I Am Shocked Part II By Fort Worth Star-Telegram Journalistic Ethics Violations

Two days ago in a blogging titled I Am Shocked Regarding New TRWD Ethics Violation Allegations I mentioned that the Star-Telegram was working on an article about a complaint filed with the Texas Ethics Commission regarding last May's Tarrant Regional Water District board election, targeting John Basham, Mary Kelleher, Timothy Nold and Monty Bennett as the alleged perpetrators of the ethics violation.

I wondered, at the time I learned about this upcoming Star-Telegram report, how it was that the Star-Telegram knew about this complaint prior to those being complained about knowing about it.

Yesterday, October 3, the aforementioned Star-Telegram article, titled Ethics complaint filed on campaign cash in water district races was published.

The Star-Telegram article sort of raises more questions than it answers and, as is the norm for the Star-Telegram, once again brings into question that alleged newspaper's journalistic integrity.

To re-cap the pertinent points I blogged about in I Am Shocked Regarding New TRWD Ethics Violation Allegations...

Jerry Jenkins filed the complaint with the Texas Ethics Commission. Jerry Jenkins is a neighbor of TRWD Board Member, Jack Stevens. Jerry Jenkins has allegedly had business dealings involving attorney Lee Christie. Lee Christie is an attorney for the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Despite what you just read in the above paragraph we learn in the Star-Telegram article that "Jenkins said he doesn’t have ties to the candidates but followed the election closely as a private citizen and objected to the way the campaign contributions were handled."

Also in the Star-Telegram article we learn "Jerry Jenkins, who operates a machinery business in Azle, filed the complaints Monday alleging that contributions totaling $125,000 to a political action committee from Dallas businessman and rancher Monty Bennett were improperly reported on campaign forms before the money was distributed to three board challengers, according to the complaint."

If I recollect correctly the issue of the campaign contributions from Monty Bennett came up during the election via attack mailings sent by the TRWD incumbent candidates as part of their smear campaign that started smearing when they realized the BNK's mailings were gaining traction with the voters.

If by some technicality the contribution by Monty Bennett, and dispersal of funds, was allegedly not properly reported how did this private citizen, Jerry Jenkins, come to have possession of this information? It certainly could not have come from any of the hard hitting articles he read in the Star-Telegram covering that election.

Who could possibly be the source of this misinformation about the alleged mishandling of campaign funds?

Did the Star-Telegram's reporter ask Mr. Jenkins how he came to acquire his belief that something unethical had occurred?

Why did the Star-Telegram reporter not find it of interest that Mr. Jenkins' neighbor is TRWD board member, Jack Stevens? And that Mr. Jenkins has allegedly had business dealings with an attorney who is also an attorney for the TRWD?

As for the Texas Ethics Commission. Every 90 days Adrian Murray gets a notice telling him they are still investigating his ethics complaint regarding the TRWD's unethical use of public funds to send voters a slick 10 page mailer at the height of the election campaign touting the virtues of the TRWD.

Adrian Murray's ethics complaint would seem to be fairly easy to parse. He was certainly not the only local voter to make note of what seemed to be a total impropriety by the TRWD.

I can not help but wonder if the Texas Ethics Commission is not yet one more Texas agency co-opted by foxes taking over the henhouse....

Panther Island Ice Will Soon Be Freezing In The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle

Yesterday I mentioned J.D. Granger in a blog post.

That mention of J.D. Granger had someone named Anonymous making a blog comment...

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "I Am Shocked Regarding New TRWD Ethics Violation Allegations": 

Fort Worth's favorite mama's boy, J.D. Granger: Photo #22 is the one with him in it.

I am almost 100% certain that the lady on J.D.'s right is not the mama to which Anonymous refers.

In other J.D. Granger news this morning we learned that J.D.'s vision for the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle is now expanding to add an ice skating rink to the plethora of outdoor activities the TRVB has initiated in Fort Worth.

The public, I mean, the Trinity River Vision Authority voted, unanimously, to spend $99,000 to get the ice rink up and freezing.

J.D. says the TRVB will get back its investment via skate rentals and sponsorships.

Panther Island Ice will be open daily from November 22 through January 5.

The ice rink will be located in the Coyote Drive-In complex, near the canteen, with one of the movie screens viewable from the ice rink, thus allowing a dream of many to come true, that being to be able to ice skate whilst watching a movie.

Who could have guessed, over a decade ago when the Trinity River Vision was first announced, that all these years later what we'd be seeing of the vision is the world's premiere wakeboard lake, the world's first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century, happy hour inner tube floats in the Trinity River, one of the world's best waterfront music venues at something called Panther Island Pavilion and now an ice rink?

I really don't understand how come J.D. Granger was not picked as Best Servant of the People in last week's Fort Worth Weekly Best of 2013 issue....

Today Ally's Playground In Haltom City Was Dedicated To The Memory Of Ally Collins

Way back in June of 2007, day after day of rain fell on North Texas.

On June 19, 2007, Whites Branch Creek in Haltom City went into flash flood mode.

Four year old Alexandria "Ally" Collins was ripped from her mother's arms by the flood and drowned.

Today, over six years later, a memorial plaque was unveiled in Ally's Playground in Whites Branch Park in Haltom City.

In the years since Ally drowned her death has galvanized a lot of political action in the Fort Worth/Haltom City area, due to the fact that little has been done to mitigate the flash flooding problem of the creeks which run through Haltom City.

While little has been done to prevent future Haltom City flash flood drownings, millions of dollars have been spent elsewhere in Tarrant County on a project known as the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle, which is promoted primarily as a much needed flood control project, even though no one has drowned in a flood in the area of the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle in over a half a century, where millions of dollars had already been spent, a half century ago, to build giant levees to prevent any flash flood of the sort which killed little Ally Collins.

I Am Shocked Regarding New TRWD Ethics Violation Allegations

If I have said it once, I have said it twice. There is way too much corruption that way too few people notice here in the Fort Worth zone of America.

Benefit of being a backwater?

I don't know.

But, where else in America would something like the nepotistic hiring of the unqualified J.D. Granger to run a billion dollar public works project not be a scandal? With the local newspaper of record not objecting strongly to such an outrageous case of nepotism?

Hiring the son of the local congresswoman so as to hopefully secure federal earmark dollars for a thing like the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle should be a scandal. This would be a scandal anywhere else. But, in Fort Worth it is just shrugged off as being the Fort Worth Way of operating.

And now, this afternoon, I've received multiple emails regarding what seems to me to be yet one more example of the Tarrant Regional Water District being ethically challenged. With me thinking, the reason these type things keep happening is due to that Fort Worth Way of operating that I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

This afternoon I am being told several things, none of which I am able to verify, all of which, for good reason, I believe to be factually accurate....

Apparently the Fort Worth Star-Telegram is working on a story about an ethics complaint which has been filed with the Texas State Ethics Commission regarding this past May's TRWD board election. John Basham, Mary Kelleher, Timothy Nold and Monty Bennett are the persons named in the complaint.

I am being told no one has yet received official notice of the ethics complaint, or what is being alleged in the ethics complaint, but that the official notice will arrive today via a phone call followed by a mailed letter.

So, who filed this complaint you are likely wondering?

Now that is where it gets interesting.

A man named Jerry Llewellyn Jenkins allegedly filed the complaint. So, what is this Jenkins guy's connection to the TRWD you can not help but wonder?

Well, guess who is a close neighbor of Jerry Jenkins? If you guessed TRWD Board Member, Jack Stevens, you guessed right. Jack Stevens and Jerry Jenkins are also both active members of the Azle Chamber of Commerce.

Big deal, you are likely sitting there thinking. So, they are neighbors and are in a Chamber of Commerce. What is unethical about that?

Now let's bring up another name. Lee Christie. Lee Christie is an attorney. For whom is Lee Christie an attorney you might be wondering?

Well.

Lee Christie is an attorney for the Tarrant Regional Water District.

Again, you are likely sitting there thinking, big deal.

Now, what if I told you that I am being told that Lee Christie is also an attorney who has allegedly worked with Jerry Jenkins, he being the guy who filed the ethics complaint against John Basham, Mary Kelleher, Timothy Nold and Monty Bennett?

Does the term "conflict of interest" mean anything to anyone as an "ethics violation" in the zone where the Fort Worth Way persists?

I am almost 100% certain that John Basham, Mary Kelleher, Timothy Nold and Monty Bennett have done absolutely nothing unethical regarding this past May's TRWD board election.

I am also almost 100% certain that there is something unethical regarding the "business" relationship between Jack Stevens, Jerry Jenkins and Lee Christie.

I am also wondering if the Star-Telegram is going to be reporting the "entire" story if they publish this article they are working on?

Rolling In Fort Worth's Gateway Park Getting Splashed By Big Trinity River Fish

No. That is not pea soup you are looking at in the picture. Although pea soup does sound real good, even on this not too chilly 2nd day of October.

The pea soup colored water you are looking at in the picture is the some of the pristine water that flows in the Trinity River as it passes past Fort Worth's Gateway Park.

When I stopped my wheels from rolling over the Gateway Park mountain bike trails today and looked over the cliff at the river, I was startled to see a BIG fish jump out of the water, making a BIG splash.

If I were looking at a river in Washington, like the Skagit or the Columbia, I would have thought I'd seen a BIG salmon make a BIG jump.

I then saw several other big fish, submerged barely below the green surface, like the one I zoomed in on above.

I have no idea what species of fish these were, except for being fairly certain they were not salmon.

I had myself a really fine time biking today.

And then I got back to my computer to learn there is a scandal a-brewing.

It always takes me awhile to figure out what is scandalous about a particular scandal when one begins a-brewing. I do not think this particular scandal will take me as long to figure out as it took me to figure out what was scandalous about the Watergate scandal when I learned about that scandal in grade school....

Rolling Around Mallard Cove Before Maxine Got Me Thinking About Stehekin

Apparently yesterday I over exerted somehow, rendering my abdominal zone sore, feeling as if I've done a few thousand sit ups.

Since I don't do sit ups, that is not the explanation for the sore abdominal zone. I suspect this may be a swimming injury.

Even though my core is sore I decided it might have a salubrious effect to roll my non-motorized wheels on pavement.

So, I rolled my motorized wheels to Mallard Cove Park to roll around Mary Kelleher's neighborhood for an hour or so.

As you can see via the view over my handlebars, Mallard Cove Park has plenty of paved trails to roll on.

Earlier today Elsie Hotpepper asked me if I was aware that Palestine has a Hotpepper Festival. I knew that Elsie was very popular with Middle Eastern sorts, but I had no idea there was a festival dedicated to her.

I was about to hit the publish button on this blogging when I saw incoming email from Maxine, which turned out to be an extremely good, detailed description of this year's Stehekin hiking adventure. It has been over 15 years since I had myself a Stehekin hiking adventure.

Realizing that it has been over 15 years since I have had myself a Stehekin hiking adventure has me feeling very melancholy. And homesick....

The Quileute Tribe Has Me Thinking About Installing A No Trespassing Sign For The Caddo Nation In Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area

Yesterday Mr. Steve A. caused me to virtually visit a town on the west side of the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington called Forks.

Forks gets a lot of rain. Something like, on average, 212 days of rain a year. I have moteled, over night, in Forks on two occasions, both dry, but one time cloudy, with the other clear blue sky.

This century Forks became known world-wide due to movies I have never seen which have the word "Twilight" in the title.

Virtually visiting Forks led me to virtually visit the nearby village of La Push. I have gone hiking in the La Push area. The beaches in the La Push zone have some of the iconic Washington Pacific Ocean scenery.

When I Googled for La Push images I came upon the above sign. La Push is the largest village within the Quileute Indian Reservation.

Yesterday I went walking with the Indian ghosts in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, where the native peoples were forcibly removed from their land.

In Washington, and other states, some native peoples still have their villages intact, and have control over their Tribal lands and so are able to post signs such as you see above.

However, some Pacific Northwest tribes met the same fate as the Village Creek tribes. Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce come to mind

I doubt Arlington's Village Creek Indians had posted any signs informing the incoming Texans they were not authorized to access Village Creek Tribal Lands and if they did so they would be prosecuted and their horses towed.

When you cross the San Juan River, at Mexican Hat, in Utah, into Arizona, you soon come upon a large sign informing you that you are entering the Navajo Nation, where you are required to obey Navajo law, including continuing to wear your seatbelt.

In Texas, near the Mexican border, there is a town called Eagle Pass. Near Eagle Pass the Kickapoo Tribe operates the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino. I have never been to Eagle Pass or the Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino, so I don't know if when one visits that area one sees a large sign informing you that you are entering the Kickapoo Nation.

All this Indian talk is making me want to make Navajo fry bread for lunch. If only I knew how...

A Sunday Walk With Village Creek Litter Hitting Birds

Saturday some rain fell on North Texas. When rain falls in North Texas the rain that falls usually causes creeks and rivers to flow with more water than the norm.

Along with a lot of litter.

In the picture you are looking at the pile of litter piled up today against one of the dam bridges in Arlington's Village Creek Natural Historical Area, where, historically, I often go for a Sunday walk, or bike ride, with the Village Creek Indian ghosts.

Today I opted for the walking option. Along with a lot of other people.

Soon after I crossed over the dam bridge I came upon the scene below.

In the foreground a guy walking with an odd gait at a fast pace. Behind the fast walking guy was a group hitting birds with badmitton rackets. I had never seen this particular bird hitting activity in the Village Creek Natural Historical Area before.

Changing the subject from hitting birds to something else.

This morning I did not wake up til after the arrival of the sun on this last Sunday of September. I don't think my tardy awakening had anything to do with being out way past my regular bedtime attending Saturday's world premiere of Josh Fox's Gasland II at Fort Worth's Ridglea Theater.

With tomorrow being the last day of September I am being appalled at the rapidity with which time seems to be passing. Halloween will soon be upon us, followed by the dreaded, by me, Holiday Season.

On the plus side, I am already done with my Christmas shopping....

A Dry Saturday Gateway Park Mountain Bike Ride Before Getting Wet In A Thunderstorm

In the pool this morning looking up at the cloudy sky was a bit dizzying, with the wind blowing a lower level of wispy clouds at a high speed, whilst a thicker layer of clouds, at a higher level, seemed to be moving in the opposite direction.

I assumed the confused cloud movement was an optical illusion.

By the time this Saturday morning when the time came to roll my motorized wheels to Gateway Park for my regularly scheduled rolling of my non-motorized wheels, a  few drips of wetness had made it to earth.

I'd decided to take the extreme risk that I might find myself rolling my wheels in a downpour and opted to stick with the mountain bike ride plan.

That extreme risk turned out not to be risky. No drippage fell on me or the trails while I was rolling.

As you can see via the view from my regularly scheduled Gateway Park photo op location, we are seeing some stormy skies today in North Texas.

After I concluded a dry, but rather humid, mountain bike trail tour I continued on to Town Talk were  I got myself a couple dozen Chiquita  bananas, along with some other good stuff.

When I exited Town Talk the sky was looking very stormy to the north, but much brighter heading east, which is the direction of my abode. When I got a clear view to the north I saw a very dark wall cloud which reminded me of the tornado wall cloud I saw way back in the year 2000 when I was heading to downtown Fort Worth. That day I was not long on the road before I got a call telling me not to come to downtown Fort Worth, that tornadoes were touching down.

So far, today, I have heard no tornado sirens.

But, as I made my way the 5 miles from Town Talk to my abode, what had been a bright view to the east had darkened. With about a mile to go I was driving in a downpour. Then I took a right to head south for a half a mile and left the rain. But it caught up to me again by the time I reached my parking spot. By the time I got under cover the downpour had reached my abode, along with thunderous thunder booming.

Currently the downpouring and thunderous booming has stopped. I suspect this is just a break with more rain and thunder to come.

This Morning Messing With Washington Led Me To Mess With Texas Litter

This morning I was searching for images of Washington to put on a Washington webpage. This search for images led me to read an article about Washington in which I learned that something called the American State Litter Scorecard had somehow ranked the 50 states, litter-wise.

Washington was the least littered state. The most littered states included the one I am currently living in.

I copied a paragraph about the Litter Scorecard...

"The 2011 American State Litter Scorecard," ranking the fifty United States on overall quality/effectiveness of public spaces cleanliness and related environmental performances, was presented at the American Society for Public Administration National Conference in Baltimore by Steve Spacek. Best states include Washington (top), California, Iowa, Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Oregon, New Hampshire, North Carolina, and New York--most located in New England or Far West regions of the United States. Worst states include Kentucky (bottom), Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Alabama, Indiana, Georgia, Illinois, Oklahoma, Montana, North Dakota and Texas -- most located in the South, Central United States or Sun Belt regions.

After reading Texas was one of the worst states, litter-wise, I Googled "Texas Litter" looking for a Texas litter image. I saw one I liked and was then surprised to see where it came from.

Me.

A Texas litter picture I'd taken a couple years ago at Fort Worth's Oakland Lake Park and used in a blogging titled An Amazing Amount Of Litter Indicates It Is Perfectly Okay To Mess With Texas, that you see screencapped above.

Reading Mess With Texas whilst Googling for Texas litter brought me to a Wikipedia article titled Don't Mess with Texas in which I learned the following....

The phrase Don't Mess with Texas is a trademark of the Texas Department of Transportation, which began as part of a statewide advertising campaign started in 1986. The intention behind the Don't Mess with Texas campaign was to reduce littering on Texas roadways and has garnered statewide attention.

The phrase "Don't Mess with Texas" was prominently shown on road signs on major highways, television, radio and in print advertisements. The campaign is credited with reducing litter on Texas highways roughly 72% between 1986 and 1990. The campaign's target market was 18-35 year old males, which was statistically shown to be the most likely to litter. While the slogan was originally not intended to become a statewide cultural icon, it did.

The Don't Mess with Texas anti-litter campaign brought about a 72% reduction of litter on Texas highways?

This campaign ended in 1990? Has the Texas litter level maintained that 72% reduction? Or in the 23 years since 1990 have those littering 18-35 year old Texas males reverted to their pre-Don't Mess with Texas ways? I can't imagine the Texas roadside litter levels being 72% worse than what we see in 2013

Very perplexing.

If you have ever had the pleasure of taking a roadtrip out of Texas, heading northwest, or west, you will likely have noticed that the decrease in roadside litter starts being very noticeable by the time you reach Colorado. Or New Mexico.

Do Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington have significantly fewer 18-35 year old males than Texas? Is that why those states are so noticeably less littered?

Again. Very perplexing...