"Inaccurate and Misleading"

No we're not referring to our politicians or local "news". 

Seconds after the back to back real newspaper articles (New York Times) concerning natural gas drilling might just be the Ponzi scheme many have warned about for years, the drillers started their spin.  Yeah, no one saw that coming.

Gas drilling companies called the information (which came from industry insider emails) "inaccurate and misleading".  Isn't that what the Times articles said about their propaganda, just in a more professional way?

As usual, local "news" jumped on the spin wagon. 

Here's a copy of what a local concerned citizen sent to the local paper.  Since you won't see the letter in the paper, we'll share it here.  Think they'll get a response?

You might tell your friends in the business that people are wary of propaganda pieces like this one masquerading as news. If Aubrey wants to put forward something that people will not consider to be "inaccurate and misleading" hype from the business end of the industry, then they need to get their most credible geophysicist and petroleum engineer to write a piece explaining how refracking can be made to work sufficiently well to keep these wells productive for 30-50 years. Oh, and the article needs to be signed and stamped with a Professional Engineer's seal so that his career is on the line. Also please stop putting out the hype about there being no chance of raw gas invading the aquifers because the fracking is done 7000-8000 feet below the surface and an aquifer is typically only a few hundred feet deep.

That dog won't hunt any longer. Look at any flagstone patio or sidewalk. You've never seen one without cracks. That's what happens in the wellbore at the interfaces between the cement and the casing and between the cement and the rock wall. There's the conduit for transporting the raw gas up the wellbore to the aquifer.

I'd be ashamed to be writing propaganda for CHK. If you want to do that then go to work for them. Hey, they'd even pay you more than the S-T does.

Where will YOU be tonight?

You have options.  You could attend the Arlington City Council where they'll be discussing the Hike and Bike Plan.  The last Arlington City Council meeting was so much fun, YOU might not want to miss this one.

Or you could attend the Trophy Club/Roanoke Town Hall where Congressman Michael Burgess will be speaking. 7-8 at Byron Nelson High School.

See you there!

Both Barrels Loaded

The New York Times has done back to back stories on gas drilling not being the PR dream the industry created for the sheep. 

WHO made the map?  Fort Worth, WHO else.  We're the poster child of what not to do when it comes to gas drilling,  our water and eductation.

Read about the BS in the BS in the New York Times here and here.

WHERE did they get their info?  Industry insider emails.  

Here's a thought, if they spent as much on safety measures as they do on shilling the BS, wouldn't we all be better off?

Mighty Neighborly

The Trinity River Vision Authority strikes again.  The Tarrant Regional Water District voted to use eminent domain to take more existing businesses and property.

JD Granger says they have tried to get to know the owners.

What was different about this Tarrant Regional Water District meeting?  Someone of the board asked questions. 

Read about it in the Fort Worth Business Press.

WHO is looking out for YOU?

Promises - Part 2

Betsy Price has been making many promises.  Let's hope she doesn't follow Moncrief's Fort Worth Way with those.

Read about those promises in the Fort Worth Weekly.

However, Static must point out that Moncrief (who endorsed Price over his longtime friend Jim Lane) said the same thing when he was seeking the job in 2003. Back then, the average person felt excluded from the local political process; city officials wanted to spend millions of taxpayer dollars on a questionable downtown project (a luxury hotel); the school board was wrapped in turmoil; voters were pissed off. Any of this sound familiar?

(Brink said Moncrief had a solid record as a state senator, and the most controversial thing about him was personal rather than professional: He’d sued his uncle Tex Moncrief over the family oil money.)

Moncrief told Brink he had no “hidden agenda” (his staunch support for unfettered urban gas drilling would become quickly and painfully obvious). He wanted more collaboration between the city council and the school board (didn’t happen). He agreed with tax abatements in certain cases but said they should be hard to come by (ha!). He looked forward to moving from the legislature to the city council because local politics is “closest to the people” (many of whom he would later bully or ignore when they disagreed with him). He listed his priorities, beginning with a “user-friendly” city hall.

Political Pow-wur

A letter to the Editor in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks volumes about the Arlington City Council meeting where citizens that went to be heard were instead, thrown out.

Pow-wur shift

Some Arlington citizens -- you know, common folk who pay taxes, fees and inconsequential things like that -- want to talk about a controversial and divisive thoroughfare plan.

But the mayor says not so fast. Only 20 minutes' discussion collectively for the pros, 20 minutes for the cons. No matter how many citizens want to speak to the council.

The mayor proclaims he has the pow-wur. He invokes the pow-wur. Shush little citizens. Go sit in the corner. Play the quiet game.

So he borrows the Dallas County Commissioners Court's muzzle.

What do the mayor's fellow council members say about this virtual shutoff of debate? What's that, council members? Couldn't hear you. Must be bad acoustics, huh?

But a stadium builder, gas well drillers and out-of-town apartment builders get a city hall full of 20 minutes. But Arlington residents? Who do you think you are?

An entrenched incumbent came ever-so-close to biting the political dust in Saturday's runoff election. Could be a not-so-subtle message there and it might embolden residents. While quietly being obedient, corner-sitting little people, maybe they'll conclude that in coming elections, why, they just might invoke the pow-wur, too.

-- Roger Summers, Arlington

The Great Divide

In Fort Worth.

A couple of interesting things in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

One being a letter to the editor that makes note of the switch in political parties our Congresswoman made to get elected and WHO she is beholden to.  Remember, she asked your new Mayor to run.  WHO is she now beholden to?


The new mayor

Fort Worth blew its opportunity to elect a qualified known quantity as mayor. I am not acquainted with Betsy Price but am looking forward to falling in love with her. The last female mayor we had was a very good one. It was only after she left the mayor's post that she became so totally beholden to the Republican Party.

-- Joe Hays, Fort Worth

The other being Bud Kennedy's article about Fort Worth being divided.  There are reasons for the split  - they are political and have a great deal to do with the economics of each neighborhood.

Kathleen Hicks is at it again, saying we can find money for a Superbowl but not streetlights.  Doesn't Kathleen serve on the Trinity River Vision board? 

Boswell summed it up in two words in 06.  Failed and neglected...

In 2006, then-City Manager Charles Boswell gave a passionate speech about how leaders have neglected "the other Fort Worth," the one-third of residents with low graduation and employment rates but high crime rates.

He didn't draw an east-west split, but he did say City Hall failed to maintain inner-city streets and drainage.

What did Led Zeppelin say?

If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break
When The Levee Breaks I'll have no place to stay.

Mean old levee taught me to weep and moan
cryin' won't help you, prayin' won't do you no good,

When the levee breaks, mama, you got to move.

North Dakota is the next to go.  Historic flooding.  Not seen since 1881.  Another entire town evacuated, possibly wiped out.
 
Mayor Curt Zimbelman, speaking Wednesday morning by telephone to KXMC television, said there are several areas along the levees where officials aren't sure they control the dikes.
 
The resulting deluge is expected to dwarf the historic flood of 1969, when the Souris reached 1,554.5 feet above sea level. Zimbelman said the river was already just a tenth of an inch shy of that level at one bridge Tuesday afternoon. It's expected to hit nearly 1,563 feet this weekend — topping the historical record of 1,558 feet set in 1881 by Friday or Saturday.
 
What's the latest in Fort Worth?  Our politicians want to take the levees down.  "Flood control", Trinity River Vision style.  It's the Fort Worth Way.

Promises, Promises, Promises

Remember them, hold politicians to them.

In the Fort Worth Business Press, Betsy Price, said:

“When I’m sworn in my first priority is to get the budget handled and help protect taxpayers,” Price said.

While Price has expressed support for the Trinity River Vision, she has also said she would not support putting any more local tax money into the effort without voter approval.

A mayor that protects taxpayers?  NO more local money thrown after the TRV ditch?  Understandably, we'll have to see it to beleive it. 

Be there Tuesday!!

Tuesday's Tarrant Regional Water District meeting looks to be fun.  A couple of water items and tons of eminent domain Trinity River Vision style.  And of course, gas drilling items.  Oh, and don't forget, expenditures and investments, what else?  That's what a water board is for, right? 

This Agenda is posted pursuant to Chapter 551, Texas Government Code

MATTERS TO COME BEFORE A MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OF TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT

TO BE HELD THE 21ST DAY OF JUNE 2011 AT 9:30 A.M.

TRWD BOARD ROOM

800 EAST NORTHSIDE DRIVE

FORT WORTH, TEXAS 76102

1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

2. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE MEETING HELD ON MAY
17, 2011

3. PUBLIC COMMENT

4. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE
EXPENDITURES—Thomas

5. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURES—Thomas

6. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION REGARDING THE INVESTMENT
POLICY AND STRATEGIES FOR THE TARRANT REGIONAL WATER
DISTRICT—Newby

7. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH
TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT FOR THE ZEBRA MUSSEL
PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGN—Andrews

8. CONSIDER RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING APPLICATION TO THE TEXAS
COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY (TCEQ) FOR A PERMIT TO
CONVEY WATER IN THE BED AND BANKS OF VILLAGE CREEK—Owen

9. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING TO
JOIN ONCOR‘S “TAKE A LOAD OFF TEXAS” GOVERNMENT FACILITIES
PROGRAM—Marshall

10. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF ITB NO. 11-035 BUTTERFLY VALVES FOR
CEDAR CREEK WAXAHACHIE BOOSTER PUMP STATION AND
BENBROOK PUMP STATION—Marshall

11. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH LEMLEY CONSULTING,
INC. FOR ACQUIRING RIGHTS OF ENTRY RELATED TO THE INTEGRATED
PIPELINE PROJECT—Christian

12. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF MODIFICATION OF SURVEY CONTRACT WITH
TRANSYSTEMS FOR THE TRINITY RIVER VISION CENTRAL CITY
PROJECT—Christian

13. EXECUTIVE SESSION UNDER V.T.C.A., GOVERNMENT CODE, SECTION
551.071 TO CONSULT WITH LEGAL COUNSEL ON A MATTER IN WHICH
THE DUTY OF COUNSEL UNDER THE TEXAS DISCIPLINARY RULES OF
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT CLEARLY CONFLICTS WITH CHAPTER 551,
TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODE, AND TO CONDUCT A PRIVATE
CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEYS REGARDING PENDING OR
CONTEMPLATED LITIGATION; AND UNDER SECTION 551.072 TO
DELIBERATE THE PURCHASE, EXCHANGE, LEASE OR VALUE OF REAL
PROPERTY

14. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT WITH MARTINDALE
CONSULTANTS FOR ROYALTY AUDIT OF CHESAPEAKE ENERGY—
Brummett

15. CONSIDER AUTHORIZATION OF STAFF AND LEGAL COUNSEL TO
ENFORCE DISTRICT'S RIGHTS UNDER SECTION 49.221, TEXAS WATER
CODE, TO OBTAIN ACCESS TO REAL PROPERTY FOR THE INTEGRATED
PIPELINE PROJECT—Christian

16. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF PURCHASE OF PIPELINE EASEMENTS FOR
THE GEORGE W. SHANNON WETLANDS WATER REUSE PROJECT,
RICHLAND-CHAMBERS RESERVOIR—Christian

17. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE REAL
PROPERTY FOR THE TRINITY RIVER VISION – CENTRAL CITY PROJECT—
Fee simple title to the surface estate only, including improvements located
thereon, located at 900 North Main Street, Fort Worth, Tarrant County,
Texas—Christian

18. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE REAL
PROPERTY FOR THE TRINITY RIVER VISION – CENTRAL CITY PROJECT
FROM THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS—Tract 1 (Parcel 20) Fee simple
title to the surface estate only of approximately 9.93 acres of land,
including improvements, being a tract of land situated at Block A, Lot 1,
Valley View Addition, in the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas; and
Tract 2 (Parcel 22) Fee simple title to the surface estate only of
approximately 6.903 acres of land, including improvements, being a tract of
land situated at Block 3, Lot 1, Valley View Addition, in the City of Fort
Worth, Tarrant County, Texas—Christian

19. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE REAL
PROPERTY BY PURCHASE OR BY EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR
THE TRINITY RIVER VISION PROJECT—Fee simple title to the surface
estate only, including improvements located thereon, of 6.875 acres of land
located in the J. Baugh Survey, Abstract No. 115, the R. Crowley Survey,
Abstract No. 313, the A. Gouhenant Survey, Abstract No. 582, and the F.G.
Mulliken Survey, Abstract No. 1045, Tarrant County, Texas, and being all of
the tract of land designated as Second Parcel in the deed to MMM Group,
LLC, recorded in Volume 14389, Page 63 of the Deed Records of Tarrant
County, Texas, and a portion of the tract of land designated as First Parcel
in such deed —Christian

20. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE REAL
PROPERTY BY PURCHASE OR BY EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR
THE TRINITY RIVER VISION PROJECT— Fee simple title to the surface
estate only, including improvements located thereon, of the following
tracts: Lots 10 and 11, Block 40, North Fort Worth Addition, an addition to
the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas; Lots 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,
15, 16, 36, and 37, Block 37, North Fort Worth Townsite Companys
Subdivision, an addition to the City of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas;
and 5.005 acres of land comprised of all Lots 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, and the
North 30 feet of the tract of land adjoining the Southeast boundary line of
said Lot 7, Block 251, and all of Lots 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34, Block 37,
North Fort Worth Townsite Companys Subdivision, an addition to the City
of Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas; and the portion of North
Throckmorton Street, closed by City Ordinance No. 2036 of the City of Fort
Worth, lying between said Blocks 37 and said Block 251, and said 5.005
acres of land—Christian

21. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE REAL
PROPERTY BY PURCHASE OR BY EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR
THE TRINITY RIVER VISION PROJECT— Fee simple title to the surface
estate only, including improvements located thereon, at 921 North Main
Street, Tarrant County, Texas—Christian

22. CONSIDER APPROVAL OF AUTHORIZATION TO ACQUIRE REAL
PROPERTY BY PURCHASE OR BY EXERCISE OF EMINENT DOMAIN FOR
THE TRINITY RIVER VISION PROJECT— The surface estate only of
approximately 0.688 acres of land, including improvements located
thereon, located at 1000 North Main Street, Fort Worth, Tarrant County,
Texas—Christian

23. SCHEDULE NEXT BOARD MEETING

24. ADJOURN

"If you don't have mineral rights...

You don't have any rights at all".   Well said from a gentleman in West Texas who is another victim of the Shale.

Check out his video, the Gardendale Accountability Project, on TXSharon.  Also, check on the connection video.  YOU can't afford to miss them.  YOU could be next.

Is it ok, until it happens to YOU?

Arlingrton Arrogance in Action

Last week we told you about residents being escorted out of an Arlington CITY COUNCIL meeting by POLICE.  Now, thanks to our friends in Arlington, we can show you. 

We've been to meetings like this before.  Mayor and council cutting off citizens, turning off the microphone, smirking, etc.  WHO does the City Council work for??  WHY do you think we want YOU to vote?

Fort Worth Fail...Again

The 7th Street Gang rides again.

Betsy Price has been elected Mayor of Fort Worth.  When you can no longer afford all the city is committing you to paying for, ask then if the price is right.

Is it true only 3.5% of voters bothered to vote?  YOU have no idea what that just cost you.

The other 96.5% of you, not one word about local government from you.  You didn't use your voice Saturday, we don't want to hear it any other day.

Good luck Cowtown, you're going to need it!

Cooks Lane Pipeline

Lots of information sharing in Fort Worth these days.  A couple of incoming emails.  WHO has the scoop?  WHO's land will be next?  YOURS?

Just wanted to touch base with you and wanted to let you know that Texas Midstream, a division of Chesapeake, just served us papers for our land on Cooks Lane where the Best Western project is supposed to go and they want to take over the land for a period of two years to develop an underground pipeline. They are currently going through the process of eminent domain to obtain the easement rights to take over our land, can you pass this message along to our east Ft. Worth community so everyone can see how a big bully is now pushing us around to get us to do what they want.

____________________________________________________________________________

The land mentioned in this email is at the NW corner of I-30 and Cooks Lane, close to where I used to live. There was going to be a new Best Western hotel there, but now Chespeake is taking it to put a pipeline through there. Think anyone would want to stay in a hotel built over a gas pipeline?

I don't know which direction the pipeline will go in - north and south, crossing under I-30 or east and west. If it's east and west, then they will probably go through the Morrison Ranch which is just behind the houses in Cobblestone. This might be a good time for people living there to get out before the pipeline goes through.

MHMR Client calls 911

From MHMR lobby.  WHY didn't you see it on the "news"?  Good question.  ASK them.

You can see it on the Paradise Center Scandal blog.

Be sure and read the comments.  It tells you who the elected officials are that should be paying attention.  ASK them WHY they aren't.

Right on the Money

A letter in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram speaks volumes.  There's no abundance of water but while the city goes broke, the Tarrant Regional Water District and the Trinity River Vision Authority seem to have an abundance of money.  Someone should ask the gas drillers and the politicians where they got it? 

Trinity travails

Tubing on the Trinity, skiing on the Trinity, wakeboarding on the Trinity, kayaking on the Trinity -- we have all this while area lake levels are dropping at what should be an alarming rate.

Please tell me I'm not the only lifelong resident of Fort Worth who remembers when crossing the Trinity most summers meant not getting your feet wet.

The Trinity River Vision in conjunction with the Tarrant Regional Water District is wasting our most precious resource by creating the illusion of an abundance of water in downtown Fort Worth.

By now, economic development by the water district should be considered a clear conflict of interest. How do you draw new business into a region where lake levels are at double-digit lows, where they will be soon, and where future water resources are a question mark?

Tubing on the Trinity is not the answer.

-- Keith Charles, Fort Worth

Arlington Arrogance

The citizens who attended the meeting in Arlington this week must have felt like they were in Fort Worth.  Read the Letter in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Good question. 

No speaking allowed

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck is choosing to use his position as a bully pulpit.

The Tuesday council meeting was a short 90 minutes, yet Cluck refused to let a number of reasonable residents speak about the transportation development plan before the council voted.

He announced he plans to do the same thing for the hike-and-bike public hearing on June 28. Two 30-year plans -- and the mayor will only allow 20 minutes for each side?

How can residents be part of the public process and go on record if they are not allowed to address the council?

-- Kimberly Frankland, Arlington

Word on the street

Is that a body was pulled from the Trinity River last night.  Near the area the Trinity River Vision Authority wants you to launch your tube.

Keller Citizens Catching On

Due to KISD wanting to raise taxes, citizens have taken to the web.  Check out their site, lots of good info.  Watch their Youtube video and VOTE SATURDAY!!!

Crooked Creeks

WHY would a fracing truck be backed up in the woods in Fort Worth?

 Oh right, there's a creek in those woods.

WHO all is involved with "clean" "safe" drilling in Fort Worth?

Think it's not happening here?  Check out the sites in YOUR neighborhood.  Lots of them seem to be awfully close to OUR waterways.

Ask WHY? 

And WHO is watching?

WHERE do those creeks flow?

Straight into the River of Denial. Just another Cowtown Connection.

River of Denial

Guess there is a reporter in the county, and his name is Dan McGraw.

Don't miss the Fort Worth Weekly article, Unleashing a Flood of Questions.  You know how we love questions. 

This isn't a PR piece brought to you courtesy of the Trinity River Vision or the Tarrant Regional Water District or the Congresswoman's office.  YOU can't afford to miss it.  After all, it's YOUR $909 million.  Every penny of it.

Projected costs for the project have ballooned to about $909 million. The economy is still in the Great Recession, and federal, state, and local governments are all facing severe budget shortfalls that will leave their mark for years to come. Congress has put a temporary ban on earmark bills, the strategy by which local project funding was routinely added to unrelated bills and that U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth used to get about $60 million for the TRV in the past. And the Corps, faced with continuing fallout from the Hurricane Katrina debacles in Louisiana and this year’s massive flooding along the Mississippi, is dealing with many projects much more critical than improvements in Fort Worth to a river section that hasn’t seen significant flooding in half a century.

The Trinity River Vision Authority is the governmental agency created specifically to oversee this massive project, but the officials on its governing board are appointed, not elected by the public.

WHO was appointed to head it?  Oh, that's right, JD Granger, son of the Congresswoman.

The federal funding component of the TRV is now $487 million of the $909 million. That includes the Corps’ flood control work, along with contributions from federal transportation, economic development, housing, and environmental protection agencies.

In the convoluted world of Washington, as in Fort Worth, it is hard to get clear answers on where the Trinity River Vision stands. The Corps has ruled that the project is “technically sound and environmentally acceptable,” but the funding must be approved on a year-by-year basis. In the past five years, about $29 million has been appropriated for it. But that is nowhere near the Corps’ $466 million price tag to finish it.

“I think this is becoming a bait-and-switch plan, something private businesses would be prosecuted for if they did it,” said Steve Hollern, a local accountant and former chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party. “What the TRV is doing is buying property, tearing down buildings, using eminent domain, and having very little chance of getting the federal funds they need to complete it.

Granger wholeheartedly disagreed. “I am not concerned about the federal funds drying up, because this is primarily a flood control water project, and those have been a top priority in Washington,” he said. “This is not a short-term solution to flooding issues on the Trinity River, but a long-term plan that solves a very real problem.”

There are a number of opponents to this project, but they are very much in the minority,” Granger said. “Most citizens of Fort Worth I talk to see value in this project. It will change this city in so many ways, all of them for the better.”

JD should get out more (we don't mean on 7th street).  The minority is growing.

Arlington headed the Fort Worth Way

No wonder they needed the Save Arlington website. 

Local residents were thrown out of last night's City Council meeting in Arlington.  By police.  WTH?  Seems the opponents of the Hike and Bike plan (that ties closely in with the Thoroughfare Plan) outnumbered the proponents by a long shot.

Seeing as how the majority of the Council was set to vote for the plan, they didn't seem to like the fact they would be doing so in a room full of folks who have ran the numbers and know the issues.  Therefore they limited the speaking time to 20 minutes.  WHAT?  Isn't it in the Charter that anyone who signs up to speak shall receive their allotted time?  Instead, a citizen was told they had 10 seconds to speak.  We voted on what we'd say in 10 seconds, we won't repeat it here.

Another resident said it best, "Turns out there ain't much free speech in city hall unless you agree with them".

Up on the Hill

For days now Durango has been scoping out the pre-drilling activities taking place near what's known as Broadcast Hill on the Tandy Hills of Fort Worth.

Now the council has voted unanimously to give an existing Fort Worth business a tax abatement to move to another location in Fort Worth.  Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  You have to read it to believe it.

So Channel 5 moves their station, Fort Worth keeps the land and mineral rights, and gives NBC 5 a tax abatement.  Yet we can't find the money to help companies who have spent decades creating business, jobs and revenue in Fort Worth?  Or to keep Arlington Heights from flooding?  Or to fix any roads?  Or to have adequate emergency services north of the loop?

Scarth and other council members pledged that the neighborhood will fully vet the land use.

Didn't they pledge Riverside Park wouldn't be flooded if the neighbors didn't want to as well?  What happened to that pledge?  Wasn't Scarth the councilman with some conflict of interest issues?  See why YOU should vote?

Something smells fishy.  It ain't just the Trinity River.

Connected in Cowtown

WHO is writing letters for Betsy Price?  One name that keeps popping up over and over with the Fort Worth School Board.

This letter writer is a very close friend to another Tarrant Regional Water District member.  The letter writer also wrote a letter to the drillers recently and recalled it after it was made public (see above link).  And was mentioned again today in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Interesting note.  And the circle keeps getting smaller.  That's what happens when things start going down the drain.

Vasquez said that when it comes time to appoint trustees to the boards of the city's tax increment financing zones, called TIFs, the nod usually goes to the trustee who lives in the same district as the TIF. But in October 2009, trustees appointed Needham to a TIF board for the Trinity River Vision project, which is in Vasquez's district. At the time, Vasquez expressed disappointment that he was not selected.

"We do things historically when they're convenient," Vasquez said.

Fort Worth's Seventh Street gang

Being called out in the Texas Tribune.  (via the New York Times site).  That should tell you something.

VOTE Saturday!

What's in the water? Kool-Aid

Interesting letters in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as of late.  The following may be one of our favorites.  Seems a lot of folks crossing party lines on the supposedly nonpartisan Fort Worth Mayoral election.  That's a good thing.

Don't drink the Kool-Aid, it's too expensive.

I urge all readers to vote for Jim Lane, a proven leader, successful lawyer, small businessman and Vietnam veteran. Jim has an outstanding record of public service to our city and community. Don't drink the Kool-Aid being prepared by Kay Granger, Mike Moncrief et al. and served by Betsy Price. I am a proud Republican and urge you to join me and vote for Democrat Jim Lane for mayor of Fort Worth.

-- William Head, Fort Worth

Time to Vote...Again

The Fort Worth Business Press has quotes from each Mayor candidate.  While we were left with not much for our choices, we're voting for Jim Lane.  He wasn't hand picked by the 7th Street Gang.  Which while surprising, speaks volumes.

If you're in District 7, vote for Jon Perry, he's not the 'establishment' candidate. 

Do YOU want someone watching out for YOU?  or the establishment?

VOTE.

TRV aka - Kay's Swamp

That is the title of the email we received.  Read along and remember, it could happen to YOU.

TRV HAS WON! After being near downtown for 58 years...

ALLIED FENCE IS MOVING ON JUNE 17, 18, 19th.

I have served my country, worked for my dad, Bill, all my life in the fence business.  The pressure and loss of sleep has taken its toll on me.  TRV will pay for one move, not two!  They will not give me time to build a new place.  TRV says, "Go, Go, Get out now".  So now I will be out about $50,000 to move, they don't care - get out!!  This is what you don't see in the paper or on the news.  Why not??

Good question.  WHY doesn't the "news" report on the existing businesses being railroaded by the Trinity River Vision?  Ask them.  NOW.

Name your Price...

Mayor Moncrief has announced his support for Betsy Price.  What does that tell you? 

THE PEOPLE have plenty to tell you, read the comments on the Fort Worth Star-Telegram article.

Well if Mongrief says Price is the man, then that's enough for me. I'm voting for Lane.

So are we.  Don't be sheep -

VOTE!!!

Different City, Same Story

What's the difference in Dallas and Fort Worth?  Not much, except Dallas is ahead of the game.

In both cities, it all comes down to the river, the money, the politicians and the "news". 

Yesterday we told you what the Dallas Morning News did.

Read what the Observer had to say about the Trinity River Boondoggle, Dallas edition.

For 14 years the Morning News has been a principal proponent of the Trinity River Project, a highway-building and real estate redevelopment scheme along the river in downtown and southern Dallas. In the meantime the Morning News editorial page has been especially muscular about calling for certain types of businesses to be thrown off land that they own and occupy near the river, by any means possible.

Wake up, Fort Worth, before you're sold down the river.

Trinity River Shocker!

A newspaper admits they were misled by politicians and in return misled voters.

Shocked? 

Well, don't be, because this paper that manned up and admitted it is in Dallas, not Fort Worth.

Same Trinity River, different story.

Read what the Advocate had to say about it here.

Kudos, Dallas Morning News, better late than never.  Hear that, Fort Worth? 

If the "news" becomes just a "pimp" for the politicians, what does that make YOU? ASK your local media.

...the incident will “shake some people’s confidence in city government. And the next time elected officials say, ‘Trust us,’ voters may not.”

In fact, the newspaper was pimping the Tollway just as much as the supposed city “leaders” were, and that’s the main reason Leppert and others were able to get away with misleading voters — it wasn’t in the DMN‘s interest to find the real facts related to the Tollway because the paper had already come down hard in favor of the project, and against opponent Angela Hunt, so many times and so stridently.

NY vs. Texas

What's the difference in New York and Texas when it comes to fracing with the water?

New Yorkers are standing up for theirs.  Where ya at now, Tommy Lee?

Check it out on TXSharon.

If your friends jumped off a bridge...

Would you?

With the Trinity River Vision Authority tube the Trinity Happy Hour float kicking off today, we thought it was appropriate to remind you WHY you don't want in the Trinity River.
Next time the Tarrant Regional Water District or the Trinity River Vision Authority tells you to "jump on in" or Tube the Trinity River, remember this...and this...and this.

Don't buy the BS.  YOU can't afford it.

We like the new Tarrant Regional Water District logo.  (Wonder what that rebranding cost YOU?)  Looks a lot like the Trinity River Improvement Partnership logo.  We're sure it's just a coiencidence.

Fort Worth Ethics

Don't worry, we still don't have any.  And they are looking to change what we do have...

Don't forget there are still questions on the legality of HOW the new ethics committee was formed in the first place.

Attend the meeting.  Be heard, or continue to be sheep.

Some interesting comments from THE PEOPLE in Fort Worth.  You know, the ones the Ethics Committee is supposed to look out for.

What are the proposed amendments? Is it a rehash of the same ones proposed before, that violated State Law?

Has anyone received any information on the meeting regarding the Fort Worth Code of Ethics changes? Despite Ethics Committee member Jim Lanes request for interested individuals to be informed on these matters, it seems the City of Fort Worth leadership chooses to keep people in the dark as usual. It would also seem this matter should be postponed until after the Election.

ETHICS REVIEW COMMITTEE
AGENDA
Thursday, June 9, 2011
2:00 P.M.

City Hall, City Manager’s Large Conference Room (Room 380), City Hall,
1000 Throckmorton, Fort Worth, Texas 76102
___________________________________________________

1. Call to Order/Welcome - Robert Aldrich, Chair
2. Approve Minutes of April 29, 2011 Meeting - Robert Aldrich, Chair
3. Discussion and Review of Proposed Amendments to the City’s Ethics Code - Sarah Fullenwider, City Attorney, Peter Vaky, Deputy City Attorney
4. Citizen Comments (5 minute limit per speaker) - Robert Aldrich, Chair
5. Future Agenda Items - Committee
6. Next Meeting – To be Discussed
7. Adjournment

Good ol' boys...

The women are coming for you.  It ain't just Wendy Davis.  Last night a Dallas County Commissioner stormed out of a meeting in which the redistricting map was changed at the last minute.

While we don't usually agree with storming out of a meeting, or the politics involved in redistricting, we salute Maurine Dickey for standing up and saying what THE PEOPLE needed to hear.  If more politicians did so, they wouldn't need to worry as much about being reelected.

Check it out on NBCDFW.com.

Trinity River Drowning

Fort Worth City officials presented two firefighters with awards at the recent City Council meeting for saving some folks from drowning on the Trinity River in Trinity Park.

Last year a man drowned there while trying to save his daughter.

Is this the reason the Tubing on the Trinity was moved?  Or was it the reason Durango pointed out?

Using YOUR kids...

Don't miss the comments from THE PEOPLE on this article about the Tarrant Regional Water District and the Trinity River Vision's school kid art contest concerning the the Trinity River.

Again, you can't make this stuff up.  WHO were the judges of the contest?  None other than our Congresswoman, Kay Granger and Tarrant Regional Water District board member, Marty Leonard.  For once, we agree with something Marty said, "The river belongs to all of us...", not our politicians... 

The contest was "What does the Trinity River mean to you?"  We'd love to see the rendering our congresswoman would submit. 

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Don't miss the comments, as usual, they are the best part.

Fort Worth Mayor Forum

Tonight's forum is sponsored by the Fort Worth League of Neighborhoods -

6:30 p.m.
University Christian Church
2720 So. University Drive
Fort Worth, TX 76109

Tomorrow night's forum includes the candidates from District 7 and is the Community Arts - Scott Theatre.  They'll have Rahr beer and Paul Harral, the former Editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  We miss Paul. 

Attend a forum, ask a question.  VOTE.

We have a question for Dennis Shingleton, WHY would you not have a website?  We find Jon Perry at several meetings all over the county, see youtube videos and emails he sends asking everyone to vote, even if not for him...We've yet to see the establishment candidate at a meeting and we can't find a website.  Ask WHY?

No wonder

Argyle needed a website.  Seems they need some council members that aren't in Junior High as well.  You wouldn't believe it unless you see it, check it out on TXSharon. 

Think it's not going on in your town?  Attend a city council meeting...you'll see.

Mayor of the Trinity River

The comments on the Fort Worth Weekly article show that some are still confused.  To clear things up, Kay Granger asked Betsy Price to run for Mayor.  Not Jim Lane.  What does that tell you?

Read the article and the comments on Fort Worth Weekly.

Crossing party lines

WHY would Betsy Price not attend Democrat forums in Fort Worth?  Aren't there Democrats in Fort Worth?  Why, yes, there are.  As matter of fact, our Congresswoman was one before she switched sides. 

WHY would Betsy not agree to attend a forum in each district and turn down many organizations for an open debate?

Part of a recent letter may say it all -

We do not need a mayor who was anointed by the establishment.

We do not need a mayor who cannot find her way to a forum in Stop Six.

Trinity River Vision Eminent Domain and Stability

Seems they are just now testing the stability of the Trinity River bottom for flood gates.  Shouldn't that have been done early on in the game?  Shouldn't that have been done before displacing 90 long time property owners?  Or committing the taxpayers to a billion dollars without a say?  WHO is managing this project?

What will the cost be when it's determined unstable? 

What will the cost be when the "leaders" of the project are?

Unlike the Trinity River Vision Wakeboard article in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, this one did have the standard line of Trinity River Vision "flood control"...guess it's only a flood control project when they're taking someones property or taking money from the Federal Government.  What happens when they say no? WHO PAYS?

Fort Worth gets Flood control

Finally!  A wakeboard park.

We did notice the "news" left out the words "flood control" following Trinity River Vision, that may be a first. 

"It introduces people to the river that otherwise would never jump in," Granger said.

People aren't jumping in for a reason. 

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  You can't make this stuff up.

Meanwhile, on Rush Creek in Arlington 50 houses and 100 condos are being demolished due to repeated flooding.  Maybe they should get a wakeboard park too.

Flooding in the Shady Valley area has worsened over the decades as development has occurred along Rush Creek.

Guess that answers that...

There must not be a real reporter in the whole damn country. The video is just an example of the problem with the "news". 

If there ain't any, they'll make some.  If there is some, they'll change it.

Notice what the very last word you see in the video is. WHEN are you going to wake up and protect YOUR kids? No one is going to do it for you.  WHAT are you going to say when they ask WHY you didn't?

If the "news" can sell you crap like this, what are the politicians, water districts, and gas drillers selling YOU? 

OUT.