Last Day To Play In May

Shane Hoelscher (1 HR, double and single, 3 RBIs)

From 2010 04 HS Baseball

Three of the Richardson ISD high school baseball teams achieved their season goal to make the UIL state playoffs and "Play in May." Berkner and Richardson made it to the second round (Area). Saturday, the Lake Highlands Wildcats baseball team lost 5-1 to Belton High School in the third round (Regional Quarterfinal), bringing an end to this year's great season for the RISD team that made it deepest into the playoffs.

The player of the game was Belton's Shane Hoelscher, whose home run, double, single and three RBIs provided all the firepower Belton needed to advance to the Regional Semifinal round next weekend against the winner of the Klein Collins - Spring series. By the way, Hoelscher is committed to playing for Rice University next year. Go Owls!

For more photos of today's game (and a look back at other games this season), look here.

Around Town: The "Real" Richardson

Each night, at the end of "The Late Late Show," there's a little jingle that asks host Craig Ferguson, "What did we learn on the show tonight, Craig?" And Craig, with his feet up on his desk and his coiled-snake coffee cup in hand, reviews the lessons learned.

After the jump, "What did we learn on the blogs this week, Mark?"

Pete Sessions' NRCC "Needs Proctology Exam"

Tuesday was election day in a few states, not Texas, but one story has a north Texas connection. Besides the primary elections, there was a special election in Pennsylvania's 12th District to fill the Congressional seat left vacant by the death of Congressman John Murtha. The head of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which oversees GOP electoral strategy nationally, is none other than Richardson's own Congressman Pete Sessions.

After the jump, what our Congressman has been up to outside his district.

I Hear The Train A Comin'

Back in the 19th century, communities lived or died based on the route that railroad barons chose for new railroads. Plano and Richardson are about to experience a 21st century version of those long-ago battles. According to a story by Ian McCann of The Dallas Morning News:

"Plano and Richardson are positioning themselves to become transit hubs, connecting the DART Red Line with the proposed Cotton Belt commuter rail. Both city councils have recently approved resolutions that, while effusive in their support of the Cotton Belt, are markedly different in the route they want the new line to take."

After the jump, figuring the odds for this prize fight.

Maggie May USA

There's a new blog about Richardson to check out. It's "Maggie May USA". I'm not saying this because Maggie May USA had some nice things to say about me, although that does demonstrate superior insight and excellent judgment. It's because Maggie May USA offers valuable nuggets of consumer advice like this:

"Raccoons eat tomatoes. Don't let anyone tell you they don't. Their little stealing paws nabbed the best looking ones. They were not even red, still green."

Almost Haiku prose, that, if there were such a form. Or free verse, at least. Let's see how it looks reformatted.

"Raccoons eat tomatoes.
Don't let anyone tell you they don't.
Their little stealing paws nabbed the best looking ones.
They were not even red, still green."

The blog is also worth checking out because Maggie May USA had the scoop that, during Wildflower!, "hotel rooms, in addition to the suites, at the Renaissance Hotel have started being booked up by the City of Richardson" and "customers of the hotel who have reservations are bumped." That's not nice.

Check it out.

Does Texas Open Meetings Act Need Improvement?

Recently I've commented on the unintended negative consequences of the largely beneficial Texas Open Meetings Act. (For example, here, here, and here). The act requires that local governments, e.g., the Richardson City Council, post agendas for meetings in advance. Consequently, it forbids them from discussing issues raised by visitors, at least during that session. I complained that legitimate issues raised by visitors end up getting swept under the rug.

After the jump, one reader takes my criticism to task.

Neighborhood Protection Alliance of Richardson

Neighborhood Protection Alliance. The name might conjure up some kind of organized crime protection racket. Or maybe a vigilante group. The reality is not bad news, but the very existence of such a group indicates that all is not well in Smallville, USA Richardson.

After the jump, what the Neighborhood Protection Alliance means for Richardson.