Getting Floored In Fort Worth By Ethan Hawke & His Grandpa

 I first saw the "Why was Ethan Hawke back in Fort Worth? Something to do with a movie starring his daughter" question this morning on the front page of the online version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and thought to myself, like so many times previous, why is this newspaper so goofy?

And then, later this morning, on Facebook, I saw that which I screen capped above.

The Star-Telegram's #1 opinionator and Fort Worth promoter, Bud Kennedy, goofily saying, in reference to Ethan Hawke, "It always floors me to think that Ethan Hawke is County Judge Howard Green's grandson,"

Why in the world would it floor anyone to think someone was someone's grandson? Does getting floored literally mean you collapsed on the floor upon hearing this?

Is anyone else in the Fort Worth zone feeling floored to think Ethan Hawke's grandpa is a county judge named Howard Green?

I am fairly certain this "news" has not floored me....

Bud Kennedy Awards Fort Worth A Gizzard For Panther Island Mess

I saw that which you see here on Sunday, via a right wing nutjob collaborator's Facebook page.

Well, actually, I only saw that which you see here when I clicked the collaborator's Facebook link to the YouTube video in which we hear the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy in, I suppose it must have been some sort of TV news segment, giving out "THE TURKEY AWARDS" with Mr. Kennedy awarding the GIZZARD FOR THE PANTHER ISLAND MESS.

You can watch the short 37 second video below, where you will hear Mr. Kennedy saying something like "If Panther Island just sits there for five more years it's gonna be a big problem for the city. If it sits there for five more months it's gonna be a big problem for Congresswoman Granger."

To which the other talking head replies something like "Because she faces a fight from the right..."

To which Mr. Kennedy interrupts to say "Because her son is running  the project", (or ruining the project, the audio was not clear).

I am somewhat clueless when it comes to understanding the retrograde politics of Texas. But somehow my somewhat clueless understanding tells me that in a sane world, a fight from the right, in its current form, should pose no threat to Kay Granger.

Particularly when you get a look at the right wing nut job who hopes to take Granger out in the upcoming primary. which we recently did in Liberal Lunatics Body Slam Pudgy Putnam.

Methinks, and again, I admit my understanding of Texas modern era politics is limited, but it seems to me the actual hope to end Kay Granger's reign will come from the left, not the right, with Granger flushed out to sea by what most Americans, and the rest of the world, are hoping will be the biggest BLUE TSUNAMI WAVE in American history.

And then, with sanity restored, partially built walls and bridges can be torn down and relegated to the dustbin of history.

Oh, almost forgot, the aforementioned YouTube video...

Bud Kennedy Fort Worth Fix Gets Over Dallas

Last night I wrote a couple bloggings about the subject of Fort Worth and the town's identity crisis. And then this morning I saw in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Bud Kennedy had written an excellent article about this same subject, but in a more thoughtful, less snarky way.

You can go to Here’s how to fix Fort Worth. (It’s not about Dallas, or pilots, or the cow.) and read the entire article, including comments. When I read the article this morning there were already multiple comments of the ironic sort, ironic in that those making the comments had zero self awareness they were verbalizing aspects of what's wrong with Fort Worth. That and sounding like the type Trumpistic morons who make ignorant remarks on a FOX NEWS online article.

I'll copy just a little of the article, including the section which nailed something which has long bugged me, that being Fort Worth's perverse Dallas obsession, and then end with those aforementioned embarrassingly stupid comments...

FORT WORTH

The day of reckoning has come for Fort Worth, blurring from a distinct metropolitan city into the western sprawl of the DFW metroglob.

A new business plan for the city included wakeup alarms for city leaders:

▪ Our residents are less likely to have a college degree than Houston’s or Dallas’, and nowhere near as well-educated as Denver’s or Austin’s.

▪ Even our high school graduation rate trails San Antonio’s or Oklahoma City’s, both working-class cities with a rough-and-tumble cowboy past.

So the blunt truth is: Fort Worth and Tarrant County are not very smart.

But we’ve got more problems:

▪ One in 12 city residents has to go to Dallas for work.

▪ Some outsiders see Fort Worth as hostile to young adults, people of color and foreigners.

▪ Worst of all, Fort Worth doesn’t cross anyone’s mind at all. We’re No. 16 in population but No. 48 in Google searches — less sought than Tulsa or Oklahoma City, down there with Buffalo and Fresno.

3. GET OVER DALLAS

The popular local T-shirt says “Life is too short to live in Dallas.”

A newer saying is: “Don’t Dallas my Fort Worth.”

Folks, poking fun at Dallas is a statewide tradition. But it’s meant to be in fun.

Dallas is not Fort Worth’s enemy. Dallas is one of Fort Worth’s biggest assets.

(It’s also becoming one of Fort Worth’s biggest employers.)

“Screw Dallas!” is not a successful marketing slogan. The city to the east was always the region’s banking and business hub, and new parks and bridges have made it more attractive to visit.

Fort Worth could take more of a cue from Arlington, a sales-minded city that has leveraged its center position to pick up Dallas visitors and dollars.

Sure, it’s OK to joke about Dallas. Houston and Austin folks do it, too.

But to the rest of the world, it only makes Fort Worth look small.

_____________________

So totally true. The Dallas obsession has always seemed bizarre to me. It comes across as over compensating for a civic inferiority complex. Fort Worth would do itself a favor by losing its Dallas obsession and its related nonsense, that being naming this that and the other thing, like an imaginary island "Panther".

And now those previously mentioned comments....

Gavin Michaels · Sioux City, Iowa

Bud Kennedy is exactly what u would think he is: a pudgy nerd flaming liberal that became a reporter just so he could get his rocks off pretending to be some arrogant genius burdened by the presence of us grunts and rubes. Kids don't grow up to be a Bud Kennedy.

Christine Ewing Hodge

Wow! What an insulting article. We were accused of all sorts of things I feel we don't deserve.

M Keith Smith · University of Texas at Tyler

As FW leaders become more liberal, our citizens become dumber — could be a correlation there, just saying....

Perhaps our schools are failing, specially younger grades, because of the large number of illegal alien children and anchor babies of illegals with limited to no English in their households — could be a correlation there, just saying....

Tax working class to build 'attractions' that create more low-wage jobs and benefit big business...typical high-brow liberal idea, Bud...worked so well everywhere else where in twenty years cities get hold hostage for another new stadium, just saying....

Mike Kelley · Arlington, Texas

WOW! Sounds like you really hate Fort Worth! I personally like the fact that we aren’t like Dallas, Houston, or Austin.

Will Smith

Bud Kennedy found yet another way to denigrate his home town. What is it about these Startlegram reporters and columnists that make them find so many ways to insult Fort Worth?

Arlon Hill

There trying to convert it to a liberal Austin type town full of snowflakes.

__________________

Yeah, sure sounds like Bud Kennedy hates Fort Worth. That or Bud Kennedy clearly sees areas where the town should make some fixes and changes and maybe some day in the future not be such a backwards backwater.

Have you ever had the fun of asking one of these dotard types to define "liberal"? You get about as accurate an answer as asking one of them to explain Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Or why the sun rises in the morning...

UPDATE: By Monday morning the comments you see above have been deleted. This is sort of understandable. It serves no one well to give ignorant people a platform of any sort to spew their ignorant nonsense...

Bud Kennedy Reporting For Star-Telegram From Fort Worth Of The North

Yesterday I saw that which you see here on Facebook. A posting by a Facebooker named Bud Kennedy sharing the fact that he has been away for a few days in Vancouver, B.C.

The place Bud Kennedy is away from is Fort Worth, Texas, where he can usually be found at a local restaurant or somewhere in the offices of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Bud Kennedy has multiple "journalist" roles. Among them he is the Star-Telegram's food critic, reviewing restaurants. Bud Kennedy also operates as one of the Star-Telegram's propagandists, serving as a mouthpiece for the bizarre good ol' boy and girl network which runs Fort Worth in what is known as The Fort Worth Way.

Put another way, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is not a real newspaper in the way most other towns have a newspaper covering local news with what is known as journalistic integrity. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram operates more like the old Soviet Union's Pravda, spewing the "party" line.

An example of this is the way Bud Kennedy and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, over the course of the current century, have covered the ongoing pitiful debacle known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision, or, America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Way back when this century started, soon after I arrived in Texas, well before I realized that the Star-Telegram was not a real newspaper of the quality sort I had been reading for decades whilst a resident of Washington, I remember one Sunday morning, opening the Star-Telegram, laying it on the floor, which was my usual reading position back when I still read a hard copy newspaper, getting prone with a hot cup of coffee, opening the newspaper to see a GIANT headline screaming TRINITY UPTOWN TO TURN FORT WORTH INTO THE VANCOUVER OF THE SOUTH.

What fresh ridiculous hell is this I remember laying there and wondering.

What could possibly turn Fort Worth into any semblance of Vancouver? Have any of these people actually been to Vancouver? A town with mountains hovering above it, with large bodies of water surrounding it, with a big scenic river running through it. A town which held one of the most successful World's Fairs ever held, Expo 86. And a Winter Olympics.

What could possibly be done in scenery challenged, clean/clear water challenged, Fort Worth, which could turn it into anything even remotely resembling anything in Vancouver?

And then I read about the "plan" to divert the Trinity River into a channel, thus creating a little lake and canals, which would result in a "waterfront" feature where residential and restaurant and retail developments would develop.

Oh, and three signature bridges.

There was no talk, at the time, about an imaginary island being part of the original vision. Or rockin' the river happy hour inner tube floats. Or an imaginary world class music venue. Or an ice skating rink. Or the first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century. Or a (long failed) wakeboard park lake. Or hiring a low level deputy prosecutor, with zero project engineering experience, as the executive director of the "vision".

The Star-Telegram breathlessly told its readers about this vision to transform Fort Worth. And as the years have passed, with no transformation, with the project evolving into being an embarrassing boondoggle, overseen by a local congresswoman's unqualified son, the Star-Telegram continues to operate as an irresponsible cheerleader for this blighted vision, failing even to report responsibly on the more obvious failures such as the multiple problems regarding the construction of three simple bridges intended to connect the Fort Worth mainland to that aforementioned imaginary island, built over dry land, awaiting the digging of a ditch to go under the bridges.

When I saw Bud Kennedy was in Vancouver I wondered to myself if being in Vancouver he spent any iota of a moment remembering his part in foisting the ridiculous Fort Worth as Vancouver of the South propaganda on his newspaper's readers, when all these years later that vision has become a BIG nothing to see, while the real Vancouver has continued its dynamic growth as one of the gems of the west coast.

So, I Googled "Trinity Uptown Fort Worth Vancouver of the South" to see what, if anything, came up. Well, several instances of the blog you are reading right now came up. Along with defunct links to Star-Telegram articles. And a link to something called the Fort Worth Forum, the Trinity River Vision section of a forum apparently dedicated to what would seem to be the rather limited subject of Architecture in Fort Worth.

The Fort Worth Forum link went to the first page of many pages which have accumulated over the years of the Fort Worth architecture aficionados discussing the Trinity River Vision. This discussion starts in 2004.

2004.

Thirteen years ago.

Below I gleaned some of the comment posts from way back in 2004. The posters are, ironically, quite excited about this wonderful vision which they think will quickly be transformative for Fort Worth. As the years have gone by I suspect some level of disappointment has set in. I have previously been told that some who participate in this Fort Worth Forum have been offput by this particular blog and its tendency to clearly indicate Fort Worth is way too often a naked emperor preening about its imaginary beautiful clothes.

And now a select few comments from the Fort Worth Forum...

Posted 15 June 2004 - 09:35 PM
I saw nice TV coverage of the trinity river vision meeting. Very positive, sounds like they have a quick timeline 6-8 year? Also was confused to Fox4 allusion that canals would be constructed to allow boating from Stockyards, and Cultural District to Downtown? Also nice teaser article in the S-T today about the kayaking in the river.

Posted 16 June 2004 - 07:10 AM
I hope they update their website now. And it's good they have a time frame, I was beginning to think the project was dead after not hearing anything for a year. But I'm so glad it's not, that section of town is going to be booming in a decade or so...just watch.

Posted 20 June 2004 - 09:37 AM
Fort Worth: The Vancouver of the South?

Posted 20 June 2004 - 12:05 PM
I absolutely love the plan. I think that the plan gives the city the chance to get national recognition, while also providing a strong incentive for a dense, highly populated and interesting urban environment that most cities would be very envious to have. Do you notice in the plan how the river and lake corridors would preserve prominent views of the county courthouse from long distances?

Posted 21 June 2004 - 08:38 AM
Personally, I'm extremely excited they're using Vancouver as an example. Has anyone here been there? I have, and they've done incredible things with their waterfront and downtown area, and if we use that as a model, we can't go wrong.  And what's this about rowhouses and whatnot? I was under the impression that the city/committee/whatever was stressing not just dense but highrise residential. That was one effect of Vancouver's waterfront-HIGHRISES!!! One more thing, I hope the final name for this district isn't "Trinity Point". It sounds like some cheesy retirement community or something. I think it should be called Uptown or Town Lake, something that defines it as a unique, diverse district rather than one consolidated project.

Cowtown Crude Finds Bud Kennedy Smiling Under A Trump Baseball Cap

Blog comment from Cowtown Crude this morning mentioning Trump and the Dallas/Fort Worth zones #1 Food Expert....

Cowtown Crude has left a new comment on your post "Wichita Falls Born Rex Tillerson Secretary Of State In Trump's Clown Cabinet":

Here's a link to a pic of your favorite Star-Telegram food reporter sporting a Trump ball cap.

The link to a pic linked to a Star-Telegram photo of the Star-Telegram's star reporter, Bud Kennedy sporting a baseball cap.

I could not make out what was written on the cap whilst looking at the original image. But I was fairly certain the cap said nothing like "Make America Great Again", which is what I thought was on all Trump caps.

So, I cropped and enlarged the image so as to make out what was written on the cap which Mr. Kennedy is sporting.

All  I could make out was "TRUMP 2014".

With the baseball cap referencing TRUMP and the year 2014 methinks this photo predates the point in time when our national nightmare began with Trump descending from his tower to inform the masses he was running for president with a platform calling for the Mexicans to pay for a wall he was going to build on America's southern border, among other loony ideas.

I am almost 100% certain the Star-Telegram's star reporter did not vote for Donald Trump and I have idea why he is so gleefully sporting this baseball cap....

Apparently Now Something Anonymously Completely Different

I am not quite sure how this qualifies as something completely different, but such was indicated by someone who goes by the name Anonymous.

A blog comment from this Anonymous person...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Will Truth & Justice Prevail In Largest Voter Fraud Investigation In Texas History?":

And now for something completely different:

Link

The link is a Facebook photo of Fort Worth Way propagandist and runway model, Bud the Dud Kennedy. His name is even up in lights.

I don't know how to make the URL shorter.

____________

The link to which Anonymous refers was an extremely long link, a link which I do know how to shorten, and did so by turning it into a clickable link which you see above. But you do not need to click that link to see that to which Anonymous refers.

That to which Anonymous refers via the link is the above photo of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's star investigative journalist and award winning food critic, Bud Kennedy.

I did not see the name in lights Anonymous mentioned til I saw "Budweiser" and figured that must be what Anonymous is talking about.

I have no idea what Bud Kennedy is doing in this photo. Is this a photo of his rumored tryout for Dancing with the Stars?

And why does Anonymous call Mr. Kennedy 'Bud the Dud'? If Bud's name were George would Anonymous call him George the Dud? Or was Anonymous exhibiting what he or she thought to be his or her rhyming cleverness?

Polluted Public River Floating Is One Of Fort Worth's Great Imaginary Success Stories

That which you see here is not a guy fishing in a dirty brown river.

What you see here is a guy testing water in a dirty brown river near the location of the notorious Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats at an imaginary pavilion at an imaginary island in the great success story known as Fort Worth.

The photo of the guy testing the Trinity was part of a Bud Kennedy article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

I came to be looking at this July 1 Star-Telegram article after someone named Anonymous  made an anonymous  blog comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind":

You might have missed this gem from the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism:

Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week

The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories.

_____________________

Now, that is just rude to refer to Bud Kennedy as the bloated face of Fort Worth journalism.

I agree with Bud Kennedy more often than I don't.

But, sometimes I don't understand how Bud Kennedy can type with a straight face some of which he types. I always assume he knows what he is typing is ridiculous and internally giggles. Or that he is just a big fan of creating ridiculous propaganda.

"The river’s makeover into a busy downtown tubing-kayaking attraction is one of Fort Worth’s great success stories."

A river makeover? Nothing has been done to that river that anyone would call a makeover. Some sand has been sprinkled to create a pseudo beach, and a couple outhouses have been installed on the south side of what is bizarrely called Panther Island Pavilion. Where there is no pavilion. But there is a small covered stage on the north side of the river.

A busy downtown tubing-kaying attraction?

Attraction? Busy?

Are you attracted to that attraction? I know I never have been, nor has anyone I've talked to. I've long opined that it is a sad indicator, and should be viewed as such, that Fort Worth is badly lacking in the outdoor water sport venues department. Thus so many people willing to get wet in that dirty river at that location.

Has Bud Kennedy partaken of the tubing-kayaking attraction? I know he likes to participate in local events.

And finally, the river's imaginary makeover is "one of Fort Worth's great success stories."?

One of Fort Worth's great success stories? I'm really not trying to be unduly snarky here, but I really can not come up with a single Fort Worth success story. And can not imagine characterizing those sad river floating events at that imaginary island as a success.

Really, I'm serious here, I can not think of anything that I might characterize as a great Fort Worth success story.

Having the #1 tourist attraction in Texas, via the Cabela's sporting goods store? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories? Nope. That one did not work out, despite the Star-Telegram, and especially Bud Kennedy's, touting it as such.

Having more wells fracked than another other city in the world? Is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having more outhouses in its city parks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Having fewer streets with sidewalks than any other big city in America, is that one of Fort Worth's great success stories?

Please, someone help me out here, what in the world could Bud Kennedy be referring to when he refers to Fort Worth's great success stories?

Read all of Bud Kennedy's Here’s the straight poop on that muck in the Trinity last week piece and see how many ridiculously absurd propaganda items you can find.

Of course the polluted river floating being one of Fort Worth's great success stories is my favorite Orwellian bit of propaganda.

Another gem is this paragraph....

Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river. It has been safe to swim, tube, raft or boat there most of the past year, but only boating or rafting is allowed along the Clear Fork stretch near Trinity Park or near South University Drive.

The embarrassing Panther Island nomenclature really needs to be put to rest.

What does that "Panther Island is one of the cleanest parts of the river" statement even purport to mean?

The chunk of land The Boondoggle identifies as Panther Island is dry land. The Trinity River is not nicknamed "Panther Island".

Or did I miss that memo?

Yosemite Sid Thinks Tim McGraw Deserves To Be Dixie Chicked

I saw that which you see here Sunday morning on Facebook, via Bud Kennedy.

Non Fort Worth locals, Bud Kennedy is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and a frequent guest on local TV news shows. And he writes restaurant reviews.

And appears on parade floats.

I have long envied Bud Kennedy's extreme prolific-ness in various venues, including Facebook.

So, in this particular Facebook post it appears someone I have  never heard of, Sid Miller, think it is disgraceful that Tim McGraw headlined an Anti-Gun Concert.

This is so disgraceful that Sid opined that Tim McGraw deserves the same fate as the Dixie Chicks. And that Sid is done with Tim's music.

I'm guessing Tim McGraw is crushed by the news that a Texas goober is done with him.

Along with posting the screencap of Sid Miller's posting, Bud Kennedy also wrote....

Stephenville walking cartoon Yosemite Sid Miller Sid Miller vs @TheTimMcGraw: Who ya got?

This Miller guy is known as Yosemite Sid? And a walking cartoon? I suspect it likely that Yosemite Sid must have a history of opining ridiculousness.

So, when I read Yosemite Sid's bit about the Dixie Chicks I felt compelled to add my two cents worth....

Same fate as what befell the Dixie Chicks? Aren't the Dixie Chicks on the comeback trail, what with the majority of the world agreeing with the sentiment they expressed earlier this century?

Bud Kennedy does not allow anyone to besmirch an American president on his Facebook postings, except for Jefferson Davis being fair game. This is why I did not specifically mention George W. Bush in my comment.

If the no presidents are allowed be besmirched rule did not exist my comment would have read that "...the majority of the world now agrees with the Dixie Chicks' sentiment about George W. Bush."

When I hit publish on my comment Facebook told me that the post to which I was commenting had been removed by the poster, and thus not able to be commented on. I have no clue as to why Bud Kennedy would have removed his Yosemite Sid Facebook post....

Why Shut Bud Up Via Facebook?

I think it was yesterday I came upon that which you see here, a Facebook page titled Shut up Bud - the Star-Telegram Boycott Page.

The BSTBP Mission Statement....

Dedicated to exposing the Fort Worth Star Telegram's liberal bias and conservative attack dog, Bud Kennedy. Encouraging FWST subscription cancellations.

Oh, where do I begin? Well, first off I will say I like Bud Kennedy. I do not think Bud Kennedy should shut up. And I will also say this Boycott the Star-Telegram Facebook effort is a bit ridiculous, in the same way most of those who spout Tea Party nonsense sound ridiculous.

This Facebook page is dedicated to exposing the Star-Telegram's liberal bias? I have lived where the local newspapers of record are liberal type publications. The Star-Telegram is not a liberal type publication. Bud Kennedy is a conservative attack dog? I think whoever wrote that might want to do some editing, because I don't believe Bud Kennedy is even remotely to be tarred with the conservative label. I assume the writer was intending to say that Bud Kennedy is a dog attacking conservatives.

Now, I can totally get behind criticizing the Star-Telegram and suggesting subscribers cancel, but not due to Fort Worth's pitiful newspaper of record having a liberal bias. But because Fort Worth's pitiful newspaper of record does such a poor job with investigative journalism and being the advocate of those who are not the rich and powerful.

An example, or two. The Star-Telegram totally ignoring the Pulte Wall of Shame. Or the Star-Telegram not coming to the defense of hundreds of victims of a greedy landlord's 30 day eviction notices.

And then there is the way the Star-Telegram acts like a Chamber of Commerce cheerleader booster of America's Biggest Boondoggle, that slow motion pseudo public works project which has been ambling along for most of this century, with little to show for the effort, ramrodded by the totally unqualified son of a local congresswoman, J.D. Granger.

A liberal progressive newspaper of record in one of the modern democratic locations in America would have been all over the corrupt nepotism which gave J.D. Granger a job for which he had zero qualifications, particularly after nonsense like inner tube floating beer parties in the polluted Trinity River became one of The Boondoggle's many dubious "products".

An embarrassing Tea Party-esque post from the Shut Up Bud Facebook page....

Of course Bud conveniently ignores that the biggest racist in America today resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The current resident there exploits identity politics to deliberately create racial division in order to win elections. But Bud is more concerned with a republican precinct chair from Arlington. Oh gosh it just occurred to me - Bud is doing the same thing as Barack - he is just a hack opinion writer so isn't as good at it. Shut up Bud.

Oh yes, imagine that, Bud ignoring something that does not exist, as in the biggest racist in America is living in the White House. How do the numbskulls who spout this type nonsense not realize how stupid they sound? And how out of touch they are with the majority of America, and the World?

And then there was the following embarrassingly dumb Tea Party-esque post....

Sigh - here we go again. Bud doubling down on the liberal narrative and talking points on the Syrian refugee issue. It's not Christian after all if you're not willing to expose your family to potential terrorists. Obama created this refugee crisis when he drew a fake line in the sand, and didn't back up his idle threat. Where's that column Bud you worthless jackass?

Oh yes, the "liberal narrative". Obama did not back up his "idle threat"?  I guess those have been imaginary airstrikes hitting ISIS.

It seems to me that most of those who try and make "liberal" a dirty word can not come even remotely close to defining that which they disparage. Ask one what a "liberal" is and you will either hear crickets or idiotic ignorant nonsense.....

On Tuesday Why Did Voters Not Approve Moving Fort Worth Or Democracy Vouchers?

When I voted in Tuesday's Texas election I found myself thinking, once again, how bizarre the voting in Texas is.

As in, how bizarre how few things there are to vote on.

And how bizarre that the only things on this most recent ballot were amendments to the Texas Constitution.

The long-winded verbiage on the ballots, explaining each amendment, was confused gobbledygook.

And yet Texas voters passed all the amendments on the ballot.

The one amendment which I could pretty much make out what was being voted on was #7. In this amendment voters were voting to approve billions of dollars to be spent on roads, with no new taxes, fees or tolls.

Huh?

The amendment did not spell out where this road money was going to be spent, or specify where the money for the road building was coming from.

And why is such a thing an amendment to a state's constitution?

Do any of the other American states put goofy constitution amending stuff like this on their ballots?

I suspect not.

Even a General Election in Texas is bizarre with the few items to vote on.  No wonder so few Texans bother to vote.

And how come the Texas Election Committee, or whatever it is called, does not mail voters a Voter's Pamphlet? My old home state did this. The issues being voted on were explained, along with pro and con statements. Information about all the individuals running for the various offices, at the state level, is also included.

Speaking of Washington....

So, let's go to Tuesday's election in my old home state to see why it is I find Texas elections so bizarrely nonsensical. It costs a lot of money to stage an election. To do so with only goofy nonsense on the ballot, that should have simply been measures passed by the state legislature, well, like I said.

Bizarre. And nonsensical.

So, that long skinny graphic you see above is all I could screen cap of what was on the ballot on Tuesday for Seattle voters.  I got this from the Seattle Times. Yet one more example of something I see in a west coast news source that I would not see in the Star-Telegram.

Or any other Texas newspaper.

As in a ballot with lots of actual meaningful stuff to vote on.

I had to shrink my browser's text to 25% to capture what I could of what was on the Seattle ballot.

This was an off year election. Yet on the Seattle ballot there were some substantial issues which the voters said yes to. Such as the "Move Seattle" ballot measure.

In Proposition 1, known as Move Seattle, voters voted to spend $930 million over nine years on various transportation projects, including one I think to be quite cool. That being 60 some miles of elevated bike paths.

Note the last line in the graphic above, informing us that Snohomish County voters passed a transit issue regarding buses. Snohomish County is the county adjacent to Seattle's King County to the north. My old home county, Skagit, is the next county north. All the counties in the Puget Sound zone have voter approved public mass transit.

Seattle voters approved Move Seattle and its almost billion dollar price tag. A price tag very close to the current cost of America's Biggest Boondoggle, that being Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which the public has never been allowed to vote on, hence that project is not fully funded, hence that project has no real project timeline, unlike Move Seattle, which, with its 9 year project timeline, will be finished in 2024, a year after The Boondoggle is currently claiming its project will finally be finished.

Even though America's Biggest  Boondoggle has no actual project timeline because the project is not fully funded.

Somehow I think Move Seattle will be moving Seattlites long before Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision moves anyone anywhere. Except  maybe to jail after convictions for criminal malfeasance.

I digress.

Another thing on the Seattle ballot. Democracy vouchers. Approved by the voters.

I had no idea what Democracy vouchers were before I read the 'Democracy vouchers' win; first in country article in the Seattle Times.

I can not imagine such a measure on a Fort Worth or Texas ballot. Well, maybe in Austin.

Click the link to the Democracy Vouchers article. Read the article. Ask yourself if you can imagine reading such an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. As in the Seattle Times article about Democracy Vouchers is very detailed, very balanced, very well written, sort of edgy, sort of self deprecating, sort of sophisticated, and well, just overall very intelligent.

All attributes one rarely finds in the Fort Worth Star Telegram.  Except, maybe, occasionally from Bud Kennedy. And even then it is a bit of a fluke.....

Elsie Hotpepper's Bud Kennedy Cheerleading Turkey Nightmares Led Me To Why So Few Texans Vote

Last night Elsie Hotpepper sent me a disturbing text message informing me that she was unable to sleep due to the fact that she could not erase the disturbing image of Bud Kennedy in a pleated skirt, with ankle socks stuck in saddle shoes, wearing a Fort Worth logo-ed sweater doing cheerleader routines for Fort Worth's Godfather of the Good Ol' Boy Network, Ed Bass.

To which I texted back with a simple, 'HUH?"

To which Elsie texted that the nightmare image came from reading the 2014 Fort Worth Weekly Turkey Awards.

Since I had no idea what Elsie was talking about and since I had no memory of anything in the Turkey Awards having to do with Bud Kennedy wearing a skirt, I decided I must not have read the Fort Worth Weekly 2014 Turkey Awards with the attention level  they deserved.

And so I took a fresh look.

The first  thing I noticed that I'd not noticed before was that which I screencapped above, the text of which I will copy below...

The Big Bird Goes to: Non-Voters

This year’s dedication of the Big Bird, our sweepstakes Turkey, will be short and sour. It goes to the 83 percent of registered voters in Texas who stayed home on Nov. 4. Any organization — whether it’s the Democratic Party or the Republicans,  a church, a bunch of mega-corporations or the Mafia — that gathers too much power soon gets up to no good. At a time when this state is playing a major role in pollution and energy controversies that could affect the whole world via climate change, allowing so much power to concentrate in one party severely reduces the public debate on those and many other issues. And that’s what those who stayed home in November helped make happen.

Texas having the lowest voter turnout in the nation is a bit appalling, particularly when one looks at the result of the election. After the election I read an apropos blurb in, I think, the Washington Post, which may help explain the low voter turnout in Texas....

States where turnout is higher have a few things in common: Their populations are better educated, which correlates with higher turnout, and they have implemented rules that make it easier to vote, McDonald said. Maine, Wisconsin and Minnesota — all top turnout states — allow eligible citizens to register to vote on Election Day.

Well, there you go, quite simple, the Texas low voter turnout is yet one more bad result that comes about due to the population of Texas not being as well educated as those who received their educations in states with more progressive education standards.

And then I found that which gave the long suffering Elsie Hotpepper her nightmares....

Cheering a Big Land-Gobble

Bud Kennedy has been at this game long enough to get away with pretty much anything. And most of the time, the veteran Startlegram columnist comes from a good place. But when the civic discourse turned to the new arena at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in the Cultural District, Kennedy donned his saddle shoes, ankle socks, pleated skirt, and FW-emblazoned sweater and cheered on Ed Bass, the power broker behind the $450 million (and counting) monstrosity. In Kennedy’s July 18 remembrance of the Fort Worth Convention Center –– the structure that the 14,000-seat arena is supposedly replacing –– he managed to leave out a few pesky facts: that parking is at a premium in the jam-packed neighborhood and, much worse, that the public had little to no say about it, even though millions of taxpayer dollars had already been spent on infrastructure. On Nov. 4 voters easily approved the arena (including $225 million as the city’s share). Kennedy should have been calling bullshit on yet another sneaky, screw-the-little-people play. Did he uncharacteristically not do his homework, or was he kowtowing to his employer, which has a long record of kissing up to the power players?

I really do not understand why so many people pick on good ol' Bud Kennedy. Some have even taken to calling him Dud, rather than Bud. Mr. Kennedy works for  the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Why would anyone expect him not to act as a propaganda purveyor when his bosses deem some local issue needs a cheerleading spin?

Bud Kennedy is an excellent food critic due to being a professional food consumer. He writes at a voluminous level of prolific-ness which is astounding, including finding the time to play hall monitor on his Facebook page.

Some suspect there may be more than one Bud Kennedy, due to instances such as thousands seeing him on a parade float at the same time he's posting a plate of food he's consuming in a Dallas eatery. That type thing, while also deleting inappropriate comments from his Facebook page.

I do have to agree with the Fort Worth Weekly Turkey Award awarders that it is a bit odd that Bud Kennedy went along with the Multi-Purpose Arena scheme, man of the people that he be, and what with that Arena being sold as a replacement for the Convention Center Arena, which the propagandists claimed could not hold enough ticket buyers to attract major acts, but somehow the new arena, which can hold an additional two thousand ticket buyers, will somehow attract those acts which previously avoided Fort Worth like the plague.

Has anyone considered the possibility that there may be other reasons than arena size why major acts opt not to appear in Fort Worth and choose instead other venues in Dallas and Arlington? Venues that can hold way more than the 14,000 Fort Worth's new arena may hold if it actually ever gets built....

Fosdick Fountain Fizzles While Fort Worth's Favorite Blowhard Calls Mary Kelleher A Puppet

I'd not visited Fosdick Lake in Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park lately. Til today.

Upon arrival at the park's east side parking lot I immediately noticed something was missing because I was not seeing the white spray of Fosdick Fountain spouting above the lake.

Exiting my motorized transport device I soon saw that the former Fosdick Fountain has been reduced to a sputtering stubby version of its former self.

It has been at least a year since the mysterious appearance of Fosdick Fountain, suddenly spouting with no apparent fountain building project having been in evidence. And now something has turned down Fosdick Fountain's volume. Is Fosdick Fountain now in slowly disappearing mode?

Speaking of blowhards.

Whilst walking around Fosdick Lake I got a text message telling me that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy referred  to John Basham and Mary Kelleher as being puppets of Dallas puppeteer Monty Bennett.

That's the translated version. The actual text message said "Dud called John and Mary Bennett puppets."

I wonder if Bud Kennedy knows that a lot of people  refer to him as Dud?

I don't know why Bud Kennedy seems to have such a grudge against Mary Kelleher. Does it have anything to do with the fact that Mary Kelleher, and her supporters, refused to talk to Bud Kennedy on the night of her stunning, record breaking TRWD board election victory?

Revisiting Mary Kelleher's Call For Accountability Regarding Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy's Sexist Remarks

Last month, July 23 to be precise, TRWD Board Director Mary Kelleher emailed a press release verbalizing her disgust at Fort Worth Star-Telegram food critic, Bud Kennedy's, sexist remark directed at her, on Facebook, regarding her election to the TRWD board with a record number of votes.

The Bud Kennedy statement to which umbrage was taken is "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men."

I do not know how many people actually read the Kelleher press release. It was sent as an email attachment, with the body of the email blank, with the email attachment a document in Google docx format, which required knowing how to open such a document in order to read it. I suspect many who received the press release never read it.

A few days after I blogged about this issue someone named Anonymous made a blog comment to a related blogging, commenting in part...

"At the same time, the world is still waiting for Elbert Elmer "Bud" Kennedy to publicly apologize or step down. *grin*".

Elbert Elmer?

A few days ago someone asked me what the big deal was regarding Bud Kennedy's "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men" statement.

I explained to the "someone"  in question that this statement is a totally wrong-headed thing to say because  it  reduces Mary Kelleher's only attribute which got her elected to being her gender. Not her positions on issues, not her standing and reputation in the community, not her dogged campaign.

I then asked the "someone" in question to consider if Mary Kelleher was African-American and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was she was the only black on a ballot with 7 whites.

Or if Mary Kelleher was of the Jewish faith and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was because she was the only Jew on a ballot with 7 Baptists.

Or if Mary Kelleher were a lesbian and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was because she was the only lesbian on a ballot with 7 straight candidates.

Or if Mary Kelleher were a man and Bud Kennedy said the only reason he got elected was because he was the only man on a ballot with 7 female candidates.

Or if Mary Kelleher was the daughter of Kay Granger and Bud Kennedy said the only reason she got elected was because she was the only Granger on a ballot with 7 non-Grangers.

Okay, I'm not sure that the last example makes the point, but I am sure you get the drift, as in Bud Kennedy was way out of line to suggest that "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men."

Star-Telegram Columnist's Sexist Remark Has Mary Kelleher Calling For Accountability

PRESS RELEASE

STAR-TELEGRAM COLUMNIST POSTS SEXIST REMARK
 ON SOCIAL MEDIA ABOUT ELECTED OFFICIAL

TARRANT REGIONAL WATER DISTRICT DIRECTOR MARY KELLEHER
 CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY

Fort Worth, Texas, July 23, 2014–Tarrant Regional Water District Director Mary Kelleher is responding to the increasing outcry over Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist Bud Kennedy's sexist comment against her in a public exchange on a social media account. Mr. Kennedy while speaking on the subject of the Tarrant Regional Water District elections stated, "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men."

Director Kelleher says she was saddened and appalled by his statement. “When a woman, such as myself, devotes so much personal time and effort to give back to the community, it truly sickens me there are still men like Mr. Kennedy in the media who think so little of what all women accomplish." Kelleher went on to say, "It's now clear that in Mr. Kennedy's mind no woman could gain a position of power, authority, or respect on their own. It appears he’s insinuating the election of a woman must be the result of stupidity by the voters.” She continued, “I’m amazed someone with these views can work for a major newspaper and on one of the most respected television newscasts in the United States."

Kelleher urges the Star-Telegram and content partner WFAA, where Kennedy regularly discusses Texas politics, to act swiftly. "I just can't see a public media company with shareholders allowing someone with this kind of incredibly sexist view of women to remain on staff. " If neither the Star-Telegram nor WFAA act, says Kelleher, "I'm sure those of us who buy and read the Star-Telegram or watch WFAA can quickly change our habits including those who advertise with these companies."

Director Kelleher went on to say, “I’m sure that both McClatchy and Belo Corporation, as professional news organizations will do the right thing for all women who have worked so hard to get to a position of equal respect with men."

ABOUT MARY KELLEHER:

Director Kelleher was elected by the largest number of votes in the history of the Tarrant Regional Water District, at just under 9,000 people voting for her. The District oversees flood control and water supply for the area. Aside from her duties as a director of the Tarrant Regional Water District, Kelleher also works full-time with troubled youth in Tarrant County and maintains a working farm on the east side of Fort Worth with her husband.

Perplexed By The Star-Telegram's Dallas Boogey Man Fixation Along With Why Bud Kennedy Thinks Mary Kelleher Got Elected

Saturday, July 19, 2014, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published an article titled Dallas businessman donated more than $235,000 to Tarrant Regional Water District candidates.

The first four paragraphs of the article....

In a 2011 letter to the Tarrant Regional Water District, Dallas businessman Monty Bennett vowed to “vigorously fight” a TRWD pipeline from going across his East Texas ranch.

The latest TRWD campaign finance reports show he is continuing to back up that pledge with his checkbook.

Bennett, chairman and chief executive of Dallas-based Ashford Hospitality Trust and Ashford Hospitality Prime, has contributed more than $235,000 to board member Mary Kelleher and two other candidates.

Bennett, who has sued the water district and fought eminent domain proceedings, has tried to compel the water district to reroute the $2.3 billion integrated pipeline around his East Texas ranch in Henderson County. The pipeline is designed to bring more water for Tarrant Regional and the city of Dallas. TRWD has said rerouting the pipeline would cost $6 million to $8 million.

Over and over and over again the Star-Telegram brings up the fact that Monty Bennett made large contributions to TRWD candidates trying to oust existing TRWD board members.

Why is the fact that Monty Bennett primarily does his business in Dallas at all relevant? Why must the specter of a Dallas Boogey Man be raised?

Mr. Bennett did not want a pipeline crossing his property. Apparently he has the resources to fight eminent domain and make contributions to candidates. Why does the Star-Telegram attempt to scandalize this, particularly when there are so many things about the Tarrant Regional Water District board's various shenanigans which the Star-Telegram ignores?

Where can I read that in depth Star-Telegram investigation into how it was that Kay Granger's unqualified son, J.D., was hired by the TRWD to run the Trinity River Panther Island Vision Boondoggle?

I learned that the Star-Telegram had once again brought up the Dallas Boogey Man via Facebook, from Bud Kennedy.

When I used to be a hard copy subscriber to the Star-Telegram Bud Kennedy was one of their columnists. The Star-Telegram has cut way back on its staff. I don't know at what level of activity Bud Kennedy is still employed by the Star-Telegram, but he seems to have quite an active career on Facebook, diligently monitoring multiple threads, deleting comments, scolding commenters for being off-topic.

So, regarding the Bud Kennedy Facebook post that was about the latest Star-Telegram Dallas Boogey Man article, Bud Kennedy made a comment in response to one of his "Friends" comments which is most unfortunate. That is a screencap of the exchange above. I'll copy the exchange verbatim below...

Stuart Langley: Politicians taking money from vested interests? Oh my, when did that start happening? It seems this knock comes along every time that Mary tries to hold the board accountable to the public. 

Could the Star-Telegram please explain why the board continually fights (with the tax payers money Mary's efforts to see TRWD records?) Is there a good reason why these should be kept from an elected board member? And why shouldn't the public be upset when the board can skip an election when the public has been clamoring for years for more public accountability?

I guess those are tough and embarrassing questions. Lets try one more course of the "Dallas Businessman donates..."

Bud Kennedy: Stuart Langley, please review editorials on the topic. The Star-Telegram has criticized the board's records handling. More than a dozen local agencies skipped elections for a year under a state law changing the dates. The public has not clamored for anything. Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men. One man could not buy the election.

Oh, this is not going to go well, Bud Kennedy claiming "Kelleher was the only challenger elected last time and only because she was the only woman on a ballot with 7 men."

Mary Kelleher got more votes than any other TRWD board candidate has ever received.

I know the name might make one think she is not a woman, but I am almost 100% certain TRWD board member, Marty Leonard, is indeed a woman. And has been the only woman on the ballot. And yet has not received votes at the number level of Mary Kelleher.

Is Bud Kennedy's Mary only won because she's a woman assertion what is known as a sexist remark? I don't know. What I do know is this remark seems to me to be a very wrongheaded, inappropriate thing to be saying.

Is an apology forthcoming....

Fort Worth Weekly Static About The TRWD Board's Water Mess

I did not get around to reading this week's Fort Worth Weekly til this morning.

Fort Worth Weekly hits the streets on Wednesday, a day after this week's TRWD Board censuring Mary Kelleher debacle.

I would have thought the TRWD debacle would have occurred too close to this week's FW Weekly publication, but I thought wrong, because this week's FW Weekly Static column was titled Water Mess and was all about the TRWD Board's latest embarrassment.

Unlike the Star-Telegram's article about the TRWD's censuring debacle the FW Weekly article matched my impression of what I saw transpire.

I suppose part of the problem with the Star-Telegram article was due to the fact that the financially strapped Star-Telegram could not spare a real reporter to cover the meeting, but instead sent its food critic, Bud Kennedy.

Perhaps someone on the Star-Telegram staff characterized the TRWD Board censure hearing as a roasting. Hence Bud Kennedy being sent to TRWD headquarters, thinking this was a food related event, not a roasting of Mary Kelleher.

After I blogged my take on the censure meeting, in a blogging titled Today Mary Kelleher Received The Badge Of Honor Of A TRWD Board Censure While Censuring The Board Herself, mention was made of one of Bud Kennedy's column's bits of misinformation where he opined "Much of the behavior Tuesday resembled kindergarten, not only by directors but also by a boorish and jeering crowd of Kelleher supporters led by state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, R-Bedford."

Many of Mary's supporters objected to being characterized as being led by the controversial Stickland. One of those supporters, calling her or himself Bullies of a Feather, commented saying "Mary's supporters could care less what a washed up, boorish, food critic has to say."

That seems harsh to me. I don't think Bud Kennedy is washed up, a bit boorish maybe, but washed up? No. I think he has many a meal yet to eat in his restaurant reviewing career.

I almost forgot, my original intention when beginning to write this post was simply to share what FW Weekly's Static column had so say about Tuesday's debacle, so here you go, Static's Water Mess in its entirety...

The typically quiet board meetings at the Tarrant Regional Water District took a loud and rowdy turn on Tuesday morning. A standing-room-only crowd, including some carrying protest signs, heckled board members throughout the two-hour special meeting. The board was debating whether to censure fellow board member Mary Kelleher. A censure is a public reprimand with no penalties or legal ramifications.

Board President Vic Henderson introduced the motion, linking Kelleher to several alleged policy violations and ethical lapses. He accused her of not reporting in-kind donations from Dallas hotelier Monty Bennett, who has wrangled with the water district for three years to prevent a water pipeline from crossing his East Texas ranch. And he complained that Kelleher misrepresented the water district’s stance on a water management plan at a recent Fort Worth City Council session.

Kelleher then leveled a symbolic fire hose at her fellow directors and water district President Jim Oliver. She said her supporters are fed up with the “cronyism, nepotism, corruption, and mismanagement that have plagued the water district for years.”

She said Oliver had “stonewalled me and the public at every opportunity.” Then she accused him of using water district heavy equipment for personal home improvements.

“Whoa, whoa,” board member Jim Lane said, trying to rein in Kelleher. But she was on a roll.

“Let me finish … how about using your position to engage in extramarital affairs with staff?” she said, looking at Oliver.

At times, Henderson resembled a substitute teacher who’d lost control of a junior high classroom. He admonished and threatened hecklers but never followed through. The crowd became bolder as the meeting wore on. Former board candidate John Basham practically dared Henderson to throw him out. Nothing happened.

Several legislators, including Tarrant County’s Jonathan Stickland and Lon Burnam, attended and wrote letters supporting Kelleher in her request for public documents.

Despite crowd support, Kelleher appeared overwhelmed at times. As for misrepresenting board policy at a city council meeting, she said she was unaware of the policy, implemented before she was elected. Regarding campaign reports, she said she was new to the political game and unfamiliar with all the requirements. Board member Jim Lane said ignorance of the law isn’t an excuse.

In the end, Henderson, Jack Stevens, and Marty Leonard voted to censure. Lane abstained, saying each accusation against Kelleher should be voted on separately. But he joined in a 4-0 vote to audit recent campaign finance reports from board candidates. Kelleher abstained.

Kelleher declared her censure a “badge of honor.” Oliver declined to comment.

A Bud Kennedy Float Clarification Regarding Arlington's 4th Of July Parade

Yesterday when I blogged about Arlington's 4th of July Parade I mentioned that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy was on a float.

I have had a question or two from a person or two which indicates to me that I somehow left the impression that Bud Kennedy was a parade float.

That is an erroneous impression.

Bud Kennedy was on a parade float that had the words "Arlington Citizen Journal" on the front of the float. I think I saw "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" somewhere else on the float, which would seem to answer another question I  have been asked, as in "Why is Bud Kennedy in this parade?"

In the picture above Bud Kennedy is the man in blue holding his hands in the air.

I think Bud Kennedy would make an excellent Wheelin' Elvi.

Bud Kennedy Is Not Allowing Tarrant Regional Water District Candidate John Basham To Comment On Facebook

Bud Kennedy is just about my favorite Fort Worth Star-Telegram columnist, journalist and food critic. Bud Kennedy is very prolific, very opinionated and very articulate.

Bud Kennedy is also prolific, opinionated and articulate on Facebook and Twitter.

Yesterday, on Facebook, Bud Kennedy informed us that Texas Representative Matt Krause has endorsed John Basham to be elected to be a board member of the Tarrant Regional Water District in the upcoming election.

Bud Kennedy also informed us that neither Krause or Basham "live in the district".

When I read this I thought to myself that I was fairly certain that John Basham lives in the Tarrant Regional Water District. Then when I read the comments to Bud Kennedy's posting I was reminded of how bizarrely strange the rules are regarding the set up of the Tarrant Regional Water District.

As in only voters who live in selected parts of the district are allowed to vote. And, even though you may live in the district you must own property in the selected parts of the district to qualify to run for TRWD Board Member.

Like I said, bizarrely strange.

Below is Bud Kennedy's post on this issue followed by the comments, with the last comment being from Bud Kennedy telling us he'd deleted a comment from John Basham because Bud Kennedy does not "allow candidates to campaign here." Apparently Bud Kennedy is allowed to make a comment about a candidate, but that candidate is not allowed to comment.  Like I said, bizarrely strange....

Bud Kennedy
17 hours ago via Twitter
Update: TX @RepMattKrause, who doesn't live in the Tarrant Water district, has endorsed @JohnBasham, who also doesn't live in the district.

Joe Corpening Dont ya love politics???

John Murrin Pritchett The law clearly states board members only need to own property in the boundaries of the TRWD's election boundaries. They don't have to live in it. The state rep mentioned in your post represents folks who live within the election boundaries of the district.

Bud Kennedy Did not question anyone's eligibility. In general, a board should represent those stakeholders taxed to build and operate the agency.

John Murrin Pritchett In general, a board with power over 11 counties ought to be accountable to the voters in those same 11 counties.

Bud Kennedy No representation without taxation.

Bud Kennedy Candidate's comment deleted. I generally don't allow candidates to campaign here, but John was pointing out that he owns a parcel of property in the district and also lives nearby in the area served by Tarrant Water. http://www.trwd.com/ServiceArea

Confirmed By Bud Kennedy: A Woman Rescued Him After He Skidded A Car Into The Trinity River

Bud Kennedy (@budkennedy)
 has sent you a direct message on Twitter

Way back on October 27 I blogged in a blogging titled "Who Thinks The Texas State Attorney General Should Look Into TRWD/TRVA Business Practices, Woodsheds & J.D. Granger?"

This blogging was prompted due to info emailed to me from my favorite tipster named Beale.

One piece of that Beale info was in regards to my favorite Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer, Bud Kennedy. Beale claimed that while Bud Kennedy may not have participated in J.D. Granger's Trinity River Vision Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, Bud Kennedy had spent time in the Trinity River.

Regarding Bud Kennedy being in the Trinity River I wrote...

I was unable to confirm this via Google searching, but Beale says that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's Bud Kennedy has actually been in the Trinity River. Not on one of J.D. Granger's Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Floats, but by other means.

Beale says a few years ago Bud Kennedy was driving on an icy road, lost control and ended up in the Trinity River. His girlfriend, at the time, a woman who must have had superhuman strength, somehow managed to pull super hefty Bud Kennedy from his car and get him safely to dry land.

Well.

As you can read in the Twitter message above, this morning Bud Kennedy direct messaged me on Twitter.

The direct message said....

That story on the blog is true--I skidded a Dart off the river on Dec. 21, 1971. Allison Kerr saved me, Heights teachers told kids for years.

So, there you go you Doubting Thomases who questioned the veracity of Beale's tipstering.