Fort Worth Mayor Mike Moncrief's Trinity River Vision Referendum Could Backfire

There was an article in this morning's Seattle P-I that caused me to think of Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision.

In Seattle there is currently a several billion dollar project underway to fix a section of state highway, a section known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

This section of road is elevated along the Seattle waterfront. The viaduct has been damaged by previous earthquakes and could easily collapse in a serious earthquake.

So, the plan is to take the viaduct down and replace it with a tunnel.

It took years for the state of Washington and city of Seattle to come up with a plan with sufficient support to implement it. Since this is a state highway project it has not been put to a vote of the people.

The current mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn, ran for mayor opposing the tunnel. In Fort Worth when the lack of a public vote on the Trinity River Vision is criticized, some have actually opined that the public has elected officials in favor of the TRV and not elected officials opposed to the TRV.

Which is the same as having voted or not voted for the TRV project

If the Fort Worth Way were the Seattle Way I guess this would mean the tunnel project would be stopped, since the people elected a mayor who opposes it.

The article in the Seattle P-I, this morning, was a good example of the stark difference between how things are done in Fort Worth and how they are done in Seattle.

Keep in mind, the Alaskan Viaduct tunnel replacement is a state highway project. Not the sort of thing the public usually votes on. While the Trinity River Vision is a public works project of the sort that usually never goes forward unless the public has approved of it.

I'll copy the article from this morning's P-I below and replace the key Seattle words with Fort Worth words and then ask yourself if you think you'd ever read an article like this in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram...

Trinity River Vision Referendum Could Torpedo Moncrief

A coalition of groups, supported by the mayor and his allies, is trying to collect 16,000 signatures by the end of the month to put a Trinity River Vision referendum before voters in August. Moncrief says if Fort Worth were to approve the TRV referendum, he’ll stop opposing the Trinity River Vision.

“I’m not playing politics on this,” Moncrief told the Star-Telegram on Thursday. “I’m not terribly interested in being a mayor who said, ‘I told you so.’”

But “I told you so” is Moncrief’s best potential future argument about the Trinity River Vision, which he has made the signature issue of his time in office. Moncrief is taking on the entire political establishment with his strident opposition to the uptown project. He’s crosswise with the City Council, the Tarrant County executive, the governor, the unions (in Fort Worth?) and the business community. Trinity River Vision proponents seethe that Moncrief is trying, at the last moment, to gum up a process that has been going on for 10 years.

The mayor says the whole point is the public should have a say on this project – ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ Moncrief wants the people to have a voice. How ironic that the people’s voice – feared so much by his adversaries – could end up depriving Moncrief of his own.

Japan's 8.9 Earthquake & Tsunami In Seattle, Fort Worth & Dallas

Above is a screencap of the front page of this morning's Seattle Post-Intelligencer, taken this morning around 7. The death toll is now in the 100s. And likely to rise much higher. An 8.9 quake is one of the worst ever recorded in the world and the worst ever in Japan. If I remember right the Seattle transit tunnel is built to withstand a 9.0 earthquake. I would not want to be in the bus tunnel or one of its stations should an 8.9 earthquake occur.

I learned Japan had had a bad quake and tsunami when I read the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this morning. As we learned recently, from Anonymous, if the Star-Telegram is not reporting it, it isn't news. The Star-Telegram had the Japan quake news on the lower half of their front page. This struck me as odd.

Below is the screencap with the Japan quake/tsunami news from the front page of the Star-Telegram.

I thought maybe the low key way the Star-Telegram was reporting this major disaster, so differently than the Seattle P-I, might have been due to the fact that Seattle is a Pacific Rim city, in the path of the incoming tsunami, with a lot of trade with Japan coming in and out of the Port of Seattle, while Fort Worth is a long ways from the Pacific Ocean with little trade coming or going with Japan.

And then I went to the Dallas Morning News. Dallas is also landlocked and a long ways from the Pacific Ocean. Dallas likely does a little more trade with Japan than Fort Worth does, which may account for the more prominent BIG NEWS way the Dallas Morning News reported the Japan quake,  as you can see below.

That is one scary looking tsunami in the picture from the Dallas Morning News. When I heard on the radio that tsunamis were hitting Hawaii I turned on the TV. There was live video of the beach by Diamond Head in Honolulu. But it was dark in Hawaii, you really could not see anything. The talking head described the water receding and the first tsunami flowing in. As he described that the water was receding again, but you could not see it.

I've got a bad feeling this is going to end up being one of the worst natural disasters ever.

An 11.5 Foot 700 Pound Alligator Found Murdered In Texas

A week ago an 11.5 foot, almost 700 pound alligator was found murdered near a creek that is a tributary of the Colorado River in Bastrop County.

Bastrop County is a short distance southeast of Austin.

The murdered gator was discovered after a poacher shot and killed it and posted pictures of his kill on Facebook.

The Facebook posting led to a tip to the Texas Crime Stopper program which got Park and Wildlife officials investigating, which led to the discovery of the body.

I do not know how the Facebook posting provided the clues that led to finding the crime scene.

Alligators are protected in Bastrop County. Alligators used to be an endangered species in Texas. But, the numbers of alligators is growing. There is actually an alligator hunting season now, which opens in a couple weeks.

A game warden was quoted as saying, "gator sightings are still rare and about as common as seeing a bobcat."

Yikes! I've had multiple bobcat sightings.

But no gator sightings.

I think I must be due for an alligator encounter.

Up Early The Second Friday Of March With No Tsunami From Japan Expected To Hit Fort Worth

It is the second Friday of the third month of 2011. In two days Daylight Savings Time starts up. Which means I may be doing my morning swimming in the dark for awhile.

This morning it is 44 degrees out there. I believe the 24 hour average has been over 50 degrees. So, I am going swimming this morning in that blue oasis you see in the picture.

I have myself a big backlog of blogging fodder this morning. Subjects ranging from gators to tsunamis.

Speaking of tsunamis.

I suspect the Galtex's, this morning, up in Seattle, are experiencing their first tsunami watch, as waves generated by Japan's worst earthquake ever, an 8.9 shaker, are expected to hit the west coast. To get to Seattle a tsunami has to makes its way in from the Pacific Ocean through the Straits of Juan de Fuca and then on to Puget Sound.

I remember one time heading out to Deception Pass on Whidbey Island to watch a possible incoming tsunami. No detectable wave was seen.

In my current location, hundreds of miles from saltwater, north of being deep in the heart of Texas, there will be no incoming tsunami today.

Just sunshine and semi-warm temperatures.

I think I'll go outside and work on my suntan right now. Talk to you later.

The Shadow Of The Fosdic Lake Thin Man On An Oakland Lake Park Ledge Thinking About Wink & Roy Orbison

The Shadow of the Thin Man was not on the Tandy Hills today. Instead the Shadow went walking around Fosdic Lake in Oakland Lake Park in Fort Worth in Texas.

I was sitting on the Fosdic Lake Pavilion's rock ledge when I looked down and saw my shadow. So, I stood on the ledge and took a picture. It made for a very different Shadow of the Thin Man picture than those that happen on the Tandy Hills.

Last night I got email from a New York based rock critic who is busy writing an article for Billboard magazine about Roy Orbison.

The hunt for Roy Orbison info led the New York based rock critic to my bloggings about Wink. It sounded like he did not make it all the way to the bloggings about Wink's Roy Orbison Festival. I told him that the Queen of Wink was his go to girl for info about Wink and Roy Orbison, saying I'd forward his query to the Queen of Wink today. And then I forgot. I'll take care of that as soon as I am done with this blogging.

Change of subject back to Fosdic Lake.

It is always a harbinger of the upcoming arrival of spring, and its wildflowers, when I see the first of a special delicate very bright yellow flower.

I would have picked a bouquet of those yellow beauties except for the disturbing fact that they don't really have a very pleasant fragrance.

I don't remember if I've mentioned it before, but I'm from the Pacific Northwest, Western Washington to be precise. The Skagit Valley of Western Washington to be even more precise.

Up in the mountains in Washington you will see wildflowers. But not so much in the lowlands. In the lowlands you see a lot of flowers though. Fields of tulips, flags, irises and bright yellow daffodils of the same type bright yellow as the Fosdic Lake yellow wildflowers.

The Galtex's Made It From Fort Worth To Seattle And So Far No Rain Has Fallen On Them

Well, I have heard from Mr. Galtex. He and Gail have made it to Seattle. And so far they have not been rained on. The forecast above seems that it might be indicating that this may not be the case for the duration of their visit.

Below is the report from Seattle from Mr. Galtex....

Hi Durango -- Gail and I made it here fine, and the train took us from the airport to within a block of our hotel. Yummy Thai food for dinner last night. First impression is that Seattle has a great downtown, lots of activity and places. And we haven't seen a drop of rain, yet.

Mr. Galtex and the Mrs. are staying at a hotel across the street from the new Seattle Public Library. Somehow this new building made it on a list of the Top 100, (or was it 150?) buildings in America, as picked by, I think, the public. I remember wondering how the rest of America already knew about Seattle's new library.

The Galtex's are within easy walking distance of the Seattle Art Museum, Pike Place Market, the monorail to the Seattle Center, the transit tunnel that runs under downtown, allowing one to zip, for free, across downtown Seattle quickly. They are also a short distance from the Seattle Waterfront where they can hop on a ferry to get out of the rain when it inevitably arrives.

Seattle has several downtown grocery stores, in addition to the sprawling multi-level Pikes Place Market. There are also 3 or 4 vertical malls in downtown Seattle, along with several large department stores, like the flagship Nordstroms.

Is "flagship" the proper term for a store chain's home location?

At Pike Place the Galtex's can find the world's first Starbucks. Among a lot of other things.

Meanwhile, back in Fort Worth, from whence the Galtex's came, you will find no downtown grocery stores, no vertical malls, no department stores, no tunnel to zip you around the tiny downtown.

I do not know if there will be a ferry to take people across the little pond that may result from the Trinity River Vision, giving Fort Worth a waterfront.

In Fort Worth, currently, you will find the air heated 3 degrees warmer than it currently is heated in Seattle. And, as you can see below, there is only one day in the 5 day forecast for Fort Worth where rain is scheduled.

Up Early The 10th Day Of March Thinking About Wandalyn & The Garden Of Angels

We are already almost a third through the third month of 2011.

You can't quite tell it by looking out my viewing portal on the world, but this 10th day of March has dawned with another blue sky morning over North Texas.

It is only 40 degrees out there this morning. It barely got above 60 yesterday. Today I am taking a day off of my morning swim.

I slept well last night, nothing like the previous night's horrible insomnia.

I've been intending to mention, but keep forgetting, til now, I heard from Wandalyn again. This time with good news.

My one longtime reader may remember Wandalyn is the lady who's daughter had been murdered, with the murderer never caught. Wandalyn has had trouble getting any sort of closure on the tragedy that had left her so grief stricken. Wandalyn thought a cross at The Garden of Angels might help.

But, when Wandalyn met up with the guy who supposedly oversaw The Garden of Angels she was told a cross would cost a minimum of $150, with the guy trying to guilt Wandalyn into going for the deluxe $400 version.

The Garden of Angels website indicated a cross was $40 and gratis if one could not afford one.

Well, below is the message from Wandalyn with her good news about The Garden of Angels....

I received GOOD NEWS today from Amy's grandmother, Carolyn. After a board meeting this morning, they decided I would get a cross for my daughter for $40. It will be ready in about 2 weeks. I was so happy to hear this, after all I just went through. I told my story to a mother who has a cross at "our garden of angels". I had asked her if she was pleased with the gardens. She said she was. She gave me Carolyn's phone number. I called her and told her my story. She said she was so sorry that happened. She said I would get a cross for Tina and that she would present the cross story and the flag story to the board, when they met Saturday. Thank you for your interest. I read your blog. You presented my problem good. It's nice to know someone listens to an old lady nowadays. The flag was donated by "Joe" from Grand Prairie~the flag came from Illionis, though. I can't wait till I get Tina's cross out there. Maybe, since Spring is just around the corner, the Volunteers will began to appear and the Garden of Angels will once again look like your webpage. I surely hope so. I'm planning on being one of the Volunteers to appear at the next cleanup the last Saturday of the month.

Thank you again,
wandalyn

The Shadow Of The Tandy Thin Man Was Late To The Fort Worth Hills Today

As you can clearly see, by the long shadow, I am walking fast and carrying a big stick and wearing a shirt today for a windy short hike on the Tandy Hills.

I do not think I will be going swimming in the morning. It only got in the low 60s today. By morning the water in the pool will have likely cooled to a temperature that may be sufficiently low to induce an unwanted excessive shivering reaction.

I went to Town Talk after I was done Tandying. I have only one thing to say about Town Talk today. I wish people with hacking coughs would not go out in public. God knows what I was exposed to today in Town Talk.

I believe Gail Galtex and her husband are heading to Seattle today for the first time. Transplants to Fort Worth from Austin, the Galtex's are looking for a more cosmopolitan place to live. And are hoping Seattle may be the place.

I just checked the Seattle weather. Rain and temperatures in the 50s. I was afraid this would happen. March is not a good time to go to Seattle and hope the weather gods decide to remove the clouds and reveal the mountains.

Last week Western Washington had a clear day or two that the locals told me were gorgeous. I'm hoping the clouds part for the Galtex's and they get to see what Seattle and environs look like after a fresh scrubbing by Mother Nature, with the air sparkling clean and smelling of evergreens, with mountains and water in all directions. And, unlike here, in Texas, very little litter.

The Galtex's should find taking the light rail from Sea-Tac International to the downtown Seattle transit tunnel, to their hotel, to be a bit more convenient than the convoluted mass transit they had to use to lug their luggage from their downtown Fort Worth abode to the Fort Worth transit center to make their way to D/FW International..

At 63, currently, it is 10 degrees warmer than Seattle is right now. I have now shut my windows. I am not a big fan of getting chilly.

Muammar Gaddafi Doing It The Fort Worth Way Being An Example Of How To Deal With The MHMR-Gate Scandal

I tell you, Anonymous and the Paradise Center MHMR-Gate Scandal is one of those gifts that just keeps giving.

I got a couple comments from the ubiquitous Anonymous today in which I learned some things.

I learned MHMR CEO Jim McDermott is so rich and powerful he will survive the MHMR-Gate Scandal just like he has his previous scandals.

I learned that Jim McDermott is a survivor, just like Muammar Gaddafi, who will crush his opponents just as ruthlessly as the Libyan dictator.

I learned Teresa Davis is a whiney "boohoo."

I learned the reason MHMR has not addressed the concerns of the Paradise Center people is because they are little nobodies.

I learned if the Fort Worth Star-Telegram does not report a story, this means the story is not worth reporting.

The most interesting thing, to me, that I learned from Anonymous, is that this blog is a pathetic news source. I knew my blog was pathetic, but I had no idea it was a news source. I did know I was a damn Yankee and a nobody. Which Anonymous also pointed out quite poetically.

And now for your informative reading pleasure, the two comments I got from an Anonymous MHMR thug today.....

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "County Commission Gal Explains Fort Worth's MHMR-G...":

Dr. McDermott has so many political connections and money at his disposal that this scandal will just fade away, like other ones during his twenty something years as the top dog.

Like the powerful Col.Kadafi in Libya, Jim McDermott will get his political allies to crush these loony birds and that hard headed woman many seem to see as a saintly figure. P-l-e-e-z. She can't hold a candle to the awesome women in charge now Lynn and Ellen.

You all go get a life. Or a job, like that whiney Teresa "bohoo" Davis.

BTW, it's not any kind of suppression of freedom by MHMR, it's just that they have more important things to do than answer questions from you little nobodies. 

Especially the damn yankee owner of this pathetic news source. If the Star-Telegram doesn't report it, it ain't worth the time. Period. 

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "The Paradise Center Scandal Has Me Mad As Hell At ..."

To answer your question, yep it's all over. Move along. There's nothing to see here. 

Just FYI to all the fools and this blog owner, you think a handful of crazies and an unemployed (probably unemployable now) woman can win against a PhD. and a $100M government McDermott agency? Really?

ATTENTION!!! Urgent Message About Texas SB 875 & Your Property Rights

From TX Sharon:
We need 10,000 people to take this action!  

This bill will effect the entire state of Texas! 

You need to understand that this bill means you will have NO RECOURSE against trespass onto your property of pollution--air, water, spills and underground trespass--from natural gas drilling, coal plants, mining, cement plants or any other industry.  NO RECOURSE, folks! 

Any industry that is operating under a permit gets a pass under this bill. 

Don't let Troy Fraser and his corporate cronies
trample your property rights!

Tell your TX state senator to block SB 875

State senator Troy Fraser, chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and renowned champion of corporate interests, recently introduced his latest bad idea,  SB 875.

TAKE ACTION Click here to tell the Texas Senate Natural Resources Committee to stop SB 875

In a nutshell: SB 875 allows Texas state permit holders to trample on your property rights

A permit -- for gas drilling, or anything else -- is supposed to make the permit-holder behave responsibly.

SB 875 turns that on its head – it makes a permit a “get out of jail free” card.

No matter what the gas driller (or other permit holder) does -- if they’re holding a government permit, they can’t be held accountable under Texas nuisance law.

If SB 875 becomes law, that is.

Pollution from industry can trespass onto your property all day and night, pollute it, make your family sick, kill your livestock,  and industry only has to say “I was just following my permit or rule.”

TAKE ACTION:
Tell the members of the Texas Senate Natural Resources Committee: protect our property rights, oppose SB 875!

Instructions:

1. Go to the action page.
2. Go to page bottom and enter your zip code so the system can find your Senator
3. Read the sample letter that appears and edit it if possible. Customized letters have greater impact.
4. Click "Send My Message" to fax your letter to our member of the Texas Natural Resources Committee.
5. For more information, go to the action page.
6. NOTE: only Texans who are represented by members of the committee can take action