What Erases Wichita Falls Directions?

If I remember correctly, which I sometimes do, I have previously mentioned that one of the things Wichita Falls does well is the directional signage one sees whatever direction one is going to in Wichita Falls.

The Wichita Falls directional signage helped me find many a location when first learning what was what and where was where in this town.

There are some Wichita Falls landmarks which do not show up on the directional signage.

Such as Mount Wichita. I have not seen any sign directing anyone in the direction of Mount Wichita.

Lately I have seen something on some of the Wichita Falls directional signage which perplexes me.

Such as that which you do not see on the directional signage you see photo documented here.

This particular Wichita Falls directional signage is located near my abode, at the intersection of Southwest Parkway and Taft Boulevard.

I can no longer read what this particular sign directed me to. I do not remember what this particular sign directed one to.

Whatever was on this sign has been whited out, covered up, erased.

Why? I have no clue. And this is not the only instance of Wichita Falls directional signage which has had this done to it. Have some Wichita Falls destinations been eliminated, closed, moved? Hence being erased from directional signage?

Very perplexing. I suspect I will soon learn the solution to this mystery...

Snow Free Cold Climb To Mount Wichita Summit

On this second Friday of the 2018 version of November what feels like a winter Arctic blast has blasted into North Texas.

A windy blast.

Barely in 50s by late afternoon. Barely in the 40s when I decided to take a now rare drive to the base of Mount Wichita so as to attempt a climb to the summit.

With snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow, today may possibly be the last time a climb to the summit of Mount Wichita is possible without navigating an icy snowcap, til spring arrives, melting the glacier in the making.

And so that makes what you are looking at above the currently snow-free view from the summit of Mount Wichita, looking southeast across Lake Wichita with Lake Wichita Dam at the far side end of the lake.

With a freeze expected to arrive in a few hours I have removed all my flowering plants from their outdoor patio location to the protected solarium zone where they are more likely to survive.

Last Friday a blown transformer knocked out power in my zone for hours. A rare power outage at my current location. That powerless incident motivated me to arm myself with multiple light sources of the candle and battery powered sort. But, now I am concerned if this Arctic Blast somehow knocks out the power I have no alternative means of heating my interior space.

My previous abode had a fireplace. This came in useful more than once during a power outage during cold times. I do have a plentiful supply of thick blankets. I should be able to warmly survive a power outage tonight. Or tomorrow...

Reviewing America's Biggest Boondoggle's Panther Island J.D. Granger Scandal

It has begun to be a bit challenging keeping up with all the various reports from various venues reporting on the Fort Worth debacle which has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

A vision which has been blindly limping along for most of this century.

I must say it is sort of pleasing to  see that which so many of us referred to as such, almost from its inception, now referred to as a Boondoggle in almost all reporting on the subject.

Except for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I think maybe the Fort Worth Way's propaganda organ may have made reference to some outrageous, knuckeheaded critics criticizing this Boondoggle as a Boondoggle. But, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has yet to join the majority of those who have watched this debacle correctly identify it as a Boondoggle.

The latest Star-Telegram article about America's Biggest Boondoggle appeared yesterday, at least that is when I saw it. That is the article's headline you see screen capped above. By this morning this article had disappeared from the front page of the Star-Telegram, online.

And once again, an article about a serious local issue appears and generates zero comments. Why? I do not understand. Is it because so few people read the Star-Telegram? Is it because most of those who do read this newspaper are border line illiterate and thus unable to formulate words into coherent sentences?

This lack of comments perplexes me because almost daily I see articles appear in the Seattle Times and there will be 100s of thoughtful, articulate, often argumentative, comments.

I see other Fort Worth publications where comments are made to an article about America's Biggest Boondoggle. Such as a recent editorial type article by Richard Connor in the Fort Worth Business Press titled It's time to bridge the River Vision information gap. This generated multiple comments, including one from my favorite Fort Worth right wing geezer, which I shall copy...

Clyde Picht Nov 2, 2018 5:02pm
Thank you Mr Conner. There's not much to add. Why didn't we accept the CoE proposal to buttress the levees for a mere $10 million? Because we wanted to take advantage of the possibilities of economic development which would increase the tax base. So we chose to re-channel the river and potentially flood Arlington and Dallas. That's why we're spending so much on flood control mostly in the Gateway Park area. The initial $360M cost estimate supposedly contained an inflation factor to keep costs under control. The amount for environmental cleanup was rather underestimated. In 2005 the $435M cost estimate once again included an inflation factor and still underestimated the cost of environmental cleanup. Every increase in cost is supposed to be the last - but it isn't. Now we are at $1.16B and all bets are that even that isn't the end. Why is this happening? Ninety-five percent of the blame lies with Jim Oliver, Director of the Tarrant Regional Water District. Oliver apparently wanted to grease the wheels for obtaining federal funds and hired a lawyer from a tier four law school to head up the project. That lawyer, even though not having any credentials or experience in project management, was qualified by virtue of his family ties. If only that's all it took. But it isn't and now we have a financial train wreck for the taxpayers of Fort Worth. The Mayor finally realizes it but will anything really change?

Yesterday, on Facebook, Mary Kelleher shared a link about a NBCDFW TV news report about America's Biggest Boondoggle, which also used the Boondoggle word. That Facebook post also generated comments of the sort one does not see on the apparently little read Star-Telegram. Here are a couple of those comments, the first from one of the Boondoggle's most outspoken victims, and another from one of my best Facebook friends...

Bob Lukeman: 10 years ago I went to D.C. with Paul Driskell to try to expose the corruption of the TRV. Paul was an old friend and had worked under Speaker Wright for years and he knew his way around the Hill and the town. Our most memorable meeting on that trip was with Steve Ellis of Taxpayers For Common Sense. I was glad to see him interviewed for this story. His organization has a ton on their plate, but I find it unbelievable that after a decade beating the drum, that now, this project is getting the scrutiny we always knew it needed. Also unbelievable in their story was the belief by Jim Lane and Jim Oliver, that Kay Granger was still going to get the funding. J.D. getting grilled in the hall by Scott Friedman, looked a whole lot like a 60 Minutes episode. Many of us tried to get those network news shows to look into the TRV. Now the media is using the Boondoggle moniker. In the words of Gomer Pyle... Gaaaalee!

Waynemans Page: All this boils down to is - Greed, Ignorance, Incompetence & Lies. Initially starting with the biggest lie about flood control from Granger to the government, of which, the situation of flooding had been controlled for several years since the historical flood. A true waste of tax payer money. Only an idiot couldn't see this was nothing more than a cover up for development & greed driven by. J.D.'s Incompetence & the other board members wanting to cash in. It's disgusting how people's property was forcefully taken by eminent domain. The trail of destruction is huge, including 3 rusty rebar forms that would had been for bridges to the make believe island. Bridges to knowhere as it stands now, just sitting for years waiting to be built. That "art" resembling a glorified trashcan at the center of the round about on Henderson Street & other such long list of waste. There's so much to this that we all can hope will be investigated, exposed & accounted for. I hope the citizens of Ft. Worth actually get involved & demand action. Especially action for the real flooding that's going on there on the east side of town.

______________________

So, what is in that latest Star-Telegram article, the one screen capped at the top titled Review of $1.16 billion Panther Island project is happening. But when? 

Well, this article is chock full of typical Star-Telegram propaganda which raises more questions than it answers, as in whoever wrote this article and interviewed the culprits, such as J.D. Granger, asked no obvious followup questions of the probing deeper in search of the truth sort.

An example---

J.D. Granger, the project’s executive director, said he welcomed an independent analysis, which would likely look at progress, management and finances.


On Wednesday J.D. Granger voiced support for the review. Independent reviews have been done in the past for cost estimates, the Trinity River bypass channels and bridges, he said. “I’m optimistic it could help save money and help out with communication,” he said. “Let’s do it. Just open the books and let them come in.”

When Mary Kelleher was on the TRWD Board she tried during her entire tenure to get a look at the books, to no avail, constantly blocked. And now we are to believe J.D. Granger welcomes a review.

Really?

Any sort of legitimate audit of the TRWD/TRVA books is going to see how much money has been spent on various items, like junkets, parties, various entertainment expenditures, such as turning a subway maintenance building into a Beer Shed.

My inside the TRVA source, who calls him or herself "Deep Moat", recently told me that J.D. and his fiance, Shanna Cate, have taken repeated trips to Germany to do research on the German version of Octoberfest, supposedly to help better America's Biggest Boondoggle's annual Octoberfest which takes place at the imaginary pavilion at the imaginary island. Deep Moat verbalized being appalled at how much time J.D. and his fiance spend on planning various entertainment events associated with the failed Trinity River Vision, such as those Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats, the 4th of July, and other like events.

Those Boondoggle events which would seem to have zero to do with what the original Trinity River Vision purported to supposedly see, are part of that which has come under suspicion and criticism, hence some defensive sounding answers to questions about this aspect of the Boondoggle, as mis-reported in the Stat-Telegram...

Though the Trinity River Vision Authority exists as a part of the Tarrant Regional Water District to coordinate the Panther Island project, the authority also holds events at Panther Island Pavilion to promote the project’s tax district.

Those events are designed to be self-funded through ticket sales and partnerships, but according to a report last updated in September, they have a net loss of about $5,000 this year.

To make the distinction between flood control and entertainment more clear, J.D. Granger said the authority is exploring creating a separate nonprofit, similar to Near Southside Inc., to manage and promote Panther Island events, like Oktoberfest Fort Worth.

________________

A loss of only $5,000 a year for all those events? Is the Coyote Drive-In and its Panther Island Ice Rink considered in the costs? What was that dollar figure finagled by TRWD Board member, Jim Lane, to help a financially strapped friend, with part of that finagling resulting in the world's first new drive-in movie theater of the 21st century? How many dollars did the TRVA waste on one of its earliest failures, the Cowtown Wakepark? How much has been spent on J.D. Granger's copious liquor supply in his offices on the ground floor of the Star-Telegram building?

An actual forensic audit into all aspects of what has become America's Biggest Boondoggle will be interesting. Will J.D. Granger resign ahead of the results being revealed? Or will he wait to be fired?

Oh No Snow In Wichita Falls

I continue to experience weather discombobulation. This woeful weather woe began in early October when I found myself driving through flash flooding rains, heading towards Arizona, whilst still warm, wearing short pants.

And then the next day, whilst still wearing short pants, I found myself in the cold in snow in Show Low, Arizona.

A few hours after getting snowed I was in the Valley of the Sun where I was relatively hot for three weeks.

And then a little over a week ago I left air conditioning to return to Texas to my home abode where I opened my vehicle's door to quickly learn short pants were once again not appropriate attire.

Soon thereafter I switched on the furnace for the first time in a long time.

And now, with the memory of daily swimming still fresh, I see via this morning's Wichita Falls Times News Record that come Monday the outer world at my location is currently scheduled to be chilled below freezing to 29 Fahrenheit degrees.

With snow.

I do not know if sufficient snow is predicted to fall to open the Mount Wichita ski lift for the season. I suspect not...

Chilly Ride To Wichita Falls Fantasy Of Lights Rock

What with Halloween being a week in the past, and the latest election over and done with, I can finally focus attention on my favorite time of the year.

The Holiday Season.

Thanksgiving is only a couple weeks away, followed soon thereafter by Christmas, and then the Happy New Year.

Today I rolled my bike's wheels on the Circle Trail, heading north, eventually reaching the Midwestern State University campus where I saw progress happening with the installation of the Fantasy of Lights, including the new installation you see above, which was not available for viewing last year.

I thought, looking at this, that it must be a fake rock made of Styrofoam, or some such material. But, I whacked the rock to find it to be a solid piece of something. Limestone? I have no idea. But it definitely was a rock of some sort.

There was also a new installation near Santa's Outhouse. I only glanced at it as I rolled by, but it appeared to be a large tombstone for either Scrooge or Mallory. I will photo document this the next time I am in the area.

I am having some trouble adjusting to roller coaster temperatures. When I left Texas in early October I was still in the wearing short pants mode time of the year. Those short pants became problematic a day later in Show Low, Arizona, where the temperature had dropped enough to allow snow to accumulate.

And then descending into the Valley of the Sun short pants were back again the right thing to be wearing. Three weeks of swimming followed. And then back in Texas I went from needing A/C to turning on my furnace to heat up the place.

But, then, yesterday it was back to short pants in Texas, with temps in the 80s. But now, today, back  in BRRRR mode. Sweatpants and multi-layers to make for a warm bike ride.

And now I just learned freezing is in the immediate future at my north Texas location, with a predicted Friday high of only 53 with a low of 30.

I have already located my long underwear, and so am totally prepared for this frigid nightmare...

RSVP My Beto Victory Party Tonight

Henry F.'s favorite uncle, my favorite nephew Jason, also known as Spencer J.'s dad, texted me this afternoon asking that which you see here.

Even if Texas continues its streak of Zero Days without being a National Embarrassment by re-electing Creepy Cruz, who the Houston Chronicle characterized as having a repellent personality, Beto O'Rourke still wins, because his race to return sanity to Texas has made him a national, and international figure.

If Beto does defeat Cruz there will be celebrating tonight in Texas, and across America.

The deplorable sorts who don't get why most Americans, and probably most Texans, are repelled by Cruz, due to his multiple reptilian attributes, will not be able to comprehend why a Beto win would be a win for all that is good about America.

During the course of this current election I have heard from many people from other states asking about Cruz. None of those I have heard from can comprehend why Texans elected the smarmy Canadian Cuban American Cruz in the first place, and totally do not get why they would re-elect him.

Just the sound of his voice repels many people. Let alone the words that voice utters.

The utter idiocy of some of the Cruz supporters which I see reflected on my Facebook feed is truly troubling. Total cluelessness. How, the deplorables ask, can Texans support someone like Beto, a candidate of the sort failed states like New York and California would support and have supported via contributing to the Beto campaign.

Yes, I have read morons referring to New York and California as failed states. Because, don't you know, oodles of New Yorkers and Californians have escaped their state's failed policies by running to Texas, where they are so stupid they now want to impose, via electing Beto, the same type socialist Venezuelan type government that has ruined New York and California.

I am not making this up. There are actually Texans stupid enough to believe such things. Too ignorant to know the California economy is doing quite well. California schools perform well, unlike Texas schools, which perform at the bottom of the American states. Many of the Californians and New Yorkers, and those from other states who move to Texas, do so because successful businesses in their states are expanding or opening new operations in Texas.

My old home state of Washington also sees a lot of Californians moving there, for the same reason, with Facebook and Google and others opening operations in Washington. Those Californians are not moving to Washington to escape those horrible progressive liberal California ways, what with Washington being even more progressive and liberal than California.

Texas suffers due to the poor education of many of its citizens, with the resulting wanton ignorance being reflected in the nonsense they spout about someone like Beto O'Rourke being just too Blue for Red Texas, with zero awareness that millions of Texans are just as Blue as me. Or Bluer.

I'm hoping for a good outcome tonight. But, I am prepared to be disappointed...

Heavy Wichita Bluff Nature Area Walk With Shrinking Resolve

This morning I returned to the Wichita Bluffs Nature Area section of the Wichita Falls Circle Trail to have my first long walk in about a month.

Unless one counts rolling Miss Daisy around Arizona as walking.

I returned from Arizona with a big new scale of the weighing oneself type.

When I left Texas, heading to Arizona a month ago, my old scale had me thinking I weighed around 190 pounds.

The big new scale has given me more accurate weight feedback, letting me know I weigh no where near 190. Instead add about 20 pounds to that 190.

Finally an explanation why pants which used to fit loose at 190 no longer did so.

That and being crammed inside an airplane had become more uncomfortable. I blamed this on American Airlines stingy seating for being the reason I was not as comfortable as when flying Southwest in 2012.

So, this being well over 200 pounds is not the biggest shock brought by the new scale.

Big Ed, who is bigger than me in the number of inches tall department, thought he weighed around 220, which is what he was told the last time a doctor examined him. Everyone who saw Big Ed in Arizona, who had not seen him in years, remarked regarding how skinny he looked.

Well.

Big Ed got on the new scale which revealed the shocking news that Big Ed weighs 195.

15 pounds less than me.

I have become a porky pig without realizing it.

And so, I am now on a mission to shrink to well below 200, so that the next time I cram myself into an airplane seat it feels roomy to me, like was the case way back in 2012.

Anyway, the walk among the Wichita Bluffs was quite pleasant today. Scenic with fall colors. There were more fellow walkers than I had previously experienced at this location. And one roller blader.

Maybe I should look into getting myself roller blades....

Alamogordo Si Senor Big Ed First Visit To Modern America In 16 Years Interview

The few who read this blog have read mention made of the fact that in October Big Ed returned to Modern America for the first time in 16 years.

That journey to Modern America began four Sundays ago.

For 16 years Big Ed has only been in Texas, with the one exception being a short excursion into Oklahoma.

Big Ed's last look at Modern America was a two week stay in Seattle, way back in 2002.

Big Ed has been to areas of Texas which are sort of like Modern America. Such as Austin, and Southlake and a couple other Dallas/Fort Worth suburbs. But most of those 16 years of exile from Modern America have been spent in Fort Worth, which most definitely is a town that bears little resemblance to Modern America.

An overnight stay in Alamogordo, New Mexico, on the way back to Texas, found Big Ed and me in a New Mexico Mexican restaurant called CJ's Si Senor. The motel manager recommended Si Senor whilst I was checking in. Years ago one of the best New Mexico Mexican restaurant experiences ever happened in Taos, at a restaurant called Fred's, which was recommended by that motel's manager whilst checking in.

Si Senor was good, but it was no Fred's.

At Si Senor I had the Chile Relleno platter, whilst Big Ed had the Mucha Macho Grande Platter. That may not be the precise name.

While waiting for the delivery of the Chile Relleno platter and the Mucha Macho platter I interviewed Big Ed about his impressions of his first trip to Modern America in 16 years.

What follows is the edited transcript of that interview....

Me: So, what did you think about seeing Modern America for the first time in 16 years?

Big Ed: I think I may have been experiencing culture shock.

Me: How so?

Big Ed: Well, No matter where we went I saw no litter. I do not think I saw a single piece of litter the entire time I was out of Texas.

Me: Yeah, I've previously made note of the same thing. I remember thinking such when driving back, solo, to Washington, and when I got to Colorado thinking everything looked new, clean and litter free.

Big Ed: On the drive to Arizona, somewhere west of Paducah, Texas, on Highway 70 we were behind a pickup which had litter blowing out of its bed. How many times have I joked that this is the Texas litter disposal method? I can't imagine someone doing such a thing in what you call Modern America.

Me: Well, I did see some litter floating in Elliot Bay, by the aquarium, the last time I walked the Seattle waterfront.

Big Ed: Probably was dropped by a visiting Texan.

Me: Does the word "landscaping" cause you to have anything to say.

Big Ed: I'd forgotten how Modern America cares about how their town's look. You don't see abandoned buildings in a rundown condition, like I see in Texas in towns like Fort Worth and Wichita Falls. And the streets are landscaped. With sidewalks. The freeways are landscaped. The overall look makes it like you're in some sort of park. Sidewalks on both sides of wide boulevards, with wide landscaped medians between the sidewalks and roads. Can you imagine an Arizona freeway exit to a tourist attraction being a littered weed covered mess like the freeway exits to the Fort Worth Stockyards? No, that just would not happen in Modern America.

Me: You are forgetting when my brother drove us to see that Copper Mine by Superior and the rundown borderline ghost towns along the road there and beyond.

Big Ed: Yeah, but there was a reason. Those towns were well past their heyday. They were not big cities, like Fort Worth, or even Wichita Falls, towns with multiple abandoned building eyesores of the sort towns in Modern America do not tolerate.

Me: Well, you know, Texas is all about freedom. You can not tell someone to tear down their abandoned eyesore building. Or to pick up their litter.

Big Ed: Yeah, the concept of freedom in Texas, well, with way too many Texans, is way too restrictive. Arizona was the first time I experienced liquor sold in grocery stores since the last time I was in California. And now such is pretty universal on the west coast, I think. I've not been there, but I've heard reports. That and marijuana is legal. Unlike Texas. Freedom in Texas has a lot of restrictions.

Me: I don't remember if I pointed out any of the Arizona medicinal marijuana dispensaries when we were in Arizona. Washington now has pot stores, like little Starbucks kiosks. You've not seen that either. You really need to return to Modern America more often. It broadens your thinking as to what is possible.

Big Ed: Correct me if I am wrong. But were you not a bit appalled at what you saw your most recent visit to the Washington version of Modern America.

Me: That is true. The growth in the Puget Sound zone has created traffic woes of the likes I never previously experienced. Five hours to get from Tacoma to Birch Bay by the Canadian border. The homeless camps along the freeway as you drive through Seattle. All the construction cranes in Seattle. Seeing a skyline greatly altered from the last time I saw it in 2008. The skyline of sleepy Fort Worth has pretty much not changed the entire time I have looked at it. Stuck in neutral all of this century.

Big Ed: You forget, they did build that weird looking convention center hotel.

Me: Yeah, that did add greatly to the stunning skyline of downtown Fort Worth. What other culture shock type reactions did you have being back in Modern America?

Big Ed: Well, you made mention of it and I thought you were exaggerating. But, after spending so many years seeing so many BIG Texans it really does look like someone has let the air out of people when you see most people not being plus sized.

Me: I remember the first time I had that reaction. It was flying back to Washington. I got picked up at the airport and brought to downtown Seattle before being brought to where I was staying in Kent. We went to a gallery in Pioneer Square to deliver some goods. The streets were teeming with people. And I remarked to the gallery owner that it looked like someone had let the air out of the people.

Big Ed: And in a similar vein, in Arizona I don't recollect seeing any people dressed like those in those "People of Walmart" photos you see on Facebook. And way fewer tattoos and weird body piercing. It's like the hinterland misinterprets what's trendy on the coasts and goes overboard with it.

Me: I have had a similar reaction each time I am back in Arizona, and particularly when I am back in Washington. Like the last time, August of 2017, David, Theo and Ruby picked me up at Sea-Tac and to wait out the I-5 traffic we went to a restaurant as Southcenter, then walked the mall. Pretty much everyone I saw looked stylish, non-slobbish.

Big Ed: It is probably in bad taste to make such observations.

Me: Yeah, but it is true, so what you gonna do? Pretend your eyes don't see what they see?

Big Ed: Another thing which I found interesting was how the urban planning in the Phoenix area is ahead of development. Time and time again we came upon developments being readied for new homes or apartments, with the infrastructure in place, the roads, the utilities, the sidewalks, the landscaping.

Me: Well, it helps that they have a nice flat desert to work with.

Big Ed: And Chandler, where we spent most of our time. Population around a quarter million, compared to Fort Worth's population of almost a million. Chandler's boulevards and parks and shopping areas were all efficiently planned and good looking. Chandler has what? Six public swimming  pools, of the big waterpark sort? Fort Worth closed all its public pools. And all the Chandler parks we went to were so well designed. And all with modern facilities.  Unlike the outhouse norm of Fort Worth. And all the paved trails all over the towns of the Phoenix area, some along side canals, with lighting for after dark biking or running.

Me: It does seems odd that areas of America can be so different.

Big Ed: The massive Intel complex was another eye opener. I remember when Fort Worth tried to land that, using all sorts of incentives, including building a new overpass over I-35 to connect to the land Intel might build on. This was across the street from where I was located at the time, in Haslet. Seeing Chandler, how could any sane person in Fort Worth think any corporation would choose to locate to Fort Worth when a town like Chandler was an option? And now, all these years later, that land where Intel was gonna build in Fort Worth is filled in with hundreds, maybe thousands of houses, all built without upgrading the road system to handle the traffic increase. Totally the opposite of how Arizona and Modern America seems to operate. And all that un-mitigated development, without proper drainage is one of the causes for massive flooding in creeks downstream in towns like Haltom City.

Me: That Intel development caused Chandler to boom, attracting other high tech stuff to locate alongside Intel on Dobson Boulevard. And massive residential developments built as a result of Intel coming to town. I don't get why Fort Worth thinks it can ever attract any big deal unless the town cleans itself up and modernizes. Don't see that happening. Too corrupt, too backwards. And then there is Chandler's neighbor, Tempe, which in recent years has seen multiple corporations relocate their headquarters to that booming college town.

Big Ed: Tempe was cool. I wouldn't mind living there. And another thing, about Chandler. so many water features for a town in the desert. So many beautiful grotto-like lakes and canals with homes and apartment complexes on the waterfronts. And so many waterfalls, all over Chandler. City planners in Wichita Falls need to visit Chandler and get inspired to install waterfalls all over Wichita Falls of the sort you see in Chandler.

Me: Wichita Falls city planners, and maybe Fort Worth's, if such exist, would get some good ideas by visiting the towns which make up the Phoenix metro area. Like historic downtown Gilbert. Wichita Falls could emulate downtown Gilbert in the Wichita Falls downtown, making for a vibrant place people would wanna hang out in.

Big Ed: Don't see that happening. Wichita Falls, and Fort Worth, and much of Texas suffers from, I dunno how to say it other than say it suffers from too much of a Republican mentality. Backwards, non-progressive and lacking in imagination.

Me: Here comes dinner. Time to shut up and eat....

Visiting Santa's Wichita Falls Outhouse Long Before Christmas

When I rolled into town, specifically, Wichita Falls, on Tuesday, soon before the sun set for the day, I was surprised to see the annual Midwestern State University Christmas installations already being installed.

On the day before Halloween.

A few days prior I was surprised, whilst rolling Miss Daisy, to see Christmas trees on display in Arizona. I think this was in Costco, but I don't remember for sure. I do remember they were the artificial version of a Christmas tree, not the authentic real evergreen type Christmas tree.

Today for the first time since early in October I rolled my bike wheels to the MSU campus and parked the bike's handlebars in the location where that aforementioned Christmas installation is in installation mode.

In the photo documentation my handlebars are pointed at what may be Santa's Outhouse. I think, if memory serves, that last year I suggested this may be some sort of Wichita Falls homage to Fort Worth, the town known as the Outhouse Capital of the Modern World.

I suspect that likely is maybe not the case, and that this is simply Santa's Outhouse.

Wondering Why Jim Lane Is So Worried About A Trinity River Vision Forensic Audit

Two days ago I saw that which you see here on the front page of the online version of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

A day later the article had disappeared from the front page and it took some looking before I found it again.

The article details a current issue in Fort Worth which one would think would remain front page worthy and also worthy of a continuing series of articles of the investigative journalism sort.

The article is about the latest chapter in the ongoing scandal which has become America's Biggest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

You can read this article by going to Tarrant water district tells Panther Island to consider review of project, that is, unless the Star-Telegram has now totally removed the article.

Recently America's Biggest Boondoggle has seemed to have reached a tipping point where some Fort Worth officials, of the mayor of the town sort, realize something is dire wrong with how the Trinity River Vision is being seen, or not seen, what with the slow motion way the pseudo public works project has dawdled along for most of this century.

Now, let's go through this article from the Star-Telegram and point out a thing or two...

The first paragraph---

Facing questions about the oversight of Panther Island — a $1.16 billion flood control project with development potential that failed to receive federal funding this fiscal year — the Tarrant Regional Water District’s board of directors Tuesday recommended an independent review.

Facing questions? What questions? Why are those questions not detailed? Oversight? Does this mean the questions being asked have to do with the Boondoggle's inept executive directing, which many blame for the Trinity River Vision debacle. With the oversight entity in mind being TRVA Executive Director, J.D. Granger. He being the unqualified to oversee such a project son of Fort Worth Congresswoman, Kay Granger?

A $1.16 billion flood control project with development potential? So, now the Star-Telegram is changing how this project has been described from the start, that being as a "Flood Control and Economic Development Plan".

Flood control? Where there has been no flood for well over a half century, due to levees already in place, which have done the job they were intended to do. Whilst other areas of Fort Worth regularly flood due to extremely incompetent urban planning.

And now the Star-Telegram characterizes the "Economic Development" part of this plan to only being development potential? Apparently the Star-Telegram is starting to realize there is little potential the industrial wasteland at the heart of the imaginary island will ever amount to anything economically viable.

Jim Lane is one of the Tarrant Regional Water District board members. He and fellow board member, Marty Leonard, were the beneficiaries of the inflated vote totals which suspiciously re-elected the pair to the board, in the election fraud which triggered the biggest investigation of such fraud in Texas state history.

Some suspected the TRWD board majority was willing to go to any length needed to keep control of the TRWD board and deny then fellow board member, Mary Kelleher, two allies which could force the board to open the books to the public so as to see where the money has gone and who benefited from that money.

So, it is likely there are a number of reasons Jim Lane was so feisty, as reported in the Tarrant water district tells Panther Island to consider review of project article, about the multiple calls for some sort of forensic audit of the Trinity River Vision project and the management of the Trinity River Vision.

If memory serves correctly Jim Lane has been involved in multiple TRWD/TRVA shenanigans involving financial transactions.

Such as Jim Lane orchestrating the bail out of a friend. Something to do with the failed La Grave ballpark operation. Jim Lane's finagling over this resulted in millions of dollars changing hands somehow resulting in the world's first new drive-in movie theater of the 21st century. Oddly named Coyote rather than Panther Island, which seems to be the preferred label slapped on anything associated with that which has become America's Biggest Boondoggle.

Is Jim Lane worried about what an audit would reveal about multiple shady deals?

Worried about what an audit might reveal about how the TRWD and TRVA abused eminent domain to take property in the area where the Boondoggles's pitiful bridges have been being slowly built for years? With the victims of the eminent domain abuse not made whole, having to fight losing court battles against a corrupt Tarrant County system?

Is Jim Lane worried an audit would reveal how much money has been spent on Boondoggle propaganda, such as the ridiculous quarterly mailers detailing each three months lack of progress?

Or the money spent on all the Boondoggle's ridiculous signage?

Or all the Boondoggle's ridiculous websites?

Or on all the Boondoggle's ridiculous 'entertainment' features, such as the inner tube rockin' the polluted river floats, the subway maintenance shed turned into a beer hall, the ice rink, the embarrassing artwork, or the failed wakeboard park?

None of which has anything to do with flood control.

When will this nutty madness end, inquiring minds would really like to know...