New rules ban commercial harvest of four turtle species

AUSTIN – The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission voted to prohibit the commercial collection of four species of freshwater turtles in Texas—the common snapping turtle, red-eared slider, smooth soft-shell and spiny softshell.

Senior citizens fundraiser, MS rally set for Saturday

MILANO NEWS The Milano Senior Citizens annual fundraiser is set for 7:30 pm. Sept. 8 at the Milano Civic Center. The Family Sowell Pickers will be playing bluegrass and gospel music. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for children and $17.50 for a family.

MILAM COUNTY COURTHOUSE RECORDS

COUNTY COURT Deed Texas State Veterans Land Board to Johnnie Leonard Machu and Marilyn R. Machu (v. 1,345, p. 536). Warranty Deeds Yolanda Gutierrez to Briana Fuentes (v. 1,345, p. 459). Yupel LLC and Bebe Enterprises LLC to Eric Neubauer (v. 1,345, p. 490).

Saturday big day for city’s garage sales

QUICK LOOK The first Saturday in September is Rockdale’s annual citywide garage sale. While Saturday is the big day, a number of garage sales will start early on Friday with a few even on Thursday and some on Sunday At least 43 garage sales are expected.

Labor Day closings announced

Monday is Labor Day and all South Milam County schools will have a vacation day. • Rockdale, Milano, Thorndale and Thorndale St. Paul’s and Gause will be out. • There will be regularly-scheduled garbage pickup in Rockdale on Monday and throughout next week.

ROLLING OUT THE GREEN CARPET

The new Tiger Field looks like a football field now. Here’s how it got that way. What exactly are they doing here? It’s the way artificial turf is installed. The black surface is the underside of the turf itself and these six workers are stitching together a seam on the underside.

80 hear support for park splash pad

Keep your promise. Build it. That was the message delivered with one voice Monday evening in a standing-room-only city council town hall in the council chambers. The council had called the special session to gauge support for plans to build a splash pad at Sumuel Park, corner of Fourth and MLK.

Ex-THS grid star survivor of shooting at Florida mall

A former Thorndale High School football standout was one of the nine persons who were wounded and survived the deadly shooting Sunday in a Jacksonville, Florida, mall. Anthony “Tony” Montagnino, now a resident of Round Rock, was shot in the lower back and leg.

Closing recommended for Cameron, Taylor DL offices

The two closest driver’s licenses offices to Rockdale have turned up on a list of possible closures. A closure recommendation list compiled by the Texas Department of Public Safety includes the Cameron and Taylor offices. The list was made public last week by the Texas Association of Counties.

Multicolor hydrants going with the flow

Notice a change in some of Rockdale’s fire hydrants? If you haven’t yet, you will. All of the city’s 300 hydrants are undergoing testing, and getting new paint jobs, in a project which will take about a month, according to City Manager Chris Whittaker. There’s a lot more to it than just decoration.