The Latest Chapter In The Tim Love Woodshed Smokehouse Scandal

The latest chapter in the Woodshed Smokehouse scandal confuses me because I can sort of see Tim Love's side of the argument.

Four years ago Tim Love got a sweetheart deal from America's Biggest Boondoggle, partnering with Mr. Love to build a restaurant on Tarrant Regional Water District land.

You know, land that is supposedly owned by the public.

If I remember right, as part of the sweetheart, no bidding competition deal, Tim Love pays a part of the restaurant's take to The Boondoggle.

The Boondoggle sees this Love operation as some sort of concession deal, like food vendors at the airport, and thus should not have to pay any property tax.

But, this year the Tarrant Appraisal District decided that the Woodshed Smokehouse is more of a private operation than a public one, so they sent Tim Love a property tax bill.

Tim Love says that dozens upon dozens upon dozens of Trinity Trail users are free to take a break from the trail, for free, sitting at one of the restaurant's outdoor tables.

I recollect doing this myself, four years ago, when the Woodshed opened, joining a group protesting the sweetheart no-bid deal The Boondoggle gave Tim Love. That protest also confused me, because several of the protesters protested by ordering food and drinks from the entity they were protesting.

Methinks this entire Woodshed Smokehouse scandal could be put to rest by The Boondoggle selling the Woodshed and the property on which it sits to Tim Love.

Tim Love would likely not be willing to pay what the property is worth, with the property then being sold to whoever was willing to pay the asking price.

Or have a bidding deal where whoever was willing to pay the most above the asking price gets to take possession of the Woodshed Smokehouse....

The TRWD Incumbent Cockroaches Throw Some Mud While Hiding From The Light

Last  night I was pre-warned I would find a bizarre  mailer in my mailbox this morning from the apparently increasingly desperate TRWD Incumbents.

Even though I was pre-warned, seeing the oversized, would not fit in my scanner, mailer, and its outrageous Orwellian propaganda, left me with the feeling of not knowing where to start with verbalizing my disgust for these miscreants who clearly need to be removed from any position involving public trust.

"A controversial Dallas millionaire is using a child actor to spread lies and throw mud at our hardworking local water board."

"DON'T LET OUTSIDERS STEAL OUR WATER!"

Steal our water?

Can these idiots get any more irresponsible with the unsubstantiated nonsense they are spewing? The TRWD Board  must have a really low opinion of the intelligence of those who vote, thinking that throwing the "Big Bad  Dallas" card was a great bit of propaganda.

"Don't be misled by the DISHONEST DALLAS HOGWASH from his (the rich Dallas millionaire's) handpicked SLATE of Water Board candidates: John Austin Basham, Timothy Nold and Mary Kelleher --- one has recently been bankrupt and doesn't live in the district and another is being sued for being a tax deadbeat."

No Dallas millionaire hand-picked Basham, Nold & Kelleher to clean up the clearly corrupt TRWD Board.

In the blog post titled The TRWD Election Propaganda Spewings Of Self-Entitled Dowager Heiress Marty Leonard I already explained the reality behind John Basham's bankruptcy and the moral bankruptcy apparent in the fact that Marty Leonard and her co-conspirators in character assassination would sink this low. What I did not mention in that blog post, because at that point in time I did not know the details, was that Timothy Nold was late paying his taxes because the inept TRWD was sending his tax bill to a vacant lot.

Which had the morally bankrupt Marty Leonard characterizing Nold as a tax deadbeat being sued by the TRWD.

Why did this latest mailer fail to also mention the shocking claim that one of the candidates, Mary Kelleher, has a meager voting record? That claim had the TRWD member, dowager heiress, Marty Leonard, in full clutch her pearls mode.

"These dirty candidates should move to Dallas and leave our local WATER ALONE!"

I am actually more than a little embarrassed for the TRWD Board. How humiliatingly insipid to spew this type stuff, which clearly indicates they can not make any sort of case for re-election based on their sorry record.

We are in Malice in Wonderland territory here, folks. We are Through the Looking Glass, where yes is no, truth is lie, clean is dirty, hard working is do nothing, stupid is smart, good is bad. Well, you get the picture.

"Throwing mud at our hard working Tarrant Regional Water Board?"

Throwing mud? What mud? Claiming the TRWD Board bought a luxury helicopter with leather seats? And that the Board uses this aircraft to fly to some sort of private hunting preserve?  I notice that the TRWD propagandizers are not denying the existence of the private hunting preserve, or using the helicopter to fly there. Now, if I were to fly in a helicopter to a private hunting preserve, I would consider this a luxury. Yeah, that is really dirty mud to point out the TRWD flies their luxury helicopter to their private hunting preserve.

Claiming to be hard working is like claiming to be deep thinking. We need some proof.

Are there examples of this corrupt TRWD Board working hard to mitigate the flash flood dangers in Haltom City that have been a deadly menace for decades?

The answer to the above question is NO.

How come the TRWD Board Incumbents make no mention of the hard work they've done on the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

Is there no mention made because after well over a decade all we can see of the Vision is a pathetic, soon likely to go out of business Cowtown Wakepark and the first drive-in movie theater to open in America in decades?

How come the TRWD Incumbents make no mention of their hard work that brought the Woodshed Smokehouse to the banks of the Trinity River.

The Woodshed Smokehouse, for you who don't know, is a restaurant, brought about by behind closed doors, secret shenanigans of the TRWD Board, in cahoots with their lapdog, J.D. Granger.

Apparently, in the TRWD Board's hard working world, building a restaurant on the banks of a river is part of their flood control, water quality mandate.

While little girls drown in flash floods in the area of the TRWD's responsibility.

A few days ago a source I consider reliable emailed me some documents with the text of the email saying, among many other things....

"A little bird tells me that someone very high up at the TRWD is talking to the reporter and is looking to "get ahead" of what the "new board" will find once they start digging. Turns out the internal finger pointing about illegalities is now beginning. I can't wait to read what all he has found."

I never saw a cockroach til I moved to Texas. Let alone see a herd of cockroaches run for cover when the lights come on.

Methinks soon after May 11 we are going to be seeing some metaphoric TRWD cockroaches running from the light....

Why Do We Not Know How Much The Trinity River Vision Boondoggles Have Already Cost Us?

No, that is not an artist's rendering of what Pond Granger may look like in Fort Worth if the Trinity River Vision ever clears up and becomes anything anyone can see.

The body of water you are looking at in the picture is Lake Washington, in Washington. A natural lake that is not the result of a public works boondoggle run amok.

That is the 520 Floating Bridge you see crossing the lake. And in the foreground is one of the pontoons for the new 520 Floating Bridge, a $4.1 billion project that is currently the most expensive public works project in Washington.

Unlike Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision, which seems to have no timeline projection for a completed project, the new 520 Floating Bridge is scheduled to be floating vehicles in just a couple years.

Also, unlike Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision, the 520 Floating Bridge Project is subject to public scrutiny.

For example, the scrutiny provided by Seattle's KOMO TV News. Below is part of an article from KOMO News online titled 520 Bridge mistakes have already cost taxpayers $100M, that I ask that you peruse and ask yourself if you can imagine ever reading such an article in the corrupt Fort Worth Star-Telegram?

FW Weekly? Maybe.

But the Star-Telegram? Not a chance.

SEATTLE -- Washington's Department of Transportation may be admitting its mistakes with the 520 Bridge but it's you, the taxpayers, who will wind up paying for those mistakes.

The KOMO 4 Problem Solvers sued the state, and won, to get information about how much those mistakes will cost us. After digging into the public records, we've discovered the total is already well over $100 million.

"Clearly, this is beginning to spiral out of control," said Washington Policy Center's Vice President Paul Guppy, an organization that advocates for taxpayers on issues of public policy.

The numbers also surprise Eva Zemplenyi with the "No Tolls on I-90' group," 

"We feel that we have not been given the straight story," she said.

The new 520 bridge -- at a total anticipated cost of $4.1 billion dollars was already the most expensive public works project in the state. WSDOT gleefully pointed to cost-savings as contract bids came in low and federal grants saved other money. But most of those savings will never make it to taxpayers -- and you can blame it on the problems we first uncovered with the pontoons.

For months, a Problem Solver investigation has spotlighted problems with cracks and leaks in the massive floating concrete structures that will hold up the new bridge. But WSDOT refused to tell us how much repairing those pontoons will cost. Yesterday, out-going Secretary Paula Hammond reiterated the Agency's position, "we cannot and will not negotiate the financial settlement with the contractor in the media."

KOMO 4 News sued WSDOT for those documents and finally received them: Weekly Reports for all three current contracts involved in 520 construction. Two of them involve those troubled pontoons and are with prime contractor Kiewit.

As of last November: Projections for extra costs to build the pontoons in Aberdeen and to repair the pontoons out on Lake Washington hit a stunning $86.4 million dollars. 

When we added the projected extra costs for the 3rd contract with Eastside Corridor Construction which is connecting 520 to the eastside, as well as the extra costs the state's already agreed to pay it adds up to a shocking $153.8 million dollars. 

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So, really, why have we here in Fort Worth not read any investigative journalism in the Star-Telegram asking critical questions about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

I know I'd like to know how much is being spent on the liquor supply in J.D. Granger's office.

How much has been spent on junkets?

How much did the bizarre Cowtown Wakepark cost the Trinity River Vision?

How much was spent on the Woodshed Smokehouse?

How much money has been spent on signage?

What is going on with the world's first drive-in theater in decades? Is that drive-in theater part of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

When is the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's re-make of Gateway Park going to take place?

When is the un-needed flood diversion channel scheduled to be completed?

How much money has been spent, so far, on the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

If the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is such a vitally important flood control and economic development project why is the project progressing at such a snail's pace?

How are the victims of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's eminent domain abuse doing?

And why has the Fort Worth Star-Telegram not devoted any ink to investigating how it was that the unqualified J.D Granger, son of Fort Worth Congresswoman, Kay Granger, was given the job of being in charge of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle?

A Walk Along The Trinity River With Lunch At The Woodshed Smokehouse

Occupying Woodshed Smokehouse For Lunch

Today I walked the Trinity Trail and met Madame X for lunch with Tim Love at the Woodshed Smokehouse.

The walk along the Trinity River was interesting.

But, first lunch was had at the Woodshed.

Skinny Madame X had the Skinny Chicken sandwich, while I had the Woodshed Burger.

I recently had a Double Double Burger at In-N-Out. I prefer the Double Double to the Woodshed Burger, though the Smoked Cheddar is a nice touch.

There were not as many people at the Woodshed for lunch today as there were the first time I was at the Woodshed, that being the Occupy Woodshed protest where we had libations and chips. Some overhead fans have been added to add some air circulation to the un air-conditioned Woodshed.

Woodshed Designer Outhouse & Shower

The entrepreneur behind the brilliant Woodshed concept, J.D. Granger, insisted there be no air-conditioning because he felt cool air would detract from the gritty atmosphere he was hoping to create.

I'm guessing the cool outhouse that is part of the Woodshed complex, along with the outdoor shower, is also part of the gritty atmosphere design of J.D. Granger.

I did not know what the parking situation was at the Woodshed and I knew it was easy to park at Trinity Park, with Trinity Park being a fairly short distance to the Woodshed.

Do Not Go Over Your Limit Of 5 Rainbow Trout

Why is most of Trinity Park's parking blocked? And the Trinity Trail blocked, heading east? This made parking a bit more difficult than I had anticipated.

The URBAN FISHING AREA sign you see in the picture has perplexed me previously. In most areas you are advised not to eat any fish you catch in the Trinity River.

However, this sign informs you that a Texas Fishing License and Trout Stamp are required to catch your limit of 5 Rainbow Trout per day.

A person standing near me as I read the sign muttered, "There ain't no trout in that damn river."

The Fort Worth Forbidden Zone

I don't know about that, but I sure saw a lot of turtles and what looked to be a big snake, plus multiple instances of big fish jumping out of the water making big splashes.

Just a short distance upriver from the URBAN FISHING AREA, maybe 500 feet, there is a very dire warning sign that made me wonder how it was that Rainbow Fish were available for catching a few feet downriver.

FORBIDDEN ZONE - NO TRESPASSING - CITY OF FORT WORTH - RAW WATER INTAKE

That really does sound dire. This is the only place on the planet where I recollect having found myself in a FORBIDDEN ZONE. Does this mean raw water is being sucked out of the dirty river at this location? Or is raw water flowing in to the river at this location? I prefer my FORBIDDEN ZONES to be very clear about the reason for the forbidding.

Fort Worth Bikers Crossing Trinity River

There are several dam bridges crossing across the Trinity River, some of which are part of the Trinity Trail. I don't quite understand the thinking behind the dam bridge crossing you see in the picture.

The 3 guys had to carry their mountain bikes across the dam bridge because the path across is a line of big rocks, with the river waterfalling between the rocks.

A short distance downriver there has been at least one instance of someone falling into the river at a similar crossing and drowning.

It seems sort of irresponsible, to me, to have a paved trail lead to a dam bridge that is topped with a line of big rocks that you have to traverse carrying your bike overhead.

Boris & Natasha Comment About Fort Worth's Pravda While We Get Gritty Without Air Conditioning

A couple times yesterday I blogged about a really weird propaganda puff piece in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that claimed that Tim Love's new eatery had given new life to the, apparently, dying Trinity River Vision Boondoggle.

I opined that the Fort Worth Star-Telegram operated more like a government mouth piece than a real newspaper, comparing the Star-Telegram to the Soviet Union's party paper Pravda, opining...

One thing I will say in behalf of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as compared to the Soviet Union's Pravda. I don't think Pravda printed comments from comrades pointing out the absurdity of Pravda's propaganda. If a comrade commented they likely were sent to the Gulag.

The above paragraph generated amusing comments from CatsPaw, Steve A and Boris & Natasha....

CatsPaw said...

Comrade, you are seeing krasnaya! Let no Crackpottsylvania no goodniks' fiendish plans go unremarked. Keep banging your shoe on the table. Spasibo. Da svidaniya. And yeehaw.

Steve A said...

How do you know those Startlegram commenters are not on their way to a long visit to Huntsville as I write this? Durango, you still around? Durango? Hello?

Boris & Natasha said...

Regarding not getting sent to the Gulag when you criticize Fort Worth's version of Pravda; in Fort Worth, where could we get sent that is worse than where we already are?

________________________________

Mitchell Schnurman's Star-Telegram propaganda piece titled Love's eatery has given new life to river vision continues to be commented on. Below is a comment from someone who just does not seem to understand why so many people complain about so much in a city that is the envy of the world, which has another commenter explaining why it is Fort Worth citizens are cranky about the way Fort Worth operates....

shermrob

Unfortunately the comments on this article are the standard for Star-Telegram readers.  Out of fifteen comments, only three of them were on the positive side and the other twelve are the usual complaining about getting anything nice in Fort Worth regardless of who is trying to do something good for the city.

yakami11

City should really ask the citizens who pay for all of their dream projects what they want instead of telling citizens what they will do and get. I bet you would see much nicer comments if tax payers were asked, What would you like in your city.

_______________________________

I forgot to mention one really really odd bit of information in the Star-Telegram's Tim Love Woodshed propaganda puff piece. Below is an excerpt from the paragraph containing the really odd bit of information...

Granger wouldn't OK air conditioning in the restaurant, because he wanted a gritty, authentic feel and a natural connection with the river.

So, in the above we learn that J.D. Granger, the man with no experience running a big construction project, who was given the job of running the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, as a favor to his Congresswoman mama, so she would be motivated to get federal funds for Fort Worth's equivalent of a Bridge to Nowhere, is also a restaurant entrepreneur who was able to use his dictatorial powers to ban air-conditioning from a Texas restaurant, because everyone knows if you don't have air-conditioning it helps give you a gritty, authentic feel and a natural connection to an extremely polluted river.

Granger nixing air conditioning generated yet one more amusing comment to the Star-Telegram propaganda puff piece....

md
"Granger wouldn't OK air conditioning in the restaurant" Granger is stupid.

___________________________

Granger is stupid? That seems a bit harsh.

Methinks there is way more that is stupid about this entire mess than J.D. Granger.....

Down The Rabbit Hole With Fort Worth's Moribund Pravda Giving New Life To A Dying Vision

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram gets curiouser and curiouser.

I think curiouser and curiouser is a line from Alice in Wonderland. Which is a bit appropriate, I guess. Isn't Alice's Wonderland accessed down a rabbit hole, with Wonderland being a place where all is backwards?

Sort of like the Wonderland that is Fort Worth.

Earlier today I opined about a rather bizarre propaganda piece in Fort Worth's Pravda, known as the Star-Telegram.

Pravda means Truth, in Russian. Pravda rarely printed the truth, Pravda usually printed propaganda, as in bizarre articles in support of the communist regime's goofy schemes.

When I looked at the online version of Fort Worth's Pravda, a short while ago, the propaganda piece I'd opined about earlier had grown to be more prominently featured.

Just the title of the article is Alice in Wonderland Down the Rabbit Holish.

Love's eatery has given new life to river vision

Let's think about that title for a second. Love's Woodshed Smokehouse eatery has given new life to the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle? Really? Has the Star-Telegram had some articles about the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle being moribund? As in dying?

The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is in such bad shape that a little restaurant next to a muddy, polluted river, outside of the area that the vision originally was seeing, has somehow breathed new life into the barely breathing Boondoggle?

Such a claim is bizarre, even for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Pravda Propaganda Purveyor.

Apparently I am not the only one who is thinking the Star-Telegram is sinking to new lows.

The Lone Star Telegraph blog has opined about today's Star-Telegram TRVB propaganda with Star-Telegram gives away free advertising. The Lone Star Telegraph sometimes mentions my blog. I've been asked more than once who is behind the Star-Telegraph. The answer is I don't know. I've been told it is a guy named Moe, along with several others. I know no one in Fort Worth named Moe.

And then there is an email on the subject of today's latest S-T Propaganda, from Fort Worth's Gail Galtex, who said, in part....

I was writing to tell you about this article in today's paper but just noticed that you beat me to it, haha.  Barf. Glad I finally decided to cancel the sorry Fort Worth Star Telegram paper a few weeks ago.  This story confirms that I did the right thing.  The three-page glowing propaganda story a few weeks ago about how wonderful Kay Granger is made me want to barf too.  

And then there are the comments today to Mitchell Schnurman's Fort Worth Star-Telegram propaganda. Below are some of the comments.......

StBns
If you sit back long enough and look at this endeavour the little light indicating sweetheart backroom deal comes on. Also...Tim Love's food is unimaginative and overpriced. But I suppose some people enjoy that kind of stuff.

whitepeaks2002
Anyone who thinks this is going to be awesome dining in July/August (if not before) is simply fooling themselves. The people with big bucks always flock to the new unusual venues initially, but it's simply a matter of time (and weather) until the elite crowd, drifts to the "next big thing". All that will be left at The Woodshed will be a lot of sweaty college kids...probably the ones that work there.

When I read about people changing the course of a river, I still shake my head. Changing the natural flow of water is against the law of nature and will ultimately cause major problems. I wish all the people who are so insistent on building businesses on the river would go back and look at Montgomery Wards on 7th St. (now Montgomery Plaza) when it was under water up over the second floor, stemming from flooding in May of 1949. The entire area was completely submerged. Men were navigating the area in boats from the Trinity river up past University Drive. If you've never seen the pics or footage, you should Google it.

whitepeaks2002
Also, you've missed it if you haven't seen the river during the Texas hot summers... very slow moving water smelling stagnant....the trees on the banks filled with nesting birds, smelling of bird poop and inundated with flies...with trash of every description, tree limbs, logs and tons of miscellaneous debris piled up like mini-log jams at the overpass at University Dr. near the Zoo. Yeah...classy.    

Chris Danger
Lake Benbrook was built to make sure an event like the '49 flood wouldn't happen again..

formaldehyde
See "Restaurant owners irked by no-bid deal with celebrity chef Tim Love" by Barry Schlacter in this same paper on November 26, 2011

fwcpc
"The TRV aims to move a river, reclaim acres of waterfront land near downtown and attract the development to pay for it" Mr. Schnurman is correct in describing this as a development project. Unfortunately it is our tax dollar that is paying for the work of moving the river. This project was cleverly disguised and sold as a flood control project. It is true the overall project is required for flood control in the event THE EXISITNG FLOOD CONTROL LEVEES COME DOWN TO ALLOW FOR DEVELOPMENT. This information is clearly presented in the Corps of Engineers 1,000 page study of the project and yet mayor Kay was able to push and win taxpayer funding. It is no wonder Tarrant County has the 22nd highest property tax rate in the nation (16 of those higher counties are in New York and New Jersey). This project may well prove to be a nice enhancement to the city but was presented in a very dishonest manner.

justfuninfw 
The food sucks and the service is terrible.  Fortunately the prices are too high too.

relic37
No A/C and the humidity of a nearby river - summer evenings should be delightful! 

blaneatt
First of all the food is unbelievable...second, the view is beautiful...third, the ambiance is relaxing and comfortable...fourth, they have live music (Blue Hat) http://www.facebook.com/Blueha... on the patio...this family friendly band will play next weekend on Saturday 6:30 to 10:00 pm. This place is amazing and shows that in Texas...people can get it right!!!! By the way, the pulled pork is to die for!!!

mpound17
I know I am not the only one here that sees irony in your regrettable use of the word "pork" in praising this particular result of yet another typical city hall backroom deal. The only thing getting "pulled" here is the taxpayers chain. What a scam.

____________________________

One thing I will say in behalf of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, as compared to the Soviet Union's Pravda. I don't think Pravda printed comments from comrades pointing out the absurdity of Pravda's propaganda. If a comrade commented they likely were sent to the Gulag.

The Final Thursday Of March Marveling At Fresh Bizarre Fort Worth Star-Telegram Trinity River Vision Boondoggle Woodshed Propaganda

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the outer world on this final Thursday of the 3rd month of 2012 it appears to be very very dark this morning prior to the arrival of the illuminating nuclear sky orb.

My computer based weather monitoring device, this morning, is telling me at my location it is currently 61 degrees and foggy, with 100% humidity, heading to a high today of 81.

Changing the subject from my favorite one to one I find vexing.

That vexing subject being Fort Worth's propaganda purveyor that calls itself the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This morning the Star-Telegram published a piece of propaganda titled "Love's eatery has given new life to river vision" written by a supposed reporter who appears to be a publicity agent for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle and J.D. Granger, named Mitchell Schnurman.

The propaganda piece starts with...

If the Woodshed Smokehouse is any indication of what's ahead for the Trinity River Vision, maybe they could start digging that bypass channel a few years early. How will Fort Worth ever wait? The Woodshed is so good, so soon, that it gives the river project a jolt of new energy and even gives government a good name.

Yes, how will Fort Worth manage to wait for the un-needed flood diversion channel to protect the town from a flood? It seems to me, since this is such an important project, that it should be fast tracked, rather than built in the extremely slow motion way that Fort Worth is accustomed to building its public works projects.

The Woodshed is so good that it gives government a good name? A government entity, operating without openness and transparency, gives government a good name? The Woodshed gives the river project boondoggle a jolt of new energy? A restaurant built southwest of the area touted as the location of the TRV Boondoggle project has somehow given a jolt of new energy to the boondoggle? Really?

Apparently the Woodshed Smokehouse has taken in almost a third of a million dollars in its first month of operating.

Schnurman says....

Eventually, the water district will net several hundred thousand dollars a year, to be funneled into trail improvements and other river uses. That's great, but this was never about maximizing restaurant dollars, which is why some early critics had it so wrong.

I do not recollect any of the Woodshed/Granger critic's criticisms having anything to do with maximizing restaurant dollars. I believe the criticisms had to do with this being a backroom deal giving one specific restaurateur a sweetheart deal without allowing other local restaurateurs the option of competing. That and building a restaurant outside the "Uptown" development area seemed to stray far from what had been, previously, the "Vision."

They complained that J.D. Granger, executive director for the TRV Authority, hadn't asked for bids before signing a 10-year lease with Love. Texas law doesn't require competitive bidding for the water district, and that's fortunate, because Granger wasn't buying gravel for a riverbed.

I thought that previously the Star-Telegram revised its earlier version of how this sweetheart Woodshed deal came about, taking J.D. Granger out of the equation and claiming it was a Tarrant Regional Water District deal, not a J.D. Granger good ol' boy scheme. The Star-Telegram really should make an effort to keep track of its propaganda.

He was trying to prove that river development could be a big-time winner in Fort Worth -- that a prime location on the water might be worth three times more than land a few blocks away. Do that and stoke some pent-up demand, and a decade from now, the tax base would soar and the TRV economics would work.

The above is fascinating. Now the Star-Telegram, via Schnurman, is propagandizing us that the Woodshed deal was part of a brilliant scheme hatched by that savant, J.D. Granger, to prove that river development could be a big-time winner in Fort Worth. And that a location on the river might be worth a lot of money, proving, a decade from now, the tax base will soar and the TRV economics would work.

So, the TRV Boondoggle has been underway for quite some time. A lot of earth has been moved. A lot of businesses have been stolen via eminent domain abuse. Yet, even though all that took place prior to the building of the Woodshed Smokehouse, this restaurant was needed so that J.D. Granger could prove that river development could be a big-time winner in Fort Worth????

Yes, that really makes an awful lot of sense.

I need to go swimming now and experience the real world rather than the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

A Smoky Return To The Tandy Hills Where The Raw Sewage Still Flows

The Smoky Skyline View Of
 Beautiful Downtown Fort Worth

I enjoyed the Tandy Hills so much yesterday, even with the shocking massive raw sewage spill, that I returned today.

The shocking massive raw sewage spill is still spilling.

But, I just got a message from Don Young telling me that the city is now aware they have a problem.

Doesn't the EPA issue fines for this type of thing?

The raw sewage was still flowing today.

If the raw sewage ever stops flowing it is going to be awhile before I'll be wanting to walk on that sewage tainted ground.

I wonder if this spill will qualify as a Superfund Cleanup Site?

Continuing with the pollution theme. Looking at the stunning skyline of beautiful downtown Fort Worth today, the view was through a thick smoky haze.

Last night I was impressed with how much smoke the Woodshed Smokehouse was spewing. The Woodshed Smokehouse smoke made for a hazy view across the Trinity River last night as the sun was setting.

I am almost 100% today's smoky haze has been caused by Fort Worth's newest restaurant.

We are currently scheduled for some stormy weather during the coming 48 hours. I hope this stormy weather does some good air cleaning.

The Very Dark Morning Of The 2nd Day Of February With A Barbecue Hangover

Looking out my primary viewing portal on this second morning of February it is dark, very very dark.

My eyes are burning bad this morning. As bad as if someone was blowing smoke in my eyes.

I do not think my burning eyes are a residual effect from visiting the smoke, last night, that spews from the Woodshed Smokehouse.

I do think that last night's nightmares, that featured Granny Grassroots, were a residual effect from visiting the Woodshed Smokehouse.

I think I may have consumed too many barbecue products last night, which may have been what helped cause the disturbing nightmares.

Changing the subject from smoke, Granny Grassroots and nightmares to my favorite subject.

The sun has now arrived, turning the formerly dark view from my primary viewing portal to a bright view. I can see that, currently, the sky is free of clouds at my location on the planet.

Currently, according to my computer based temperature monitoring device it is 49 degrees. I think a return to the raw sewage of the Tandy Hills is in my future today.

And no swimming.