Tarrant Regional Water District Loses Another Court Decision

Yesterday in my incoming email I found the for Immediate Release Press Release you see to the left from Texans for Government Transparency. I hope releasing this press release the day after I got it is immediate enough.

Below is the TFGT Press Release in its entirety....

Texans for Government Transparency

TRWD Loses Key Court Decision on Case about Violating Texas Open Meetings Law

(Fort Worth, Texas) This past week, a key decision was handed down in a lawsuit against the Tarrant Regional Water District for violations of the Texas Open Meetings Act allowing the suit to move forward in court. The judge struck down a motion from the TRWD where they asserted they were not only exempt from being sued due to jurisdictional issues, but did not have to comply with the Texas Open Meetings Act in any matters before the court. Judge Susan McCoy of the 153rd judicial district denied the TRWD’s motion on August 26, 2013 clearing way for the case to be heard.

 The suit filed by East Texas ranch owner and businessman, Monty Bennett, alleges the TRWD violated the Texas Open Meetings Act over 600 times in making key decisions. This suit also alleges these decisions were made behind closed doors and away from public oversight. In these meetings millions of dollars of taxpayer’s money was awarded to contractors and individuals. Perhaps the lawsuits most damaging allegation contends in these same secret meetings people’s land and properties were marked to be taken by eminent domain without owners ever having been told of any meeting of the TRWD. Mr. Bennett’s family ranch in East Texas, where they raise exotic wildlife and endangered species, is one of the properties the TRWD has marked for the taking and prompting him to action.

“The Texas Open Meetings Act is there to ensure oversight of government agencies by the citizens of Texas.” says John Austin Basham, President of Texans For Government Transparency, “The idea of our government meeting in secret and planning to take someone’s family ranch, home, or property is outrageous!” Basham adds, “The argument the TRWD puts forth that they are exempt from any oversight under the Texas Open Meeting Act speaks to how little regard they have for both the law and the people they purport to serve. We are Texans, the government saying ‘trust us, we know what’s best for you’ is not something that sits well with our nature or our spirit.”

Mr. Basham did however express his doubts with any rapid resolution in this case, “The TRWD has a track record of spending Millions in taxpayer’s dollars to defend legally troubling arguments. But worse, they lose every single time! So, in fact they spend all this money on lawyers and court costs as a delay and harassment tactic. This misuse of money and trust allows them more time to continue violating the law, ignore the public’s will, oversight, and input.”

Texans For Government Transparency has also filed suit against the TRWD for violating the Texas Constitution by skipping elections and allowing board members to serve an extra year without a vote of the people. TFGT expects to be victorious in this case forcing the TRWD to allow the people to vote for those who represent them, rather than having career bureaucrats dictate who serves and for how long.

Texans for Government Transparency is a non-profit human rights organization focused on bringing transparency and accountability to government, while protecting the privacy and civil rights of the citizens of Texas.

Contact: John Spivey
Telephone: 817-706-2947 September 2, 2013
Email: johnhspivey@hotmail.com
8551 Boat Club Road Suite 121
Fort Worth, Texas 76179-3674
www.TFGT.org

Tuning Up After A Morning Swim Before Wildscaping To Arlington's Chinatown

I don't know why it almost looks like waves were waving in the pool this morning whilst I was having my morning swim.

Due to weather related concerns yesterday's Labor Day Picnic took place in my communal neighborhood park.

There is a big fireplace in the center of my communal neighborhood park. For some reason Crazy Greg thought it a good idea to build a real big fire. I guess it was not HOT enough. This type behavior is why this boy is known as Crazy Greg.

Several people dragged barbecuing devices to the communal neighborhood park. I BBQed my keilbasa on the Silas and Sue BBQ. Miss Puerto Rico showed up, food-free, but with a supply of adult libations. Big Ed got in a rather odd argument with Miss Puerto Rico over the Spanish-American War.

All in all Labor Day was interesting. I was forbidden from photo documenting the communal neighborhood park Labor Day Picnic. However, no one said anything about me not painting any word pictures.

The day after Labor Day started off fine, with the aforementioned photo documented swim.

And then, mid-morning, I drove to Arlington to get a tune up for one of my motorized motion contraptions. For a decade, or longer, when I need some auto doctoring I go to a place on Division Street in Arlington, run by Iranian exiles.

I walked a bit in the neighborhood while the tune up was taking place. In the picture, above, we are looking east. That is the auto medic place on the left, to the left of the pointy thing. As you can see, this part of Arlington's Division Street is a bleak bit of commercial wasteland. Sparse on sidewalks.

The tune-up did not take too long. Since I was in the neighborhood I decided to drive to Veterans Park for a short walk before heading to Arlington's Chinatown.

Walking in the Veterans Park Xeriscape area eventually leads to the more formal garden area, where the above deck exists. The above deck  made me a bit homesick, due to reminding me of the deck on the backside of my house in my old home zone in Mount Vernon, Washington.

And then it was off to Arlington's Chinatown, to the Cho Saigon Market. I got myself some much needed Asian supplies. Curry powder, sesame oil, coconut milk, soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, jasmine rice, garlic, tamarind pods, fresh mints, bean sprouts.

And 10 pounds of lean ground beef.

Yes, the Cho Saigon Market in Chinatown has an excellent fresh fish and meat counter.

Changing the subject from fresh fish and meat to something else.

I am only barely finished with lunch. Homemade black olive, green olive, mushroom pizza, BBQ chicken and salad.

To wake up my computer to find an email from the Fort Worth Library reminding me that the Ernest Hemingway Short Stories Collection that I checked out way back in early July, is due today and must be returned, lest I face a hefty fine that I can ill afford.

2013 Big Tex Choice Award Winners Are Deep Fried Cuban Roll & Fried Thanksgiving Dinner

The eagerly anticipated ninth annual Big Tex Choice Awards for the 2013 State Fair of Texas were announced on Labor Day.

This year the winners actually sound tasty and something I would be willing to try, unlike some of the winners previous years.

Deep-Fried Coke and Deep-Fried Butter come to mind.

This year's winner of the coveted Best Taste Award went to Isaac Rousso for his Deep Fried Cuban Roll.

The Most Creative Award went to Justin Martinez for Fried Thanksgiving Dinner.

From the Big Tex website we get a description of the winners and the top competitors. I believe all will be available for consuming at the State Fair of Texas which starts up September 27 and closes on October 20.

Big Tex Choice Award Top Picks...

BEST TASTE
Deep Fried Cuban Roll
A filling of slow cooked pork shoulder, chopped ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and secret sauce is spread onto a slice of Swiss cheese, rolled up in pastry dough, and deep fried.  Roll is served with a side of majo sauce for dipping.

MOST CREATIVE
Fried Thanksgiving Dinner
Mama’s homemade stuffing and diced roasted turkey are rolled in a ball.   Next it’s dipped in southern cream corn and rolled in seasoned corn meal - all fried to a crispy golden brown. Served with old fashion giblet brown gravy.   The zesty orange cranberry sauce fills your dipping needs and results in a complete thanksgiving dinner, FRIED!

Fernie’s Deep Fried King Ranch Casserole
Melted cheese, salty, spicy, goodness that is dipped in a zesty southwestern egg wash and coated in panko bread crumbs.  Deep fried golden brown and crunchy on the outside; steamy and creamy on the inside! Served with a side of red, white, and blue tortilla chips and your choice of our homemade “salsafied” sour cream or cheesy queso.

Awesome Deep Fried Nutella®
Whipped Nutella wrapped around a extra crispy dough and deep fried. Topped with strawberries bananas MORE Nutella chocolate whipped cream and powdered sugar.

Golden Fried Millionaire Pie 
Sweetened, fluffy cream cheese filling is loaded with golden pineapple and Texas pecans then wrapped in a flaky pie crust and fried to a golden brown. Topped with whipped cream, toasted coconut, and candied pecans.

Southern Style Chicken-Fried Meatloaf
Homemade meatloaf slices are coated in an authentic Texas chicken-fried breading and deep fried golden brown. Served with garlic mashed potatoes, Texas cream gravy, and a ketchup/brown sugar glaze for dipping.

Spinach Dip Bites
Creamy and delicious spinach artichoke dip bites are coated with crispy tortilla chips and flash-fried until golden brown. Bites are served with salsa for an additional kick.

Texas Fried Fireball 
Pimento cheese, pickles, cayenne pepper, and bacon are rolled into a ball, dipped in buttermilk, covered with a jalapeno-infused batter and deep fried. Served with chipotle ranch for dipping.

My North Texas Location Is Currently Chilled To 78 With A Heat Index Real Feel Of 101

78 degrees?

With the heat index making it really feel like 101?

I thought my computer based temperature monitoring device must be broken, so I checked the temperature on the Star-Telegram website to find it is also 78 degrees.

I just returned from a semi-extended stay in the outer world and it definitely feels closer to 101 out there than 78 degrees.

78 degrees is only 2 degrees warmer than the current temperature in my old home zone of Mount Vernon, Washington.

It is a little past the middle of this Labor Day afternoon. The sky has returned to blue. It can not possibly be only 78 degrees.

Then again, the air-conditioner does not seem to be running, non-stop, in fact I don't think it has cycled on since I've been back in air-conditioned comfort.

Very perplexing....

A Labor Day Morning Swim In The Rain With Mosquito Bites

This Labor Day morning I was surprised when I unblocked my view of the outer world to look out my bedroom window to see blue sky had been replaced by gray and droplets of wet were falling, covering the ground in water.

So, I had myself a really fine time swimming in the rain this morning.

As I pushed my way through water I saw flashes of light in the distance and heard thunder rumbling. But, it was a long ways away, so I had no worry about getting electrocuted by a lightning strike.

I do worry sometimes that I might get electrocuted by the pool's underwater lights. Something just seems not right about pools having  underwater lights.

The past week, give or take a day, I have been getting buzzed my mosquitoes whilst swimming. Most of these days of getting skeeter buzzed I have gotten one bite, always in the same location, resulting in a big red bump on my right cheek. That's the cheek to the right of my nose, just to be clear.

Speaking of getting mosquito bites in an unfortunate location. In Gar the Texan's extensive coverage of his most recent honeymoon, last month in Jamaica, Gar reported that he'd suffered multiple Jamaica mosquito attacks. Gar claims that Texas mosquitoes have never had a taste for him, but the Jamaican variant would not stop feasting on him.

Gar the Texan further shared the fact that many of the Jamaican mosquito bites were in nether regions of a delicate nature, regions with important honeymooning functions, which rendered the honeymooning painful at times.

What with the weather outside having the potential to become frightful I will have to be flexible with my Labor Day Picnic plans.

Later today blue sky is predicted to return, along with an extremely humid HOT high of 98.

It Feels Like 108 Degrees The First Day Of September In Texas

I don't remember my location getting heated to 104 this summer.

Til now.

Currently my computer based temperature monitoring device is telling me we are 104 degrees HOT with the heat index making it really feel like 108.

The air-conditioner seems to be conditioning nearly non-stop.

It probably was not a good idea to boil eggs a few minutes ago and fire up the oven to oven fry some spuds.

But, I wanted to make potato salad for tomorrow's very traditional Labor Day Picnic.

When I talked to my mom this morning there was not a lot of lamenting about the Arizona HEAT due to mom not being out in it during her convalescing time.

The only lamenting was over the fact that the seasonal monsoon rains have dropped water in locations all around them, but not on my mom and dad's location.

Instead of a good hard monsoon rain my mom and dad's Sun Lake location had itself a sandstorm.

I told my mom the past few days when I do my temperature monitoring her zone has been colder than mine. That is also the case this first day of September. With my location broiling at 104 while Phoenix is chillier at 103.

However, all that monsoon rain action and its resultant humidity has the heat index in Arizona having that 103 degrees really feel like 109. One degree HOTTER than my location's real feel of 108.

Fall will be falling in 21 days, on day 22 of September, when the Autumnal Equinox arrives. With the expected arrival of the Autumnal Equinox in a few weeks I think I will be able to experience a few weeks with natural cooling and less un-natural air-conditioning.

And maybe windows open all night long....

A Lounging Mom Call Thinking About A Town Too Mean For Bean While Being Gar The Texan's Nemesis

I did not feel like driving anywhere to go on a walk, hike or bike ride this HOT first day of September. I had myself plenty of aerobic stimulation via the swimming method this morning.

So, I walked up to Albertsons to get this week's DFW.com ink edition. On the way back to my abode I called my mom and had myself a mom chat whilst lounging on a lounge poolside.

I'd not called my mom since she got back home from her recent knee surgery ordeal. Mom was sounding very perky. Painkillers may have been enhancing the perkiness.

After mom was done talking to me I made my way back to my computer where I found I'd received an email from a S.Wolfe at BigBend.net informing me I needed to make an entry about the West Texas town of Sanderson on my Eyes on Texas website. I looked up Sanderson to learn it is known as the Cactus Capital of Texas and the Town Too Mean  for Judge Roy Bean. The Too Mean for Bean thing sealed the deal. I'll webpage this town.

After checking on Sanderson I checked on my blogs and saw that Gar the Texan has blogged about his remarkable resemblance to current day David Cassidy and James Bond.

I also saw that Gar the Texan had previously blogged about my new Durango World blog.

That is a screen cap from Gar the Texan's Gar's World blog, above. Even though Gar the Texan's Gar's World blog has a black color scheme it is not an adult material oriented blog, even though Google AdSense banned him for inappropriate adult material.

In part the following is what Gar the Texan had to say about my new Durango World blog....

A couple of weeks ago, my blogging mentor and nemesis, Durango, decided to create a Durango World blog. At first I thought he was joking. I thought perhaps he was just coming up with something to belittle my new blog title.

Well, he's finally started writing and I must say: I like the Durango World blog more than I do his Durango Texas blog. I read post after post today without slowing down or growing bored. I even felt inclined to comment a couple of times, but I decided to write my own post instead.

I don't know how much he actually reads my posts but he took one of my little asinine spoutings and spun it into gold with this particular post about Obamacare.

Anyway, come to my little blog site once a day, look on the right column and click on Infamous World of Durango. I'm quite impressed, but don't tell him that.

The main thing I got out of what Gar the Texan has to say is feeling shocked that he finds himself slowing down and getting bored when reading my Durango Texas blog. That and he thinks I am his nemesis. That really shocks me.....

Biking Gateway Park At 107 Degrees Before Doing Some Crowded Town Talking On The Last Day Of August

The outer world was already 100 degrees HOT when I left my abode's air-conditioned comfort to drive to Gateway Park to do some mountain biking.

100 degrees, with the vexing heat index making it really feel like 107.

But, it really did not feel like 107 to me. Or even 100. Most of my pedaling took place under the shade of the Gateway Park jungle.

On the left you are looking at the Fort Worth Mountain Biking Association's sign that shows the various loops of the various miles of trails one can pedal on in Gateway Park.

Someone has taped another sign to the glass that protects the map. That taped sign says "Life is better on a mountain bike."

Some days life does seem to be better on a mountain bike. Rolling along at high speed on a single track trail usually does manage to elevate my mood. Endorphins released due to aerobic activity may account for some of the mood elevation.

Changing the subject from pedaling to something else.

I am appalled that today is already the last day of August. This month was eventful and flew by at hyperspeed. September will also likely disappear fast and by the start of October getting in the pool in the morning will start to be a bit bracing.

I went two times around my favorite Gateway Park mountain bike trail loop. And then it was off to Town Talk.

I have never seen Town Talk so crowded, with such long lines at the checkouts.

But, due to how efficiently the Town Talk checkers check, the wait was not long.

I got a lot of rabbit food today. Romaine lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, 10 pounds of broccoli crowns. Plus some non-rabbit food type stuff, like red onions, chicken legs, cheese, tortillas, bratwurst for my Labor Day Picnic and other stuff I am not remembering right now.

Speaking of food products. The lunch gong just went off. Time for a feeding.

Another HOT August Day In Texas With No Cooling Glaciers Available

My great nephew Spencer Jack's grandma, my favorite ex-sister-in-law, Cindy, knowing I am HOT today, as in a 104 HEAT index level of HOT, emailed me the cool looking photo you see on the left.

That big white mass of white is what is known as a glacier. That  particular glacier is one of many sliding down the slopes of the Mount Baker volcano, near my old home zone in Washington.

My favorite ex-sister-in-law has turned into a hiking maniac, something I really would never have envisioned her ever becoming back when she was my favorite sister-in-law.

Cindy has been going on some of the more grueling hikes I have ever been on. Like her hike last week to the Park Butte Lookout, which is the vantage point from which Cindy took the above photo.

I have blogged about Cindy's hiking exploits a couple times. Last Sunday in a blogging titled Hiking To The Park Butte Lookout With Cindy & Michele and today in a blogging titled More Mount Baker Hiking With Cindy, Michele, Ginny & Jeremy.

Jeremy is my youngest nephew. In today's blogging about Cindy hiking I included a couple photos of Jeremy in the same location, one of which is one of my all time favorite photos. Jeremy was only 7 when that photo was taken.

I wonder if he remembers the trauma he experienced that day. I will have to remember to ask the next time I talk to my favorite nephew Jeremy.

Clicking through locations on my computer based temperature monitoring device my location is once again the HOTTEST.

HOTTER than Phoenix.

With Western Washington shivering in the 70s. Which is to be expected, what with all those big cooling glaciers sliding down mountains....

Pondering A Labor Day Weekend Visit To Turner Falls Park In Oklahoma With A Stop For Coffee At WinStar World Casino

In the picture you are looking at the biggest waterfall in Oklahoma.

Turner Falls.

In Turner Falls Park in Davis, Oklahoma.

That is my little head barely out of the water, directly under the raging water of Turner Falls.

The visit to Turner Falls Park that found me getting wet was during a very HOT August day in the year 2000.

A couple years after that visit to Turner Falls Park I returned, with Gar the Texan, on a cold winter day, with that cold winter day being the first Saturday of the new year of 2002.

I know the precise date of that winter visit to Turner Falls because I just looked at the Turner Falls Park in Winter webpage I made documenting that visit.

On the winter visit to Turner Falls there was a lot more water raging over the falls than there was during the August visit. So much water was flowing through Honey Creek that it was flooding over one of the creek crossings one crosses to get to Turner Falls.

The reason Turner Falls Park came to mind this morning is I noticed a HUGE jump in visits to my Turner Falls Park webpage when I checked my website stats.

For a second or two I wondered why there was a Turner Falls Park webpage visitor's spike. Then I remembered this is Labor Day Weekend.

Turner Falls Park will likely be packed with visitors this Labor Day Weekend, to the point access may be denied to late comers. It is a big park, but there is only so much parking in the park.

A Labor Day Weekend drive up to Turner Falls Park sounds like a really fine time. With a stop at WinStar World Casino on the way north, or the way back south. WinStar World Casino has one of the best buffets I have ever buffeted at. With what may be the most tasty coffee I have ever tasted.