Will Truth & Justice Prevail In Largest Voter Fraud Investigation In Texas History?

I have no idea if this is really happening for real, or what, but via Facebook this morning I saw Texas Governor, Greg Abbott post that the "Largest Voter Fraud Investigation in Texas History Underway in Tarrant County. We will crush illegal voting."

Shortly after reading what Governor Abbott had to say I was sent that which you see below, along with a message explaining that which I was looking at.  The message is below the scanned image of the bill.

I have ordered data from Tarrant County dozens, if not hundreds, of times, including copies of Applications for ballot by mail and carrier envelopes. This week we ordered HD99 and the Tarrant County District attorney office sent me an invoice for $64,802.61 if I want to see those. I've seen just about every other district for $1. But HD99 is almost $65K.....I think people should ask the DA's office and Tarrant County elections why? Stop playing games Tarrant County. This infuriates me, but they picked on the wrong guy because I won't back down. This is an abuse of gov't in order to block me from accessing data which is rightfully due to the public. What is wrong with these so called "republicans" in Tarrant County? If you know please enlighten me.

___________________

The person who found the $64,000 question is Aaron Harris, he being of Direct Action Texas fame, trying to put a stop to flagrant election fraud in Texas. The $64,802.61 bill came from the Tarrant County District Attorney Office.

To me this sort of indicates that those responsible for perpetrating the Tarrant County Electoral Fraud are in full panic mode, going to outrageous measures in what seems to now amount to a criminal conspiracy to cover up the elections they rigged.

Methinks those who benefited from the election rigging, who were not party to the actual rigging, would do themselves a favor by getting ahead of the scandal and resigning their positions now, along with a statement condemning the criminal acts, and  maybe admitting that there did seem to be something fishy about that last election, but that assurances had been made that no hanky panky took place.

It will be interesting how this all plays out.

Will Truth, Justice and the American Way prevail? Or will what is known as the Fort Worth Way get its way, once again?

Stay tuned. This could get interesting....

Rerouting Fort Worth's Trinity River Vision Propaganda To The Truth

With disturbing regularity a ridiculous propaganda puff piece pops up in an obscure publication touting an alternative universe version of what is known as the Trinity River Uptown Central City Panther Island District Vision.

Or America's Biggest Boondoggle.

This time the propaganda puff piece was in something called Urban Land Magazine in an article titled Rerouting the Trinity River.

After reading the article astute Fort Worth observer, Mr. Spiffy, observed this magazine should be called Urban Myth Magazine.

This article has multiple quotes from J.D. Granger, which always guarantees a high nonsense level.

Let's start at the start of this article and opine as we go along.

The first paragraph...

In an industrial area north of downtown Fort Worth, three bridges are under construction that, at least for now, serve little purpose. The bridges are going up over dry land in anticipation that they will someday span a 1.8-mile (3 km) channel off the Trinity River, part of an ambitious 13-year-old plan to transform the heart of the Texas city. The channel, which has not yet been dredged and still awaits federal funding, is the centerpiece of the $900 million development that combines flood control with the city’s dreams of creating a new urban district.

Three bridges are under construction? Construction has been stalled on the only one of the bridges under any sort of construction, with that stall now lasting over half a year, supposedly due to design errors.

Ambitious 13 year old plan? Really? Ambitious? As in ambitious in slow motion?

The un-funded un-dredged channel is the center piece of this development? So, you have an unfunded centerpiece, but go ahead and build some bridges over the unfunded centerpiece, in case the ditch ever does get dredged?

Next up the first of the embarrassing nonsensical J.D. Granger quotes...

“There’s not another city in North America that has this type of phase two opportunity in one swipe,” says J.D. Granger, the executive director of the Trinity River Vision Authority (TRVA), which is overseeing the project. “It’s a blank slate.”

I have no idea what the above Granger gibberish means. A "type of phase two opportunity in one swipe"? What does that mean?  The project is a "blank slate"?  After 13 years this project is a blank slate? As for no other city in North America having a project such as this in the works, well, that is true. Fort Worth is the location of America's Biggest Boondoggle. No other town in America tops Fort Worth in the Boondoggle department for this type of project.

Skipping forward a paragraph or two...

The a-ha moment came with the radical proposal to dig the channel to address the city’s flooding problems, introduced by Vancouver-based architect Bing Thom. The channel would allow removal of the tall levees lining the river and create an opportunity for the city to reconnect with the river. Instead of fighting the course of the river, the system will let the water go where it wants to go, Thom says. “What nature wants to do is take the straightest line,” he says.

A previous paragraph informs us that there was a big discussion among Fort Worth's city representatives as to what to do about the river, with nothing off the table, advised to think outside the box, look for big ideas, and new approaches, to think creatively about how the river relates to the city.

All this creative out of the box thinking then led to that a-ha moment, with a radical proposal to dig a ditch to address the city's flooding problems.

Why did that out of the box thinking  not lead to a radical proposal to clean up the dangerously polluted river?

Dig a ditch to address the city's flooding problems? The city has had no flooding problem for well over half a century, ever since the Army Corps of Engineers built levees which have contained the Trinity River when it is in flood mode. However, there are other towns in the Fort Worth area, such as Haltom City, which have had bad flooding problems, this century, deadly flooding problems.

Deadly, un-addressed, un-fixed flooding problems.

The next paragraph with a similar nonsensical point....

The ability to redevelop the area was simply a bonus. A neglected industrial area suddenly became a potential urban center. “Using flood control as a catalyst for economic development became the driving idea,” Costa says.

Again with the claim that this Boondoggle has to do with flood control.  Like I already said, the area being damaged by this ill-conceived project has not been flooded for well over half a century, because it is already protected from floods.

The next paragraph contains a super gem of propaganda nonsense...

Thom was hired to create the master plan, which was approved in 2003 by the Fort Worth City Council and various local authorities and agencies, including Tarrant County and Streams and Valleys, a nonprofit group focused on preserving the river. The flood control plan made an ally of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which was in charge of the levee system. But making the plan a reality required the backing of a dizzying array of local, state, and federal agencies, including local environmentalists. More than 200 public meetings were held, focusing on everything from hiking trails to transportation systems.

Flood control plan? Where there has been no flood for over a half a century? More than 200 public meetings were held, focusing on everything? Really? I know no one who attended one of these likely imaginary more than 200 public meetings. I have been to a public meeting or two, post the beginning of The Boondoggle, public meetings trying to fix what was obvious to many was slated to become a Boondoggle disaster.

And then this eye roller from the woman who gave the world J.D.....

“Bringing people together took an extraordinary amount of time, energy, and communication,” says U.S. Representative Kay Granger, a former mayor of Fort Worth (and J.D. Granger’s mother.) “We always felt that to do the things we wanted to do, everyone had to buy in.”

Oh the hubris, the irony, the willful mindlessness. “We always felt that to do the things we wanted to do, everyone had to buy in.”

Everyone had to buy in? Who is everyone? Investors who stood to benefit from this development scheme? Buy in? The public was certainly not part of the buying in, because the Fort Worth  public has never been allowed to vote on this public works project which greatly impacts their town.

How does that sound to you reading this in democratic parts of America? In Fort Worth eminent domain has been abused to take property for a public works project the public has never voted on.

More nonsense in the following paragraph,...

The planning group took several trips to Vancouver, Thom’s base, to get a sense of the Canadian city’s approach to urban growth. Among other examples, he wanted to show them how to handle the connection to the waterfront—the idea “that the water’s edge should always be public,” he says. “There is a very subtle dimension between the public realm and private realm.”

I remember years ago, on a Sunday morning, opening the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to see a screaming headline in BIG letters proclaiming 'TRINITY UPTOWN TO TURN FORT WORTH INTO VANCOUVER OF THE SOUTH'. I remember reading that and thinking what absurdist ridiculousness is this? I was already attuned to the Star-Telegram's tendency to hyperbolize. Like when the Star-Telegram told its readers a lame little food court like thing was the first public market in Texas, modeled after public markets in Europe and Seattle's Pike Place. When I saw how lame the Santa Fe Rail Market was this was the point I realized one can not trust what one reads in the Star-Telegram.

The Boondoggle  planning group took several trips to Vancouver to check out how that town dealt with urban growth and handled its connection to the waterfront? I remember when I read that Star-Telegram headline about Fort Worth turning into the Vancouver of the South thinking to myself have any of these idiots actually been to Vancouver? Vancouver and  Fort Worth have absolutely ZERO in common. Vancouver's waterfront is marine waterfront, as in saltwater inlets and bays connected to the Pacific Ocean. Water on which big boats, like freighters, cruise ships and ferry boats float. Vancouver has a big river flowing through the south part of town, the Fraser. Unlike the Trinity, an unpolluted river.

An all powerful God working miracles could not turn Fort Worth into the Vancouver of the South.

Two more paragraphs, the second of which contains another J.D. Granger gem....

While the different elements progress, a large part of the TRVA’s effort has focused on activating the river—getting it on the radar of a community that saw it as an industrial wasteland. That included resurrecting the image of the river. Parks and new projects have gone in around sections of the river in recent years, but many people remain wary of the brownish, clay-bottom waterway.

“It’s a problem for us,” J.D. Granger says. “We need to educate people about the desirability of living on the river.”

Yeah, imagine that, many people remain wary of a waterway which appears to be anything but clean. But, J.D. Granger has a solution. The people need to be educated about how desirable it is to live on the river.

I am not quite sure if J.D. literally means "live on the river" or what. However, the most recent iteration of the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision has added two new islands, the West Island and the East Island.

And a Houseboat District,

Maybe that is where J.D. means people need to be educated as to being a desirable place to live. In a houseboat, on a dangerously polluted river.

And then we learn some of what J.D. has done to get people getting used to being close to the e.coli infested river...

To make that happen, TRVA has staged a variety of events, including Rockin’ the River, free waterside concerts that encourage people to watch the performances while floating on inner tubes. A paddle sports rental shop has also opened. The goal is increasing direct experience with the water. “You can’t just tell people the water is fine,” J.D. Granger says.

For once true words from J.D., as in you can not just tell people the water is fine. Because the water is not fine you have now been forced to regularly test the water due to multiple instances of elevated to a dangerous level of e.coli, and other contaminants. How many of this past summer's Rockin' the River inner tube floats had to be cancelled due to too much e.coli?

I think I have already said, way too much hubris, way too much stupidity. But it bears repeating.

And then we learn of other wonders brought by The Boondoggle to get the public on board with it....

To help bring people to the area, TRVA has opened a drive-in theater, an ice skating rink, and a waterfront music pavilion where more than 40 events a year are held. In 2014, a brewery opened on what will be Panther Island. And the project is already having a larger impact on the river. Upgrades are moving forward on Gateway Park, a 1,000-acre (405 ha) greenbelt on the water’s edge, which is also a component of the TRVA’s project scope, and in 2009 the Tarrant County Community College opened a campus overlooking the river.

To bring people to the area? Why was it a thing to bring people to that area? To do so the TRVA opened the first drive-in movie theater of the 21st century? And thought this was a good idea? An ice skating rink? There is no pavilion in the area called Panther Island Pavilion. Not by any normal definition of the pavilion word. This waterfront music venue is where The Boondoggle encourages locals to float on inner tubes in the polluted river.

The project is having an impact on the river? Really? How? Is the river cleaner? An impact because Tarrant County Community College opened a campus overlooking The Boondoggle?

Uh, that campus was a boondoggle all on its own. Never completed as planned, Huge budget over runs. And then, to finally open a new campus, rather than complete the original campus, the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters, which is another infamous Fort Worth boondoggle, was bought and retro-fitted as a college.

And now, before we get to the final J.D. Granger embarrassment, what may be the most misleading propaganda in this article...

Rival Dallas has been struggling for years to implement far-ranging improvements to its stretch of the Trinity, with little success, supporters of the Fort Worth project note. Fort Worth’s approach was unorthodox, but it will eventually produce results, they say.

Rival Dallas has had little success with its Trinity River Vision? Read the Wikipedia Trinity River Project about the Dallas vision. First off, the Fort Worth Trinity River Vision did not come about after some sort of a-ha moment which lead to America's Biggest Boondoggle. The Fort Worth Vision came about because of Fort Worth's civic inferiority complex developed over decades of living in the Dallas shadow.

In 1998, five years before Fort Worth started up its Boondoggle, Dallas voters, I repeat, Dallas voters, approved a bond proposal to fund a cleanup of the river, new park facilities, wildlife habitats, build a couple lakes, and in addition to other elements build three signature bridges over the Trinity River.

In common with Fort Worth's Boondoggle, progress on the Dallas Trinity Project has gone slow,  and has had funding problems.

When the Fort Worth Trinity River Vision was announced three signature bridges were also part of the plan, yet one more instance of copying the Dallas plan.

However, one of the Dallas signature bridges, the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge has been built, over water, with a second signature bridge almost completed. Fort Worth had to scale back its bridges from being signature bridges designed by a renowned bridge designer, like well regarded Santiago Calatrava, who designed the Dallas bridges. The design for the three Fort Worth bridges ended up being extremely ordinary, totally non-signature, though The Boondoggle still describes their bridges as being signature bridges.

And unlike the Dallas bridges, not only have none of the Fort Worth bridges, over dry land, been completed, the only one under construction has been stalled for over a half a year.

Tell me again how the Dallas Trinity Project has had little success compared to Fort Worth's Boondoggle?

The Dallas Trinity Project has also opened the Trinity River Audubon Center, along with trails and parks.

Another element the Fort Worth copycat vision copied from the Dallas vision was including residential developments, office buildings, retail stores and restaurants.

Is Trinity Grove, and all its restaurants, part of the Dallas Trinity River Vision? I don't know. But I do know that Trinity Grove is right by the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge.

And now the final paragraph with some final words from J.D. Granger...

“Frankly, looking back, I don’t think it could have been done any other way,” J.D. Granger says. “We could have done it faster and cheaper, but the project would not be as good as it is today.” The majority of the infrastructure work should be completed by 2023, if all goes according to plan. “We couldn’t speed up the process, even if we wanted,” he says.

Really? J.D. thinks they could have done this project faster and cheaper. But, had they done so it would not be as good as it is today? Most of the infrastructure work will be completed by 2023? The process could not have been sped up, even if they wanted to?

Previously The Boondoggle propaganda had this vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme completed by 2023. Now it's the infrastructure being mostly completed by that date?

Looking back this project could not have been  done any other way? How about approved for by the voting public, fully funded, with a real project engineer overseeing the project who knows how to get a project completed in a timely fashion?

Most infrastructure work will be done by 2023, if all goes according to plan? Does J.D. mean, unless little glitches happen, like bridge design errors causing a construction halt?

How did design errors occur with the design of Fort Worth's simple little bridges? While the first of the Dallas bridges, an actual complex engineering feat, has been completed and carrying traffic for several years. That, and adding an impressive element to the Dallas skyline.

How much has been added to the cost of the Fort Worth Boondoggle having the project limp along in slow motion for years longer than such a project would take in modern American towns? How many millions of extra dollars have been paid to the TRVA employees, such as J.D., than would have been paid if the project were completed with those who completed the project having moved on to new projects?

How much money was wasted on all those junkets to Vancouver, and other towns, to check out their waterfront projects?

How much money has The Boondoggle spent on all its propaganda publications and signage?

Shouldn't The Boondoggle budget be transparent and readily available information?

If The Boondoggle propaganda is now claiming if all goes well most of the infrastructure will be completed by 2023, when will the entire actual vitally needed flood control and economic development project going to be actually completed?

And if this actually were a vitally needed flood control project, why is it being built at a record breaking slow pace?

If I have said it once I have said it more than once, so much hubris, so much stupidity. The people of Fort Worth deserve better. America deserves better. Federal funds should never have been sent to this mis-managed project....

Large Scale Tarrant County Electoral Fraud Investigation Underway

Moments ago Elsie Hotpepper text messaged me telling me to check my email. I did so and found the following....

“BREAKING NEWS: Investigators from the Office of the Attorney General are on the ground in Fort Worth interviewing voters this week. Sources have spotted them in different parts of Fort Worth implying this is a large scale investigation.

We have heard rumors for years of manipulation of the elections system in Tarrant County and thought it was time for someone to look into the facts. Direct Action Texas spent countless hours analyzing open records requests, noticing patterns and discovering Fort Worth voters whose voice was stolen. This vote harvesting operation preys on the elderly and the economically disadvantaged, who are among our most vulnerable neighbors. Our research has shined a light on a covert, yet pervasive network - to the tune of 20,000 ballots, over four years, primarily within the African-American and Hispanic communities. All indications are this is the largest investigation related to voter fraud the Attorney General’s office has ever seen. This research has uncovered major flaws in the election code and its enforcement. We were happy to assist the AG’s office in their investigation, which led to today’s developments.

Given the magnitude of this issue, we must reform the election code to restore the integrity of the process.”

Now we will sit back and let law enforcement do what they do best.

Power Walking To Mount Wichita Too Much For Limpalong Slackluster

Today's events caused the thought to occurr to me that I may be being too gungho with this Power Walking thing I have been doing.

For today's Power Walk I opted to roll my motorized wheels to the east side of Lake Wichita to walk at high speed from the Lake Wichita dam spillway parking lot, all the way to Mount Wichita on the west end of the lake.

In the photo of the Lake Wichita dock bridge you can see Mount Wichita way in the distance, that little pimple on the horizon.

Today I was talked into bringing along a co-walker. I informed this co-walker that I walk fast, that I don't turn around if someone finds the walking too daunting.

The co-walker agreed to my terms.

I think it was some time after the two mile mark had been passed I began calling the co-walker Limpalong Slackluster.

The first leg of this walk is over the Lake Wichita Dam, a straight section of the Circle Trail. This is that which you see below, as seen from the Lake Wichita dock.

The Lake Wichita dock was rocking today, due to a strong wind blowing semi-big waves, almost to the point of waving in whitecap mode.

Eventually Mount Wichita came into closer view. Below is as far as the Power Walk walked today.

At this point Limpalong Slackluster indicated insufficient energy to facilitate a return to from whence we came. I suggested Limpalong limp to the Mount Wichita parking lot and I'd return to vehicle transport and then drive to pick up Limpalong.

Til today it had been a long time since I had this type incident. I think it was way back in 2002, or maybe 2003, that Gar the Texan had an attack of what I came to call "The Vapors" whilst mountain bike riding the Horseshoe Trails by Lake Grapevine.

When that attack came Gar the Texan could roll no further. I instructed the stricken Texan to slowly make his way down the trail til he came to a big open area, and that I would go get the vehicular transport and come rescue him.

Now that you are making me think about it, that Horseshoe Trails Gar the Texan vapor attack may not have been the last one I experienced.

It may have been after that that Gar the Texan had an attack of "The Vapors" during a trek to Oklahoma to go hiking around Turner Falls in the middle of winter.

One would think I would have learned my lesson a long time ago, that being to insist on some sort of doctor's report before I agree to take anyone with my on one of my strenuous excursions...

What Downtown's Eyesore Gets A New Owner?

A day or two ago I mentioned that Hoagie Jackson Led Me To Tour Eastside Wichita Falls Eyesore Infestations.

I posted that blogging on the Wichita Falls Rants & Raves Facebook page.

That posting generated a lot of feedback and page views.

Among the feedback was one feedbacker commenting about that which I had to say, ending said comment with "Can he mention Eyesore one more time?"

To which I replied "Eyesore" to almost universal amusement. Well, a few dozen likes, give or take a dozen or two.

So, what did my curious eyes see the very next day via the Wichita Falls Times News Record, as in this town's newspaper of record?

An article titled, as you see above, "Downtown eyesore gets a new owner".

I had made notice of this downtown eyesore the first time I walked around downtown Wichita Falls after going to the Saturday Farmer's Market. This particular downtown Wichita Falls eyesore is across the street from what seemed me to be another abandoned tall eyesore. A big blue building.

Subsequent to seeing the Big Blue building I learned it is being rehabilitated to its former glory as a local landmark.

And now the eyesore building across the street, known in its final iteration as the Century Plaza Hotel, is being remodeled into residential apartments.

Downtown Wichita Falls seems to be having some sort of renaissance.

Wichita Falls, like much of America, has gone through many boom and bust cycles.

Currently Wichita Falls appears to be heading into boom mode, recovering from the double whammy of the Great Recession and the Great Drought.

After I blogged about the motel eyesores I saw on Scott Avenue, and posted that blog on the Wichita Falls Rants & Rave Facebook page I learned a thing or two.

One thing I learned was the first eyesore motel I focused on was a Holiday Inn, with a popular restaurant.

I read that and wondered why a Holiday Inn would be located in such an isolated location, wondering the same about the other abandoned motels I saw on Scott Avenue.

And then the possible reason occurred to me, so I asked on the Rants & Raves page if Scott Avenue was the main entry from the east into Wichita Falls before the I-287 freeway was built.

Yes, was the answer.

With many locals having nostalgic feelings about that old entry to Wichita Falls, and who enjoy seeing the ruins as some sort of reminder of the past.

Those abandoned motels I saw on Sunday on Scott Avenue were not all of them. Turns out the old Century Plaza Hotel is also on Scott Avenue.

Knowing, now, that Scott Avenue used to be the main drag through town explains the other closed, rundown former businesses one sees on that road, like restaurants and bars which long ago saw better days.

I admit I am a nerd, and that I have always been a history buff, so this is being a pleasant experience for me, learning the history of this new town I am living in.

Creepy Clowns Creeping In Skagit County & Fort Worth

This Creepy Clown thing creeping up across America has been something I've not paid much attention to, figuring it's kids having fun, and not giving any thought to it other than that, that I recollect.

It seems like there have been some mentions of the Creepy Clowns having knives or other attributes making the Creepy Clowns appear to be a bit malevolent.

Then yesterday, via Facebook, I saw, via the Skagit Breaking News Facebook page, that the Creepy Clowns have now invaded Skagit County.

I do not know how the photo of the Skagit County Creepy Clown was obtained. But I must admit that is one creepy looking clown.

Skagit County is not anywhere near recovering from the trauma of having the usually pastoral valley's peace disrupted by the multiple murders at the Cascade Mall in the town I grew up in, Burlington.

And now Creepy Clowns have come to town? That just ain't right.

So, that was yesterday I learned Skagit County has a Creepy Clown infestation, and then this morning, via the often maligned Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I saw that some in Fort Worth are claiming to have seen Creepy Clowns in town.

Apparently those claiming to have seen Fort Worth Creepy Clowns have not managed to photo document such, except for the pair of shoes which illustrated the Star-Telegram front page link to their Creepy Clown story.

Those Star-Telegram Creepy Clown shoes look like Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price's biking shoes, to me.

Is Betsy Price putting on a little extra make up and making like a Creepy Clown to give usual backwater Fort Worth some Creepy Clown cred in the current Creepy Clown frenzy?

I guess time will only tell with the American Creepy Clown mystery coming to some sort of fruition....

Did Fort Worth Ever Get Payback For Being A Sucker For Cabela's Con Job?

Yesterday Elsie Hotpepper sent me a link along with a question.

I had already seen that to which the link pointed.

That being the fact that the Bass Pro Shops were buying Cabela's.

Elsie figured I must have something to say about this latest iteration of the Fort Worth and Cabela's romance.

However, it had been so long since I was disgusted and appalled by the way Cabela's seduced Fort Worth into an unseemly marriage based on lies and hyperbole, that my memory of that wedding was not clear.

With no pre-nuptial agreement, as far as I know. Well, there were some performance clauses applicable during the course of the marriage, but I don't know how applicable those performance clauses are with this divorce and marriage to the Bass Pro Shops.

So it took Elsie Hotpepper sending me a link to my own blog to a blogging titled A Second Cabela's Opens In Allen In The Dallas Metroplex for me to remember just how absurd this ridiculous affair has been between Fort Worth and Cabela's.

Basically Cabela's came to the homely bride known as Fort Worth and told her if she agreed to marry Cabela's, the sporting goods store would make Fort Worth the #1 Tourist Attraction in all of the state of Texas.

You reading this in other parts of America who think I must be making this up. No, I am not. Those who run Fort Worth in the corrupt way known as the Fort Worth Way fell all over themselves to rush into what amounted to a sleazy marriage to Cabela's, based on lies and obvious nonsense about being the top tourist attraction in Texas.

Fort Worth fell for promises of millions of visitors visiting a sporting goods store. Resulting in Fort Worth giving Cabela's a valuable tax break package dowry to seal the deal.

And then, six months later, Cabela's cheated on Fort Worth by opening another store in Texas, down south by Austin, in the town of Buda.

Fort Worth moved on from its shame, full bore, to embrace another con job full of empty promises, promising the still homely bride she could be pretty.

The Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

More commonly known as America's Biggest Boondoggle.

The notorious Fort Worth Star-Telegram, chief cheerleader for Cabela's running its top tourist attraction in Texas scam, yesterday shared with its few readers the news about the Bass Pro Shops taking over Cabela's in an article titled Bass Pro to buy rival Cabela’s in $5.5 billion deal.

The Star-Telegram article made no mention of its previous role in misleading the Fort Worth locals about what a great deal Cabela's would be for Fort Worth, drawing in millions of tourists, thus justifying the tax breaks and other incentives given to Cabela's.

The Star-Telegram article did include the following gem of a paragraph...

Cabela’s has other Texas stores in Buda, League City, Lubbock and Waco, while Bass Pro has stores in San Antonio, Round Rick, Pearland, Katy and Harlingen.

How can the Star-Telegram print the above list of all the towns in Texas in which Cabela's has opened a store, with no mention made of the con job pulled on Fort Worth claiming Cabela's in Fort Worth would be the #1 tourist attraction in Texas? And the Star-Telegram neglected to include in that list the second Cabela's store in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, that being the one in the Dallas suburb of Allen.

Shameful and shameless....

Hoagie Jackson Leads Me To Tour Eastside Wichita Falls Eyesore Infestation

Last May, soon after my arrival in Wichita Falls, I was exploring around my new  town. On that day I had checked out the World's Littlest Skyscraper and then the Wee-Chi-Tah Sculpture.

Soon after checking out the Wee-Chi-Tah Sculpture I found myself heading south on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

MLK Jr. Boulevard turned into Scott Avenue where I soon found myself looking at one of the worst urban eyesores my eyes have ever beheld.

I returned to that particular eyesore on Sunday, for reasons made apparent later in this blogging. Above you are looking at a tree growing from the roof of this eyesore. My previous time seeing this I was in drive by mode. This time I stopped to do some photo documenting.

In drive by mode I had not been able to tell if this was an abandoned school or an abandoned motel. In photo documenting mode it was easy to see this was an abandoned motel and restaurant.

A more expansive view of the eyesore, with the tree growing from its roof. This view is from the south side of the ruins.

The below view is from the north side, looking at part of the eyesore which was a restaurant. I was able to tell such due to a faded sign at the top of the structure, with the only word I was able to make out being "RESTAURANT".

After photo documenting this eyesore I headed back towards downtown Wichita Falls, via Scott Avenue. Soon I found myself surprised to be seeing even more abandoned eyesores. But, before I get to that, first that which prompted yesterday's return to the above ruins.

Recently I posted a post on the Wichita Falls Rants & Raves Facebook page about the quick cleanup of litter on Sikes Lake after a HUGE storm. That posting prompting multiple comments including the following exchange between myself and Hoagie Jackson...

Hoagie Jackson: The litter pickers have not been to North side or east side or in the avenues. Thay want the rich folk to look good and hell with the other parts of town. Hell we see a street sweeper maybe 2 times a year. Ya my tax dollars don't mean as much as there's do, but never the less I still pay taxes to have the same services delivered less often.

Durango Jones: I dunno Hoagie Jackson I've been all over Wichita Falls in the past few months and I have remarked more than once that this town is the most litter free town I've been to in Texas. Then again, I've not been to all that many Texas towns, with my sampling weighted way too heavily to the DFW Metroplex towns....

Hoagie Jackson: Well go through the Eastside hell, there's more grass growing in the cracks in the streets than there is in yards. Storm drains have trees growing out of them.

Durango Jones: I see what you mean. When I have driven in the Eastside zone I have opined more than once that the streets need some serious upgrading. But I have not made note of much litter. I liked the community garden at the MLK Center. Thought that was impressive.  I recollect seeing what looked like a bombed out former school or motel, looking like something from WWII and wondering why the city does not have ordinances in place which require such be cleaned up.

Hoagie Jackson: They do have.

Durango Jones: Hoagie Jackson But no one enforces these ordinances?

Hoagie Jackson: Right.

Durango Jones: Hoagie Jackson I think maybe I will take a drive through the Eastside zone for blogging purposes, focusing on that bombed out school or motel or whatever it is. Sometimes towns ignore stuff til people start making a fuss about it.

________________________

Like I already said, yesterday I took  that drive through the Eastside zone which I told Hoagie Jackson I would take.

I really did not see all that much litter as I drove around the Eastside of Wichita Falls. But, I saw plenty of what Hoagie Jackson mentioned. Roads in dire need of being worked on. A lot of urban blight. Businesses long out of business with their buildings falling apart. Lots of weeds. I don't think I saw any sidewalks. The only paved trail I recollect seeing was the Circle Trail as it circles through the Eastside of Wichita Falls.

The lack of sidewalks in the Eastside of Wichita Falls is very similar to the lack of sidewalks in the Eastside of Fort Worth.

After the close up look at the above abandoned motel eyesore I wondered why the city does not have who ever owns this property clean the mess up? Soon thereafter I headed west on Scott Avenue to find myself asking that same question multiple times.

That above abandoned motel eyesore I saw yesterday was the only one I saw without a name.

The  La Posada Motel on Scott Avenue looks like it may be open. But it is not. It was in the best condition of any of the abandoned motels which I saw yesterday, but still appeared to be an unfixable ruin in need of being torn down.

And then there was the OOO Motel. That is the best I can come up for the name, via the sign. As you can see this abandoned Scott Avenue motel is surrounded by cyclone fence with barbed wire at the top, just like the first ex-motel eyesore I saw yesterday.

The closed and crumbling Bel-Air Motel on Scott Avenue is not surrounded by cyclone fence, but instead a wooden fence which made it more difficult to see that it was also a deteriorated eyesore needing to be demolished.

The Budget Inn on Scott Avenue did not need a cyclone fence to keep anyone from trespassing. A solid wall and boarded up windows did the job.

Now, what is going on here? I don't get it. In so many ways so many things are so well done in Wichita Falls.

The Parks.

The Directional Signage.

The Road Landscaping.

The Festivals.

The Circle Trail.

The Multi-Purpose Events Center.

So, why does Wichita Falls allow a collection of ruins which creates the illusion that some sort of disaster occurred here?

Very perplexing....

Captain Andy Reports Fort Worth Boondoggle's Bridge Construction Still A Ghost Town

Last night, Streetcar Pilot and Surveying Savant, Captain Andy, told me, via Facebook, that he "Drove by the trashcan on panther trinity island uptown. No sign of construction. No rebar in the forms. How long before they start up again? How much money is being wasted? Ugghh...."

The trashcan Captain Andy mentions I blogged about back last December in America's Biggest Boondoggle's Million Dollar Wind Roundabout Ridiculousness.

The Roundabout Ridiculousness, that being the trashcan to which Captain Andy refers, is near something even more ridiculous, to which Captain Andy also refers, that being the stalled construction of America's Biggest Boondoggle's bridges being built over dry land to connect Fort Worth's mainland to an imaginary island.

Built over dry land because the funds are not available to dig the ditch to go under the bridges, after which water could be diverted to flow under the bridges. The Boondoggle claims the stalled bridges are being built over dry land to save money. Which is ridiculous. There will be no water under those bridges until the Trinity River is diverted to flow under them.

I have been blogging about these Phantom Bridges for years. The three bridges were initially scheduled to begin their construction phase way back in 2011. I blogged about this in Has Anyone Seen The Trinity River Vision Boondoggle's Bridges Under Construction Since 2011?

Way back in 2014 an absurdly explosive ceremony was staged to celebrate the late beginning of the construction of the three bridges. I blogged about this in A Big Boom Begins Boondoggle Bridge Construction Three Months Late.

About a year after that explosive non-start The Boondoggle was touting the amazing feat that V Piers for one of the bridges were now rising from the ground.  The Boondoggle propagandized about the V Piers finally appearing as if it were a major accomplishment. I blogged about this in Beautiful Fort Worth V Piers The Likes Of Which The World Has Never Seen.

About a week later I blogged about Star-Telegram propaganda on the bridge subject in Star-Telegram Propaganda About Trinity River Vision Moving Forward Slowly.

And then, back in March of 2016 the construction of those amazing V Piers ground to a halt, with The Boondoggle claiming construction would resume in about a month. I first blogged about this latest Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision embarrassment in Fort Worth Star-Telegram Thinks Someone Goofed On The Panther Island Bridge Design.

Also back in March, regarding The Boondoggle's bridge design problems, I blogged Design Woes Are Not The Only Problem With Fort Worth's Panther Island Bridges.

And then in July, when the aforementioned Captain Andy previously told me he saw The Boondoggle's bridge construction zone looking like a ghost town I blogged about this in Are America's Biggest Boondoggle's Bridges Dust In The Wind?

So, now we are in the 8th month since construction of The Boondoggle's bridges has been halted due to design errors. These three simple bridges being built over nothing had, originally, an astounding four year project timeline.

Longer than it took to build the Golden Gate Bridge, over water, and longer than it took to build many other actual feats of engineering, including the Eiffel Tower.

Has anyone noticed any reporting in Fort Worth's imaginary newspaper of record, the Star-Telegram, about the halt in progress in what that newspaper has helped propagandize is a vitally needed flood control and economic development scheme?

Vitally needed, yet built in slow, and now, stop motion, with no project timeline, relying on J.D. Granger's mother, Fort Worth's congresswoman, Kay Granger, to bring home some pork attached to the water bill currently stalled in Congress.

How come the Star-Telegram has not looked into how Kay Granger's cronies might profit if The Boondoggle ever comes to any sort of fruition? How come the Star-Telegram has no problem with the obvious corrupt nepotism involved in hiring the congresswoman's son to run this project?

A project of the sort that the former low level prosecutor had zero qualifications? Except for being his mother's son.

With the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision now having turned into America's Biggest Boondoggle, is it not time for an intervention? Is it not time to relieve J.D. Granger from having anything to do with this project?

Doesn't the buck with this embarrassing Boondoggle stop anywhere?

Methinks J.D. Granger should have been fired simply for coming up with the absurd idea of encouraging people to get wet in the polluted Trinity River, with Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube floats at an imaginary pavilion on an imaginary island.

How about it Star-Telegram? Do you have any actual journalists still in your employ who might look into what's up with The Boondoggle's bridges?

There are a lot inquiring minds wanting to know....

Aerobic Yoga Followed By Power Walking Wichita Falls Circle Trail North With Birds

The first day of October and day two of my new fall regimen of excessive power walking and aerobic yoga.

Yesterday I walked fast to the south, hoofing the Circle Trail all the way to Lake Wichita and back to my abode.

Today I headed north on the Circle Trail, hoofing it all the way to the north end of Hamilton Park and then back to my abode.

Somewhere around six miles of hoofing it.

It is the suddenly cool temperatures which makes walking the Circle Trail appealing. When the air is HOT, with little wind and no shade, the Circle Trail is not appealing for a middle of the day walk. When it is HOT I need some shade and a breeze blowing over a cooling body of water.

I was barely into the first mile of power walking when I saw that which you see above. A golfer hunting for his ball. I saw dozens of white golf carts rolling around the Weeks Park Golf Course, with only one bad golf ball hitter chasing his ball to the banks of Holliday Creek.

Acquaintances from the Pacific Northwest who look at my blog at time or two have verbalized surprise regarding how green the topography appears to be in what they had always thought was dusty, brown, desert covered Texas.

Geographically ignorant Yankees.

In many way at many times in the year much of Texas is much greener than the Evergreen State, particularly when the western half of Washington is in drought mode, which it was the last  time I flew up north.

When I hoof the Circle Trail there is no need to carry a water bottle with me.

No need to carry a water bottle because there are water fountains along the Circle Trail. One steps on a pedal on the ground and soon cool water burbles forth.

Below is the most disturbing thing I saw today, looking like a scene from Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds.

I have no idea why these birds were congregating on this one roof of a large apartment complex near Weeks Access Road and Midwestern Boulevard. I took the above picture when I was heading north. The birds were still there an hour later when I was heading south.

This bird behavior seems disturbing to me. I would not want to be living in the apartment below.

Tomorrow for my power walk I think I will roll my mechanical wheels to the north parking lot at Hamilton Park and walk the Circle Trail north from there.