In case you missed it, American Idol held auditions for its ninth season last week in Dallas. Amongst the contestants was a Richardson resident who was impressive enough to head to Los Angeles. What did the bloggers say about Maegan Wright? Let's find out...
 

On Friday, the Richardson Independant School District Board of Trustees named Kay Waggoner, Ph.D its only finalist for the Superintendent position. She is currently superintendent of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District.

The City of Richardson is pleased to announce the selection of a North Texas communicator to lead its enhanced communications efforts. Greg Sowell, City of Mesquite Communications Manager, has been appointed to serve as the City of Richardson’s first Director of Communications, effective February 15, 2010.

Destiny DeLaRosa brings us a review of two of the local's "favoritist" burger joints in Richardson. This is the first installment of a new series called Echo Picks. In the future we hope to have more residents tell us their Echo Picks.

Neil Matzen, the founder of Richardson's competitive swimming team, died on Saturday, December 12, 2009. We have updated this story with a more complete description of Coach Matzen's accomplishments.

The Richardson Echo is proud to announce a new section dedicated to the preservation of local Richardson history. The purpose of this section is to preserve and exhibit pieces from local history. The materials on display are all a part of a private collection of printed materials and ephemera. You can contribute to the collection.

On Monday, November 23, two neighborhood association presidents and a representative from a third presented their case against tentative plans for the rebuilding of the Lookout Transfer Station. The three neighborhoods presented a Power Point presentation with their objections and some partial solutions to the current plans.

A few weeks back three presidents of various Heights neighborhood associations in Richardson had the privilege of presenting a plan for strengthening and renewing the Heights area. I was amongst those being the President of Richardson Heights Neighborhood Association. The reaction was overwhelmingly positive and that reaction included support of corners of Richardson far from Heights. There was some reasonable skepticism of parts of the plan and a small amount of negative reaction. I think it is worth responding to some of that reaction.

In an effort to enhance resident’s experiences with Richardson City Council meetings, The Richardson Echo with Bill McCalpin brings you “McCalpin’s Unofficial Guide to City Council Meetings.” Very often it is the case that residents have little experience in dealing with the formalities of City Council meetings. Bill McCalpin gives his interpretation of policies and procedures of City Council meetings having attended hundreds of meetings.

Richardson Council Member Amir Omar will run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. this Sunday, October 25, 2009. His second effort in running this marathon will be different as he runs to benefit the Methodist Richardson Medical Center Foundation and in memory of his mother.