Death or taxes?

Jeers in the Fort Worth Star Telegram:

To U.S. Reps. Joe Barton and Kay Granger, who are fighting the EPA on regulations that would curb mercury and other toxic pollutants being emitted from power plants and cement kilns. They profess that any increased regulation would kill jobs, apparently not caring that those same toxins can kill people.

-- Sharon Austry, Fort Worth

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Have you guessed

WHO will be bailing out the Fort Worth Cats yet?

YOU will.

Read Bud Kennedy's take about the Cats and the election...

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Under Pressure

Dear Neighbor,

At the risk of being repetitive, Cheaspeake Energy Corporation wants to bring unreliable noise control, uncertain air borne emissions systems, a track-record of inconsistent maintenance and event-response systems, and likely real estate value losses, to our backyard.  They want us to let them trade our former equestrian center for north Texas' (and maybe the nation's) largest, loudest, smelliest and ugliest "enclosed gas compressor station."  Imagine 15 of these massive engines sitting side by side and running 24/7/365 and you've got it!

Your neighborhood committee and many others are fighting this proposal with all of the resources at our disposal.

WITH SINCERE THANKS FOR ALL YOU HAVE DONE, A BIT MORE OF YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY NEEDED RIGHT NOW! So, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE...

CALL 817-392-8028 Monday or Tuesday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm..  TELL the Zoning Department you DO NOT WANT Chesapeake's request for a continuance approved and you do not want case #ZC-11-098 approved.

E-MAIL zoninglanduse@fortworthtexas.org no later than noon this Tuesday. TELL the Zoning Department you DO NOT want Chesapeake's request for a continuance approved and you DO NOT want case #ZC-11-098 approved (mention a COUPLE of reasons including finding a more appropriate location).

ATTEND the Wednesday, November 9th, Zoning Commission meeting at 10am at City Hall. (Be there early as parking can be difficult.)

The more we put the pressure on the City, the less likely it is that Chesapeake will succeed in their unreasonable, inappropriate request.  But, just remember...

YOU Are The Pressure! 

No One else Can Be The Pressure FOR YOU! 

Call!   -  E-mail!   -  Attend!

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Earthquake in Fort Worth????

The massive number of earthquakes in Oklahoma have TX Sharon's email inbox overflowing with earthquake notice from Oklahoma.

Read all about it on TX Sharon Bluedaze Drilling Reform.

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Yeah, we felt it too

There was an earthquake in Fort Worth tonight.  Well, we don't know where it was centered but we have reports coming in from North Fort Worth of a lot of shaking going on. And Google has lit up like a Christmas tree.  And, we felt the earth shaking.

Last night there was an earthquake in Oklahoma City.  Tonight an earthquake in Fort Worth.  What does Fort Worth and Oklahoma City have in common? Aside from gas drillers? 

Just saying.  And shaking.  On Saturday night in Texas.

Incoming update - 
Word is it was a 5.6 earthquake in Sparks, Oklahoma.  Like they say, what happens in Oklahoma, doesn't stay in Oklahoma...

What happens to water mains and gas pipelines when the ground moves?

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Whats in the Trinity River, again?

Kudos to WFAA for finally testing the water in the Trinity River and calling attention to it.

Mind you the numbers they will be posting are from City of FW and TRWD.  The same who weren't  testing the water while promoting the summer tubing series.  Oh and their spokesman says 'you still would not be able to tell the public it's safe'

Feel better?

Thanks to Chris Hawes and Libby Willis for finally getting it done.  Citizens getting it done.  We like it.

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How much Love?

People just keep asking about the Woodshed.  In a recent Fort Worth, Texas Magazine article Tim Love says he's going to write an open letter to the state about the bureaucracy of opening restaurants.  He says it's more difficult now and "To open a restaurant now is a minimum half-million dollars, probably $1.5 million. In my opinion, that isn't fair."

Probably?  He's not sure?  Isn't he opening the Woodshed?  People keep asking about the price tag of it, since it sits on Tarrant Regional Water District property.

And if you were wondering, yes, he plugged the Trinity River Vision.

He notes Angelo's Bar-B-Que gets it right and isn't going anywhere.  Too bad all their neighbors are being acquired by eminent domain.  He also mentions Railhead, which happens to be Charlie Geren's restaurant.

In Texas, we keep it in the "family".

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Fuzzy math...and water

The Fort Worth Business Press recently did an article on the recent meeting concerning the Texas water shortage.  Yes, "leaders" finally admit there is one.  (Remember back when the Biz Press was concerned about water?)

The article says Texas business could lose hundreds of billions of dollars due to having no water.  Don't worry, the Trinity River Vision will save us.  Or not.

Notice what they say about Proposition 2 and general obligation bonds.  Remember, you don't get to vote on those either.

State representatives and city officials convened for the Oct. 20 gathering, where a DFW Hyatt Regency ballroom echoed with urgency.

Officials hammered home some startling facts. Unless more water infrastructure is built, Texas businesses and their employees could lose $115.7 billion in income, according to figures released by the Texas Water Development Board.

If approved by voters, the constitutional amendment would allow the Texas Water Development Board to issue general obligation bonds for water infrastructure upgrades.

“Water is really about economics"

You can say that again.

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Fires and Floods

Go hand and hand.  Who would have thought?

FEMA fills you in.  So if a wild fire can cause a flood downstream, what else could?

Flood mitigation methods will also be discussed because flooding risks can jump after a wildfire, even in areas far from the fire that were not previously considered as having moderate or high flood hazards.

Flooding may be the last disaster wildfire survivors think they should guard against. When fire burns away vegetation, however, there is nothing to soak up the water from the heavy rainstorms that can occur in Texas. Storm runoff can cause severe erosion, mudslides and flooding.  

While the highest risk of flooding is for properties directly impacted by fire, it also rises for homes downstream or below scorched areas.

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More Dallas and Fort Worth

This time, it's the Trinity River.  If the boondoggle in Fort Worth doesn't work as it should (we're basing that assumption on other things in Fort Worth that don't work like they should) what happens downstream in Dallas?

Check out some comparisons on Durango.

The Dallas project began before the Fort Worth project. The Dallas project has been voted on by the Dallas voters. The Fort Worth project has not been voted on by the Fort Worth voters.

We really liked one of the comments....

Another difference in the project, Dallas media admitted they were misled by the politicians concerning their boondoggle, what?! Misled by a politician, say it ain't so...can you imagine that article in the ST?? Though it won't be the ST that outs it all, it will be a national outlet...how long will the ST stay afloat then?

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Which city?

Yelling, name calling, whistleblowers being retaliated against...

Today Dallas, tomorrow Fort Worth. 

See the latest drama at the Dallas County Commissioners meeting on WFAA.

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Proposition Reminder

Incoming from Haltom City.

In your recent post regarding Amendments to be voted on there was much discussion of Economic Development and eminent domain.

Besides the TRV here it is in our small town. See the 5000 word article printed earlier this year in the FWW. This would be a good reminder of what happens. 

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No Take Back's

Well, then again, it is Fort Worth.  What did you expect?

Do something already, before it's done to YOU.

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Just say NO

Many people have been asking about voting on the amendments in Texas.  Here's an interesting read we were forwarded.  WHY would some of these be coming right out of Tarrant County?  Where's that Attorney General when you need him?

This amendment will allow bonds to be sold to be used for a private commercial real estate development project and to pocket the profits. Public monies should not be used for private development. And it is highly questionable how the public can benefit from a developer building condominiums. It hasn't worked very well in the past--many big promises were made as to how the tifs would benefit us but it hasn't worked out that way.

This amendment allows counties to use eminent domain to take property and use for commercial interest. The sponsor of the amendment says it is to allow counties to build roads. But it also allows most anything else they can think of---just as happened which began the boondogle TRV project.

Voters already voted down a transportation bill for extensive rail projects that weren't liked and the same people who brought that item to the ballot are strongly supporting this--- so they can do an end-around the voters and decide to plan a rail project without public support. If this amendment passes, they can take private land without paying a fair price,  sell bonds without voter approval, and build whatever rail project they want,  then sell extra land to private developers to finish out project..... all without your approval and/or participation in the process.

Funding also provided by complicated tax refinancing similar to TIF'S. As you know some tifs have been a financial drain on taxpayers--they only help the private developer and big business, and not fulfilling the big promises of increased jobs and increasing tax base. They were also originally designed to use "blighted" areas for redevelopment but have turned out to be anything but that. The process has been abused in our area many times but voters are without recourse, once they unwittingly give up that power.

And the whole process depends entirely on the expectation that future property values will increase. If they don't the govt. entities must cough up the money somehow... so who do you think will pay if they are in danger of defaulting on their bonds?

I'm all for adding more rail projects but don't believe this is the way to do it after the TRV was shoved down our throat, leaving us with no recourse.

I'm voting no on all amendments,except maybe the first one.

Please join me in voting NO to prop 4 on Nov. 8

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Are Smart Meters mandatory?

We received an invitation and were asked to pass it along, be there November 5th.  And check out their website below.  Power to the people!

I have become aware of the Electrical Smart Meter (and on the water too!), deployment in parts of Texas (I live in NRHills), as well as other parts of the US and the world.  The installation is being treated as if it were mandatory by Oncor, Centerpoint and other distributors in Texas.  This is wrong!  There are many controversial aspects having to do with Privacy, personal freedom of choice, Health Concerns (serious), Over-billing, Ruined Appliances, House Fires…to name a few.

As a result – In an effort to get the word out to the public about the dangers and the infringements on their ‘choice’ and privacy, I created an event called “DFW Community Smart Meter Forum” which is taking place Nov. 5^th, 7-9 pm, at the HURST PUBLIC LIBRARY.

I wanted to know if your online blog/paper would be able to feature or insert a post about the smart meter issue and/or sharing also the upcoming meeting.

A friend and I have also created a website (still kinda new) called www.bantexassmartmeters.com where people can go to sign several petitions, read about Texas happenings etc.

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Dear Texas Attorney General

It seems some in Tarrant County might need to be taken out behind the Woodshed...

The citizens have taken a special interest in the new Tim Love restaurant on the banks of the Trinity River. They seem to have issue with WHERE all this public money for private profit is coming from.  THEM.

Check out the latest on Durango.  Then, sit tight, more to come.

Beale also told me that the Woodshed cost $1.2 million and that currently three entities, (Tim Love, Tarrant Regional Water District and Trinity River Vision Authority) are at odds over something, which is why the Woodshed sits on the bank of the Trinity River, unopened.

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Jeers to you know WHO

A jeer in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram caught our eye this weekend. We hear there's more to this jeer...stay tuned.

Jeers: To the people who encourage us to tube, swim, wakeboard and otherwise recreate in a river that is known to have contaminated fish and fecal matter in it, as shown on WFAA last month. Is the Trinity clean now? If so, who cleaned it?

-- Debbie L. Sheffield, North Richland Hills

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Proposition 2 - Texas Water

Our first sign something was wrong was the commercial on the radio.  A commercial about saving tax payers money.  It sounds like a joke.  It is.  Read the $6 billion dollar fine print.

The second sign was the email from Lon where the Proposition numbers were wrong.


We have to agree with this statement though...

I appreciate and respect why many of you distrust this because of our experiences with the Trinity Vision Project.

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Drilling Down

Contrary to what the industry says, there are down sides to drilling... and if you can believe this, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram mentions some.  Of course the article came from the Associated Press.

One of our regular contributors told us of a recent family trip out of state.  They stopped to stay the night in a small town but hotel after hotel had no rooms available.  When they finally found one with an opening, the clerk told them, "Get your family, get back in your car and get on the highway.  Drive to the next town and stay there.  They don't call these boys, "Oil Field Trash" for nothing..."

Now we aren't painting all the industry with the same brush, but when a hotel passes on revenue for a night, something's up.  Sounds like the crime rate.

Make note in the article of the difference in what happens in Texas.

In a modern-day echo of the raucous Old West, small towns enjoying a boom in oil and gas drilling are seeing a sharp increase in drunken driving, bar fights and other hell-raising, blamed largely on an influx of young men who find themselves with lots of money in their pockets and nothing to do after they get off work.

Authorities in Pennsylvania and other states are quick to point out that the vast majority of workers streaming in are law-abiding. But they also say the drilling industry has brought with it a hard-working, hard-drinking, rough-and-tumble element that, in some places, threatens to overwhelm law enforcement.

But he said that many in the industry obey the law and that authorities in Pennsylvania have less tolerance for troublemakers than police in small-town Texas, where rig workers are used to raising hell and getting a pass from law enforcement.

"You can do that [stuff] and get away with it," Bourque said. In Pennsylvania, "they look at it totally different."

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Another flood "study"...

This one in Arlington concerning Rush Creek Watershed.

Once it's completed FEMA and the Corp will get involved.  YOU know what that means.  Cha-ching.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.  Then watch the Arlington flooding that happened Wednesday, though no one is sure the cause for the water main break.  Those living near the waste water plant have been flooded many times in the past several years.  Maybe they should study that, too.  Check it out on Fox 4 news.  What all runs downhill?

In September 2010, Tropical Storm Hermine sent several feet of floodwater raging through dozens of west Arlington homes and the Willows at Shady Valley condos. The city, saying that no amount of dredging would stop Rush Creek from flooding, bought 48 of the affected homes and the condominium complex as part of a $16 million program to address chronic flooding.

During Tuesday's City Council meeting, interim Public Works and Transportation Director Keith Melton outlined a planned Rush Creek watershed study that aims to identify its true 100-year flood plain, which hasn't been updated since the 1970s.

Many of the homes in the Shady Valley area were built before those flood maps were adopted. Over the years, development upstream has increased storm-water runoff flowing into the creek and through the downstream neighborhoods, causing millions of dollars in flood damage.

Arlington wants to determine how high Rush Creek storm water could rise once the watershed is fully developed. Rush Creek, which encompasses about one-third of the city, is the largest of the city's nine watersheds and has the most undeveloped land within it, Melton said.

The study, set to be presented to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers in 2013, will help the city identify possible drainage and storm-water-retention projects to protect structures, interim City Manager Bob Byrd said. The studies could help FEMA determine a new 100-year Rush Creek basin flood plain, which could affect homeowners' flood insurance premiums.

________________________________________________

Some Arlington homeowners said they were shocked and completely helpless when a water treatment plant mishap sent water rushing through their homes.

“I’m a realtor and was working at my computer and happened to look out the door and saw water coming 90 miles an hour down the hill,” said Carol Cash.

She said this is not the first time water from the plant has flooded their home. And her family has been trying to negotiate a settlement deal with the city.

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