Looking toward the future

As I was designing this week's issue of the Herald-Banner I found myself pondering the what's next question for Rockwall.
We have all read the studies about the county's growth, but I am curious where our future lies beyond population increase.
Could there be a mall in the future, or maybe a university?
What do you think is the future of Rockwall?

I will stick to my coffee machine at home

Although I published a post on our Facebook about this a few days ago I still feel it's needed for me to express how ridiculous it is that we have nine Starbucks in our county. Certainly these don't all yield substantial profit, do they? And what about small coffee shops? Are there any in Rockwall? If so, where?
I am all far coffee and its mass distribution, but we need to bring in a little variety.

The right direction

It's been awhile since our last blog. I could say I have been really busy, and I have, but excuses have no place in my life, so why bother.
Today I want to do some commending. I have got to say I am rather impressed with the county commissioners decision to turn the fourth floor of the Historic Courthouse into an attraction. The fourth floor houses a jail, which in addition to being supposedly haunted is older than most houses in the county. It's important part of our history and I am glad the commissioners have decided to share it with generations to come.
Good decision folks.

The mane issue

Ok, so at this point I feel most know about the illicit act of horse riding that took place in Caddo Mills this week. I don't mean to be crude, or make light of the situation, but I think something needs to be addressed.

Outrage among the public over the Herald-Banner running the story was tremendous. I understand this is not a topic that polite people talk about it, but it's still news. It goes back to the old adage that all you hear, see and read from the media is negative. Well the fault is with the readers in this regard. Few care about the little boy with courage who overcomes adversity. Sure, people say they do, but those stories don't sell. Carnage, brutality and sex - no matter how weird it is - does.

We are a business like any other. We need to sell issues to keep our advertisers happy, so we can stay in business. Negative news garners attention. I'm not saying there shouldn't be a balance of negative and positive, but don't complain about something you read when it obviously struck a chord and now you're one of many talking about it.

We are in the business of grabbing attention, so please don't crucify the messenger for reporting the dark of the world, especially since we also provide information on the light. No one said a word about any of the other stories on the front page of the horse issue. A man announced his candidacy, which will ultimately have a longer lasting effect than any crime piece on the population as a whole, but no one cared.

That is a perfect example of the news business. We report what we think the readers will find interesting and the readers were overwhelmed with interest by the horse story.

Perry's out

Just saying... he is. I for one could not be happier. Since I was a college student during the Perry destroy higher education years I've never really cared much for the man. I have some other sociopolitical issues with the gentleman too, I won't lie.

My main issue was education though and how he has made Texans look like complete and total idiots during his "run for the office."

The only sad part about all of this is Perry will be returning to Texas.

Citizen's involvement

The most recent county commissioner workshop didn't have a lot that would interest the average Rockwall citizen. There was one topic though that concerned me. County Judge Jerry Hogan proposed the idea to develop citizen committees to make sure the court was adequately serving its constituents. This idea seemed like a no brainer to me.

It was met with  a lot more opposition than I ever imagined. Why would you not want a citizens opinions on anything involving the county? Precinct One County Commissioner Jerry Wimpee mentioned he was in favor of getting as much advice as possible, but aside from that the judge seemed to be on his own regarding support of this idea.

It just seems ridiculous to me that any politician would not want to involve those who voted them in. If anything it will help in the next election cycle.

Taking the punishment

I wrote a story this week about a child whose arm was broken by a teacher at his daycare. I doubt anyone will disagree that this actions was atrocious. Still I'd like to take a second to commend the owner of the daycare for taking the blame.

Amy Sanders made no excuses for what happened. The reality is you don't know what people will do when they're hired. All you can do is accept the consequences of whatever actions your employees make. Sanders has done that and more. I went into the interview expecting a no comment and line about how the story wasn't news. Instead, I got the truth.

Thank you for doing the right thing and making my job easier.