Cobb

It’s been busy around downtown Denton.                                                    

With three-story town homes on Industrial Street going up, finishing touches are being put on Rooster’s Roadhouse, the newest restaurant slated to open in town. The restaurant, which will be located next to Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, is expected to be open within the next two weeks.

Folks have been looking at the building on the west side of Industrial at Hickory Street, a building picked up by local developer and broker Alex Payne. It’ll be interesting to find out what’s going to open there, though word is it could include another restaurant.

And have you noticed the new sign on Hickory Street across from the Campus Theater? It says “Django’s Big Toe.” We’re real curious about what’s going to open there. So, if anyone knows, give us a call.

As part of National Nurses Week, Stella Makhanu, a registered nurse at Presbyterian Hospital of Denton, was presented with a Patient Choice Award at a hospital ceremony on May 6.

The award recognizes the care, comfort and compassion offered by the nurses at Presbyterian and honors one nurse in particular. Nominations are made by former patients.

Along with Makhanu, 10 other nurses were recognized for their exceptional care. The nominations include registered nurses Cindy Cooper, Medical Unit; Amy Hodges, Medical Unit; Cindy Lutken­haus, Labor and Delivery; Justin Miller, Emergency Department; Lori Robinson, Emergency Department; Amy Schertz, Labor and Delivery; Tom Snow, Inter­mediate Medical Care Unit; Coreen Keller, Emergency Department; Kathy Vilim, Emergency Department; and Tracy Westbrook, Outpatient Surgery.

Officials at North Texas Hospital announced recently that the hospital’s first robotically assisted radical prostatectomy was performed on May 14 on the hospital’s recently acquired da Vinci Robotic Surgical Operating System.

The system incorporates technological breakthroughs that provide surgeons with three-dimensional visualization, improved dexterity and increased precision for minimally invasive surgery.

Patients undergoing surgery with the robotic surgical operating system generally experience all the benefits of minimally invasive surgical procedures, which in­clude less pain, less blood loss and less scarring compared to conventional open surgery, ac­cording to a news release. The patient’s recovery is generally faster with minimally invasive procedures.

Dr. Keith Waguespack, who performed the surgery, is certified by the American Board of Urology and has special training in laparoscopic urological surgery.

Congrats

The National Federation of Independent Business, Texas’ leading small business advocacy group, recently announced it will award state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, its 2008 Guar­dian of Small Business Award.

Nelson is the only Texas senator to earn a 100 percent voting record with NFIB/Texas, voting in favor of small business owners on nine key issues during the 2007 legislative session, according to a news release.

NFIB/Texas staff presented Nelson with the award in Lewis­ville Thursday after she addressed the government affairs committees of all Denton County chambers of commerce.

Linda Alexander of Northstar Bank of Texas, located in Denton, was awarded SWACHA’s most prestigious scholarship, the Keith Daniels Memorial Scholarship. The Southwestern Automated Clearing House Association is a trade association of financial institutions in Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana.

Named in honor of a former SWACHA board director, the scholarship covers tuition, room and board and a travel allowance of up to $500.

Alexander has more than 30 years of banking experience and has been an accredited Auto­mated Clearing House professional since 2000, according to a news release.