Latest news with #RochelleJohnson
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
From Vatican to West Texas: Abilene Catholics celebrate the new pope
ABILENE, Texas () – People of the Catholic faith have been rejoicing all week because of the announcement of the 267th pope, Leo XIV. KTAB/KRBC spoke with Catholics in Abilene about this announcement. Here in Abilene, Catholics celebrated the news as Taylor County Expo Center General Manager Rochelle Johnson shared her thoughts about the new pope. 'Well, I was in tears yesterday. It's very exciting that a new pope has been elected and that he's from the United States,' Johnson said. Johnson was also in Rome during Pope Francis's final days and heard his final speech before his death. Yesterday, May 8, she was surprised by the white smoke. 'I'm hoping that this will be somebody that really unites the Catholic church across the world. Because you know, there were everywhere, Catholic means universal, and so I hope that this pope will be a leader of this church with the teachings of Jesus Christ,' Johnson said. Meanwhile, members of the church, Holy Family Catholic Church on Buffalo Gap Road, joined the celebration. The Holy Family Catholic Church Director of Religious Education, Dr. Bob Moore, shared his insight on the new Pope. 'I think he's going to fit in really well within our diocese, because we obviously have many people coming in from other countries, and I think it'll be really good as we talk about how we can be more welcoming,' Moore said. Moore and Johnson also spoke about the new pope's stances on immigration, similar to Pope Francis. 'I think he's going to do everything he can for those that are seeking to come into this country, that's been a long history. And that's been his charisma, that's been what he's known for,' Moore said. 'I'm in favor of immigration as long as it's done legally. And that's as the church teaches,' Johnson said. Abilene Catholics expressed their hopes of seeing the pope, either in Abilene or somewhere else in Texas. They shared their thoughts on the possibility. 'Wouldn't that be wonderful if he would come to our diocese?' Johnson said. 'It'll be a special time for Abilene,' said Moore. The local diocese and others across Texas remain hopeful about what Leo XIV could bring to the region. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Taylor County Expo Center expands parking lot repaving project
ABILENE, Texas () – The Taylor County Expo Center is adding to its large-scale paving project to prolong the life of the new parking lots. More work and improvements are underway at the Taylor County Expo Center. Right now, the parking lots are seeing some much-needed attention with a massive repaving project, but officials from the expo center have noticed a few other areas of improvement they would like to add to the project. The funding for this project comes from a government relief program designed to help cities with economic stimulation since the COVID-19 pandemic. The expo center's funding showed some excess financing, known as contingency funding, and the expo center's General Manager, Rochelle Johnson, explains the concept for its use. 'Any time you do a construction project, there's always a contingency that set aside because you never know, especially with an existing facility, you never know what you're going to run into,' Rochelle Johnson said. These funds are usually used when a mistake is made on a construction site or when additional infrastructure relevant to the original project needs to be added. In this case, the expo center is concentrating on improvements to help prolong the lifespan of the new pavement in the parking lots. These changes include updated drainage, allowing safer and more comfortable conditions for anyone visiting the expo center. As Johnson explains, this has been an issue in past events. 'When it rains, I've got people stepping out of their RV in two or three inches of water. And so that's going to help both the spectators as well as the exhibitors,' Johnson said. A proposal for the added improvements for the project went before the Taylor County Commissioners at the most recent Commissioners meeting, and Precinct 2 Commissioner Kyle Kendrick proposed outside bidding for one of the projects that would see a reinforced concrete slab for large dumpsters that are in heavy use for the Expo Center. Kendrick outlined how this portion of the new projects would be the most costly and was keen on trying to reduce that cost. 'I'd like to save money everywhere we can because we know that we're going to run into more issues along the way. So, I mean, just like the other day, we had the little incident where we had to raise those electrical boxes up, and that was about a $1,900 bill right there. So, I mean, every dollar that we can save is that much better,' said Kendrick As the additional improvements would be free of cost to the overall project, the Taylor County Commissioners Court ultimately voted to proceed with the additions to the expo center. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
