If a tree falls in the forest

And Republicans don't show up, does that mean it's not happening?

While we're not picking sides on this, but shouldn't those voted in to protect citizens show up to be educated?  Even if you don't believe, wouldn't it be a good time to ask questions?

A panel of scientists testified during a Senate committee briefing Wednesday that New Orleans may go underwater by the end of the century.

No Republican on the committee, including Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who is the ranking GOP leader on the panel, attended the hearing that featured scientists discussing global warming.

McCarthy said there is no general penalty for carbon emissions. “So we’re treating the atmosphere like an open sewer,” he said.

The oceans are rapidly warming and helping to power up storms and hurricanes, McCarthy said. Climate change is contributing to dramatic weather events such as longer droughts and even more extreme snow events, he said.

Read the rest here.

Dallas is talking about Fort Worth

Again.

Someone should be paying attention.  Maybe someone in the "news".

Read it here. 

It's getting deep, quick.

Is the point of an interview to answer questions, or avoid them?


Would I be able to see the master plan so I can kind of understand it better?No, I don't think so. That's just confidential information for our company. It's not public.

The two sites on city property with pending zoning permits -- they're both in the floodplain, correct? Yes. ... We worked with the parks board in developing those sites and they approved them. And then we also got approval from the Corps of Engineers.

Who was it? I'm not gonna name names because I'd rather not do that.

Was any of this put in writing or in a contract, or was it a verbal understanding? There was some documentation that I can't discuss.

Well I can show you hundreds of wells in Fort Worth that are 300 feet from the nearest residential use, and they live in perfect harmony with their neighbors.

Hear that, Fort Worth, perfect harmony...

Texas Fantasy Land

Read about our road crisis on Examiner.com.

WHO did this?  Those same folks who YOU voted in.

Texas lawmakers ears ought to be burning as they’ve sunk Texas deep into road debt, $31 billion (in principle and interest). Texas now leads the nation in road debt, which busts the fairy tale fantasy touted by Texas politicians that Texas is doing everything right.

In a panel discussion with four state lawmakers moderated by Rodger Jones of the Dallas Morning News, Jones opened with the question, “Why the sudden focus on transportation funding?” which to those following transportation, has been a problem for a long time. Senator Kevin Eltife aptly declared, “Because we can’t sell anymore bonds. We’ve maxed out the credit cards.”

Do the math

Recently Durango told you how Bud Kennedy mentioned (on his Facebook, not in the "news" paper) that the citizens of Fort Worth got screwed by Cabela's. 

That same paper posted some pretty telling info about Cabela's but never said, we're sorry for telling you it was the greatest thing ever, we were wrong. 

How many more projects and TIF's is the Fort Worth Star-Telegram promoting, and more importantly, WHY?

Remember those citizens that sued the city and spoke against Cabela's were labeled by the paper as naysayers and anti-business, when in reality, they were just speaking the truth.  YOUR numbers don't add up.

Growth surrounding the Cabela's sporting goods store in far north Fort Worth may have shown the store to be less of an economic development magnet than expected...

Cabela's said it wouldn't put a store in Fort Worth unless the city and other local governments agreed to finance infrastructure improvements around its Interstate 35W site through a tax increment financing district.

They did, but a city study last year showed the district significantly underperforming expectations. Taxable property values in the 981-acre district surrounding the 200,000-square-foot store had climbed to $45 million by 2011, but the figure by then had been expected to be $200 million.

Over the 20-year lifespan of the TIF, it had been projected to attract $573 million in new retail, hotel and commercial development. Activity would have to speed up very soon to meet that goal.

Trinity River Train

Our email has been filling up with emails to send in input on the latest Tarrant County boondoggle.

We're trying to figure out how it's any different than the Trinity River Vision.  The story and the players are all the same.

One of our members sat through a conference last week where many elected leaders (the same ones those asking you to contact elected) praised the rail expansion.  Those that did the electing don't want to pay for the boondoogle and realize it's a scam.  So will those sending us the emails explain how this boondoggle is any different from the rest?  Can they also explain to us why they keep electing the ringleaders?

Are some of the other cities catching on to the FW Way?

 --FT Worth bureaucrats seem to think that they can 'run the show' and everyone else will fall in line.

Train to Nowhere.

Given that there are not enough commuters that travel between Grapevine and downtown Ft Worth for this project to make business sense, we believe this is one of the largest wastes of taxpayer dollars ever seen in Tarrant County. 

Rail lobbyists are pushing once again for federal funding, tax increases and private investments to pay for an unneeded rail line that is the equivalent of a "train to nowhere."
 
Rail supporters would like to submit their report with no negative comments.
 
Your comments will be submitted with the report at the federal level and will help determine if funding will be granted.  A large number of negative comments will actually cause the request for funding to drop in priority, as it indicates low public support for the project.  We need to let Washington know that we don't want our money wasted on a very expensive project with so little benefit.  

What you can do to help prevent this phenomenal waste of taxpayer money:

1.Submit comments about the high cost, low benefit, and negative impact  to info@texrail.com.    Ask them to stop rail expansion in Tarrant County.  Note: Deadline is Feb 20, 2013 (may be extended to Mar 1).

2. Please help spread the word throughout Tarrant County.
 
Citizen comments (please feel to include any of these in your email):
 
--Many commuter rail systems around the country use electric trains (cleaner and faster), but this rail line will be diesel powered.

--Many suspect that taxpayers are being duped into paying for something that will primarily be for freight companies. 

--Diesel means more pollution and traffic congestion as a freight train can take 10 minutes or more to cross an intersection, including the southern entrance to Baylor Grapevine Hospital for more that 10 minutes at a time.

 --FT Worth bureaucrats seem to think that they can 'run the show' and everyone else will fall in line.  The suburbs will pay too much with little benefit and very little ridership and increased crime in the areas of the new station stops. 

--The only benefactor to this whole $1 Billion dollar waste is the freight companies who will get a line built at taxpayers' expense.

--The number of riders projected is extremely low.  The actual number of riders is almost always significantly lower than projected.

--While they have cut the proposed frequency of trains, the pollution, noise, traffic problems and the costs are all significant. 

--The original proposed cost of redoing the rails and infrastructure has gone from $300 million to nearly $1 billion. 

--The Ft. Worth T expects the federal government to provide $500 million of the $1 billion infrastructure costs. 

--The T wants every city along the line to either add sales taxes or give them the taxes from land along the line. 

--Grapevine has already given the T over $40 million over the past 6 or 7 years and they have nothing other than fancy brochures and a changed name to TexRail to show for the $$ they have spent. 

--The changes now don't even put a station in the Stockyards, where Grapevine wanted it.

--Colleyville has a grant from the US government of $1.3 million to put in "silent" crossings. This means that double gates will be placed at crossings, but that doesn't mean the trains won't blow their whistles, it just means they don't have to.   

--The proposed TEXRail project is not going to reduce pollution or traffic problems for North Texas--the T’s own study shows this. It will add pollution from autos / trucks due to the traffic issues for the many road crossings in NE Tarrant County, including 3 crossings in Colleyville alone. 

--The nearly $1 billion that the infrastructure will cost will never be returned to the local and federal budgets and the cost of operation of the line will recoup less than 10% of the actual costs in the fees collected from riders.

--The TexRail makes no sense financially.  There is no good way to get from Ft. Worth to North Dallas, Plano or other business areas. Once you get to a station, you have to find other methods of transportation to get to your destinations.

--The Preliminary Environmental Study doesn't give an estimate of ridership that comes close to justifying a rail line.  A set of bus lines would be far cheaper and more efficient and flexible.

--This is a boondoggle like this administration's Solyndra and other rail lines--like the line from Las Vegas to the far outskirts of Los Angeles.  It is not justifiable.
 
More info about rail expansion:
 
thegreattrainrobbery.org/index.php?id=59
 
Stoptrain.net

WHAT did he say?

Apparently Arlington has decided the citizens don't need to see what other citizens have to say.

WHY would Arlington's Mayor Cluck not want the citizens to see a portion of the council meeting?

OpinionArlington.com thinks it may be because of the idiotic racist comment that very same mayor made during a council meeting last year. 

WHAT do Arlington residents say?  You know, the ones that fund the circus.

Speak Up

Or forever pay increasing flood insurance.

FEMA has made new maps.  Which means depending on where you live, you may need new insurance because of it.

Does it sound rigged to you?

WHO is the NFIP? 

The 90 day comment period is open.  You better make some noise.

We'll be glad when that feces floating, wakeboard, restaurant, drive-in building, flood control project, the Trinity River Vision, is complete.  Won't you?

http://www.fema.gov/news-release/2013/02/12/public-invited-comment-tarrant-countytexas-preliminary-flood-maps

Once all comments and appeals are resolved, FEMA will notify communities of the effective date of the final maps. When a flood risk is identified, the next step is to consider the purchase of a flood policy from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP is currently undergoing a thorough modernization. Meanwhile, contacting a local insurance agent is the first step to gather information about insurance. Folks can visit www.floodsmart.gov or call 1-888-379-9531 to locate an agent in their area.

Since sliced bread

Back in the day, when Cabela's wanted to come to town, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram touted the move (which included huge tax abatement's) as the greatest thing since sliced bread. 

Now, Bud Kennedy says, "We're suckers".  No #$%@.  WHAT did the paper call those citizens that fought for Cabela's to not be built with YOUR money?

Durango has another field day with this latest "news".

What does the Fort Worth Star-Telegram say about things like the Trinity River Vision?  Oh right...wait until they spend a billion plus of YOUR money, then the paper will tell you, you're an idiot.

Only in Fort Worth...

First off it was not the people of Fort Worth who gave Cabela's tax breaks. That was done by the naive, incompetent, common senseless Fort Worth City Government, cheered on by the City of Fort Worth's propaganda purveyor known as the Star-Telegram.

The Star-Telegram repeated, over and over and over again, that the Fort Worth Cabela's would be the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas.

Depending on who was writing the propaganda the number of tourists ranged from 4 million to 8 million.

I was so appalled that I emailed Bud Kennedy about his 8 million visitors claim, along with the #1 Tourist Attraction claim.

Bud Kennedy replied to me by saying that I must be against business. I replied something like, "no, I am not against business, what I am against is a newspaper making ridiculous claims about something like a sporting goods store becoming the #1 Tourist Attraction in Texas, drawing up to 8 million visitors.

Maybe Bud should read some publications from the rest of the world from time to time.  Then he wouldn't be so far behind.

Field Day

The politicians broke ground on YOUR 97.5 million dollars.  WHY is a new Police and Fire facility needed?

Last year, the city sold its 48-year-old public safety training complex at 1000 Calvert St. to the Tarrant Regional Water District to make way for the Trinity River Vision.

Is that $100 million included in the TRV price tag?

WHO is paying for it?  That would be YOU.

The city is paying for the new complex through the sale of certificates of obligation, money from the Crime Control and Prevention District fund, and proceeds from the sale of the police headquarters downtown.

And Durango will have a field day with this –

Mayor Betsy Price said, "We will be the envy of the nation."

You can read the rest here -

What a Newspaper Should Be

A letter to the Fort Worth Weekly about Betty Brink’s passing, ends up telling you what a newspaper should be.

Kudos to the Weekly for being a real “news” paper.  The residents of Tarrant County salute you.  You too, Mrs.Brink.....

To the editor: I’ve read Betty Brink’s obituary a half-dozen times, and it’s hard to believe she’s gone. I can’t say enough about what a woman I never actually met meant to me.

My only regret is that I discovered Betty very late. She was on the cover of the Weekly, carrying on about the mayor’s desire to put the whole town of Handley at risk by mowing down an old roadside motel using a new method, unproven and untested, for asbestos abatement. Brink outed him, and the resulting furor ended his little effort to test the “Fort Worth method” on the people of Handley.

To say that Betty was the face of the Weekly is not incorrect. After that story, if there was a cover piece with Betty at the keys, I’d pick it up and read it, no matter what it was about. She loved outing corrupt government, public waste, and outrageous behavior by elected folks, usually subjects that had been largely left untouched. Mike Moncrief hated her and at one time told the city council that any employee found to be communicating with the Weekly would be fired. It didn’t have any effect.

Amazingly, the stuff she wrote about never seemed to be of interest to the local daily. She brought me to the newspaper at age 40, when I’d never been interested in it before. As I began to read other alternative papers and other dailies, I began to have a distinct opinion about Fort Worth Weekly: It’s like no other paper out there. They’ll tell you the rest of the story, about things nobody else seems to want to give space to. And it’s not yellow journalism at all. It’s added-value journalism, from writers like Betty who know where to find the bad apples.

I will miss Betty forever. We can’t replace someone like that, born and raised here with a voice that resounds through the community like an air raid siren. You have to build people like that, and they must have a natural desire to do that kind of work. I never expected to find the Weekly’s kind of quality in an “arts and entertainment” paper full of sex ads in the back. Boy, was I ever wrong.

Chris M. Waring, Hurst