In the News
At the Cleburne Public Library, only a few people watched the live broadcast of President Donald J. Trump's inauguration.
Some were library staff, who sporadically stepped into the children's reading room between helping patrons to watch it. Others glanced in, sat or stood for a moment as heads of state and dignitaries filed into the stands outside of the U.S. Capitol.
Library patron James Gardner watched the full broadcast with interest.
Only the appetizers were tiny at the Texas State Society's Black Tie and Boots inaugural ball held on the eve of President-elect Donald Trump'' swearing-in. Beyond the finger food, everything was big, big and bigger.
Hair. Gowns. Stetson hats. And the crowds — the massive Gaylord Hotel on Thursday night swelled with 11,000 Texans and Lone Star wannabes. Three stages and dozens of entertainers — from the Lake Highlands High School Wranglers, billed as "a country & western dance and stunt team," to the Beach Boys, who headlined the event — kept the crowd two-stepping.
WASHINGTON — When Joann Courtland, director of the Copperas Cove-based Operation Stand Down-Central Texas, was told to pack her bags Wednesday for a trip to the nation's capital, she wasn't quite sure what was going on.
She was told that U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, R-Austin, was flying her out to attend the Texas State Society Black Tie and Boots ball to bring attention to the work the nonprofit does to help homeless veterans and bring them back into society. So she packed her bags, hopped on a plane Thursday morning and flew to Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON — After a downsized gala for President Barack Obama's second inauguration in 2013, the Texas State Society's Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball is set to return to its full form this year.
Almost 10,000 tickets have been sold to the quadrennial ball, organizers say, around double the 5,000 that had been sold at this time four years ago.
WASHINGTON- Making the Baseball Hall of Fame is no easy feat, especially for a player in their first year of consideration.
Longtime Texas Rangers catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is on the ballot for the first time in 2017, and although Rodriguez is widely regarded as one of the best catchers of all time, he may not make it into Cooperstown during his first attempt.
But Rodriguez has one vocal supporter, even though that person doesn't have a vote: U.S. Rep. Roger Williams.
A familiar name has been assigned to be the next III Corps and Fort Hood commander
Maj. Gen. Paul E. Funk II is a Fort Hood native and the son of retired Lt. Gen. Paul "Butch" Funk, who led III Corps and Fort Hood in the mid-1990s.
The Army announced recently that Funk will soon be promoted to lieutenant general and will replace Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland, who took command of III Corps and Fort Hood on Aug. 8, 2014.
Funk currently serves in the Pentagon as assistant deputy chief of staff for the Army.
Over a wintry four-day stretch in mid-December, Rep. Roger Williams was bounding across Central Texas in a holiday blitz that illustrated the length and diversity of his vast congressional district.
It took him from Austin to the southern suburbs of Fort Worth, with stops in between. He delivered turkeys and high praise to first responders, greeted troops at Fort Hood, dropped off toys for the Police Department's Blue Santa drive in lakeside Marble Falls, presided over a ribbon-cutting in Cleburne, and introduced service academy appointees at two Austin high schools.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – "Congressman Randy Neugebauer understands how Washington's decisions affect Main Street. That empathy is crucial to conducting good policy, and it is rare," said Congressman Roger Williams (R–Austin) while honoring his friend, colleague and fellow Texas Congressman Randy Neugebauer (right, R–Lubbock), who is retiring at the conclusion of the 114th Congress in January, 2017.
Congressman Neugebauer has represented Texas' 19th Congressional District since 2003.
MARBLE FALLS — As Marble Falls High School senior James Garrison walked up to the school doors Dec. 16, he was thinking he'd rather be somewhere else. Though it was the last day of class before Christmas break, Garrison had no exams that day and didn't need to be there.
But he was told someone needed a photograph of him regarding his Eagle Scout project, so there Garrison was, walking through the MFHS hallway not knowing who and what was actually waiting for him.
And that it would lead to probably one of the all-time, best acceptance speeches ever.
WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate Wenesday for just the sedond time since the financial crisis of 2008, saying the American economy is expainding at a healthy pace and setting itself up as a counterweight to Preseident-elect Donald J Trump's push for ocnsiderably faster growth.
The fred cited the steady growth of employment and other economic measures, and signaled that it expects to raise rates more quickly next year to prevent the economy from growing too quickly.