial.”
Headed for the state track meet in Austin were Tiger sprinter Raymond Huff and the Lady Tiger 1,600-meter relay team of Jennifer Gaines, Abby Stigler, Briana Bassler and Crystal Anderson.
FORTY YEARS AGO....
A consulting firm, hired by the Rockdale Hospital District, recommended renovating the 36-year-old Richards Memorial Hospital, as opposed to constructing a new facility.
Early voting was underway in an election for city voters to determine whether a new entity, the Rockdale Municipal Development District (MDD) would be formed and whether that entity would get to use a one-half cent sales tax which previously had gone to the Rockdale Hospital District.
Rockdale ISD officials were planning to add additional bus route to serve most students after the new intermediate school campus opened in the fall.
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