Praise God for the wonderful rain we received on Saturday and Monday! Saturday morning I announced gloomily that the rain had passed us by yet again. Then glory of all glories the rain arrived! We had over two inches in the gauge by Monday evening. I’ll bet happy little rain songs were winging their way around the county!

I received a delighted call from Gene Woods; he heard from Ruth Glaze and they had a grand time reminiscing over the phone. Perhaps she will make it to the next reunion. Gene also said that he would give Pearl a call. Just a reminder: you don’t have to wait until your anniversary year to come to the alumni reunion.

The City Council meeting was held last Monday. I must say I wasn’t sure what to expect after the last meeting. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know who one person was on the newly elected City Council. He turned out to be Herman Luce. He was joined by new Council members: Paul Larrimer and Candi Lewis. I sincerely wish them all the best.

At the present, they have no plans to hold another election to fill the vacant seats left by the Council members who resigned.

Donald Skelton presented an update on water policy. The current drought has made water conservation imperative. He did not advocate a water rate hike at this point, but did request that water from out of city users be limited. The Fire Department was also asked to complete run sheets accurately so that water usage can be monitored more closely.

Tom Alston stated that if any citizen wanted a city light turned off, they could put in a request to have it cut off. Citizens present at the meeting questioned that statement. How would the issue be resolved if one neighbor wanted the light on and the other off? The issue will be decided on a case by case basis.

The tax rate proposal was presented and last year’s rate was approved with no rate hike this year. Several money saving changes have been passed. The phone service and internet services were terminated. Mayor Pro-tem, Tom Alston, noted that since there was no one to answer the phones or work the computer, the services were not needed. Secretary Candi Lewis will do the work from home.

The other issue that came up was the matter of loose dogs. It seems several people have been attacked by dogs that weren’t penned up properly. Herman Luce was one of those people.

One of the residents asked if we had a city ordinance about dog containment, but one is not really needed. It is state law that you keep your dog penned or fenced within city limits.

Country law says if your dog is loose and near livestock he has an automatic death sentence. Dog owners need to be responsible pet owners. Keep them in your yard; fenced but not chained. The state passed new regulation last year regarding chaining of animals. Please check them before you chain your pet. I guess I might as well add have your pet immunized.

Wes Bryant can tell you from personal experience, not doing so can be costly! Although he gave rabies shots to several of his pets, he didn’t immunize one of his cats. The cat gave his baby rabies, and the poor little one had to get the shots I don’t even like to think about!

Added to the mess was the fact that none of his other family members could be given the shots because there was not enough vaccine to spare. It appears we have a large number of rabies cases this year leading to a vaccine shortage. So, keep them penned up and give them their shots.

Citizens present at the City Council meeting were: Bernice Adams, Bev Cohn, Jewel Larrimer, Ginger Skelton, and Sue Ransom.

Speaking of change, I noticed the street ditches have been mowed on several streets. Way to go! I love to be able to see what is coming around the corner when I turn. They have decided to concentrate on our city streets. All budget cuts and revenues possible will be expended on street repairs.

School starts next week so it’s time to get students to bed earlier. Teachers started in-service training on Monday. Richland has several new teachers who will strengthen our already great group of teachers.

Don’t forget the Coyote Classic on the 29th. I believe most of the food has been arranged but they will be looking for cake donations. Here you go all you great cooks; this is your moment to shine! Cakes will be needed for Friday and Saturday, please let your church or family know they are needed. This has become a fun community event.

Registration for the UIL workshop is still open but time and space are running out for this excellent program, sponsored by Mrs. Melanie Smith. Bring in your box tops kids; we want to get that program off to a roaring start.

I had my first taste of goat last week. It didn’t taste like chicken, but it was good. I was feeling brave and self-satisfied when one of the other teachers commented that it was the first goat she had eaten that didn’t taste like goat. So now I’m not sure if I really know what goat tastes like!

Should you have a gripe, call or leave a message. The email is rsreport@centex.net; I don’t check it every day, because very few people ever leave a message. I don’t write everything I hear; some of it is not very friendly. I do try to put a positive spin on information if at all possible. Pearl is one of my regular contributors. I don’t mind putting in family visits, but it’s better if you write that stuff down, because I will get the names wrong!

At any rate, praise God for the rain! Junior Evans eked out a mere .3" on Saturday, so I hope he had more on Monday! Still, that’s better than none at all!

Have a great week; don’t forget to pray for our government, our President, our wonderful country, and those precious troops that are scattered around the world keeping us safe.