Wichita Falls Is A Surprisingly Cool Town Despite Being HOT

Yesterday I came upon an article which named 5 surprisingly cool towns where you can buy a home for $150K or less.

The towns were Little Rock, Arkansas, Rockford, Illinois, Syracuse, New York, Topeka, Kansas and the cool town I currently live in...

Wichita Falls, Texas

What follows is the blurb in the article about Wichita Falls...

Home prices in Texas spiked 23.3% in the last year, making many cities unaffordable if you’re working with a $150,000 budget. Not Wichita Falls, however, which was an oil boomtown in the early 20th century. Named after a historic waterfall that was washed away by a flood in the 19th century — and replaced by a 54-foot-long manmade cascade in 1989 — the city is about halfway between Dallas-Fort Worth and Oklahoma City. Wichita Falls has plenty of local attractions, including the River Bend Nature Center, which houses a butterfly conservatory; and more than 40 parks. There’s also the Kemp Center for the Arts, which showcases symphony and ballet performances, as well as art exhibitions. The town has two live theater troupes — Backdoor Theatre and the Wichita Theatre Performing Arts Center — and a ballet school, the Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre. For less than $150,000, you can buy a newly renovated 3-bedroom, 1200-square-foot home in the city. Along with excellent Tex-Mex, the city also offers quality steaks from nearby cattle farms at restaurants like McBride’s Steak House. One of the main downsides is that Wichita Falls is hot in the summer; temperatures in the city climbed above 100 degrees for 100 days in 2011, a Texas state record.

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More than 40 parks? I must do some park searching, because I have not visited anywhere near that many parks in this town.

Even though I've not been to anywhere near that many parks here, I have wondered if Wichita Falls has more acreage devoted to parkland than any other town in America. Because this town does have several large parks. Lucy Park and Lake Wichita Park come to mind.

I have not heard of any plans to have a city wide celebration celebrating Wichita Falls being a cool town with affordable housing. I suspect such will not occur.

Early on in my experience of finding myself appalled by another Texas town, called Fort Worth, there was an amusingly embarrassing incident where Fort Worth did have a city wide celebration over such a thing.

A Washington, D.C. lobbying group promoting the concept of towns having what are known as Urban Villages named Fort Worth one of America's Top Ten Most Livable Cities With Urban Villages.

Fort Worth city officials acted like a homely girl waking up one morning to find herself in the Top Ten in the Miss America pageant, actually breathlessly asking how long this honor was good for. To be told, ten years.

I suspect Fort Worth was the only town, so enamored of this imaginary honor, that it was asked how long the honor was good for.

During the time this was happening I found myself up north, in Tacoma, a town with actual Urban Villages, which also was in the Top Ten of this D.C. lobbying group's bogus list.

At that point in time, whilst in Tacoma, I found myself visiting Tacoma's Deputy Mayor. He was driving me around town in his Prius. He had recently been to DFW and asked how I could stand living where there was no scenery, asking me this as we were looking directly at Mount Rainier. I replied that the wildflowers are scenic.

I then asked if Tacoma had itself a citywide celebration when Tacoma got that Most Livable Urban Village accolade. 

The Deputy Mayor replied that no, there was no celebration. We politely thanked them, and that was it.

When I told the Deputy Mayor Fort Worth had a citywide celebration he thought I was joking, and didn't believe me til I showed him my blog posts documenting the ridiculousness. 

I remember him asking me if Fort Worth actually had any Urban Villages, to which I told him not of the Tacoma sort, nothing like Old Town or Proctor, but Fort Worth does have a somewhat Urban Village in what is known as the Magnolia neighborhood.

Fort Worth's ten years of being a Top Ten Most Livable Urban Village city must be about up.

I wonder if the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Riverwalk District Vision will one day be known as an Urban Village? More likely it will one day be known as a vast wasteland which once was one of America's Top Ten Boondoggles...

HOT Lucy Park Sunday With Yellow Wildflowers

On this first Sunday of the 2022 version of April, it was back to Lucy Park I ventured today, to get myself some aerobically acquired endorphins via fast walking the Lucy Park backwoods. 

With the temperature in the 80s, Lucy Park had a lot of visitors today.

Picnickers, disc golfers, bikers, walkers, scooters, baby carriage pushers, and me.

That is the Wichita River you see above, flowing with extra water due to recent sky drippage. When that happens, the river returns to its preferred reddish brown color.

Green is sprouting out all over. On the ground, leaves in the trees and underbrush. Soon the scene above will look like a jungle, with passage through not so easy. That and then one has to be on the lookout for snakes.

Coming out of the Lucy Park backwoods, at the bottom of a bluff on which the Lucy Park Japanese Pagoda sits, the Pagoda looks taller than when you look at it at its own level.

I still have not learned, despite years of inquiring, the story behind why this Pagoda is in Lucy Park.

Soon after passing the Lucy Park Pagoda I came up this display of yellow wildflowers coloring up the landscape.

I read, a couple days ago, in the monthly Tandy Hills online newsletter, that the Tandy Hills wildflowers are tardy. Usually by this time of the year the hills are alive with a cacophony of color.

It is speculated that this past odd winter, with its many high and lows, has confused the foliage, not knowing if it safe to sprout, or is yet one more Arctic Blast going to arrive.

That cycle of HOT and cold continues. Today we are in the 80s. A cold front arrives in a few hours, with rain and likely thunderstorms, with the temperature high only in the 60s.

With rain likely falling tomorrow I don't know where I will get my daily endorphin dose...

Wichita Falls Moves From Tornado Alley To Wildfire Alley

I saw that which you above, this first Saturday morning of the 2022 version of April, in an article in today's Wichita Falls Times News Record. Apparently, I am no longer residing at the Southern end of what is known as Tornado Alley.

I now live in Wildfire Alley.

Other than the weekly tornado sirens test I have not heard the tornado sirens erupt in Wichita Falls since I have been in this town. I have also not seen a wildfire since being here. When I lived in the DFW zone I thrice had up close tornado experiences. 

But, I have never seen a stereotypical twister of the likes one expects to see. Instead all I've seen is an angry looking odd-colored wall of clouds, in which a tornado was spinning.

Last night I thought we might be going into tornado mode, due to the wall of black clouds I saw to the west as the sun set. That turned into a few lightning strikes, along with some rain, but little wind.

My location in this town is right where one of the worst tornadoes ever to twist, twisted into town, way back in 1979. This is known, locally, as Terrible Tuesday. This deadly tornado spun through the area I live in, doing damage along Southwest Parkway, the Sikes Senter mall, and the MSU president's residence, among other locations I am familiar with.

There is a historical marker marking the Terrible Tuesday Tornado at the park at the west end of Sikes Lake.

This deadly Wichita Falls tornado was part of what is known as the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak.

Four informative paragraphs about the Wichita Falls Terrible Tuesday Tornado in the Wikipedia article about the 1979 Red River Valley tornado outbreak.

The Wichita Falls tornado formed in Archer County and moved northeast and damaged a few rural homes and high voltage towers. It rapidly intensified as it entered the city near Memorial Stadium by McNiel Jr. High on Southwest Parkway, which was located to the west of Wichita Falls at approximately 6:07 p.m. damaging both structures severely. Hail the size of golf balls preceded the touchdown and continued for approximately 15 minutes. It then became calm before the winds began to pick up.

The massive wedge tornado, which was at its maximum 1.5 miles (2.4 km) wide, cut a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) swath of destruction through the south side of town, leveling everything in its path. It destroyed an apartment complex near the beginning of its path. It also took its first lives there. It later destroyed a restaurant, the majority of Sikes Senter, the major mall, and another apartment complex where it took more lives. Neighborhoods all along Southwest Parkway were leveled and nothing but debris and destruction remained.

A number of people tried to flee as the tornado moved along U.S. Highways 281 and 287. Roughly half of the 42 people killed were in their cars. It then moved into Clay County and changed its appearance to display a multiple-vortex structure. There were at times five separate vortices visible within the tornado. It inflicted additional damage south of Dean and Byers, but no more fatalities occurred. It crossed into Oklahoma where additional damage occurred before it dissipated.

The injury count for this tornado was 1,740, the most injuries ever recorded for an F4/EF4 tornado

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I hope it is not tempting fate to suggest Wichita Falls is no longer in Tornado Alley...

No Foolin' With Horses Or Life Jugs Or Slotemakers On April Fool's Day

At my first abode, when I moved to Texas, the three horses you see me sitting with, above, were part of the household. The horse named Caution knew how to open the gate to the backyard. Caution would then lead the other two in for a visit. 

I forgot to mention that this morning, whilst looking for a Delicate Arch photo, I came upon the photos you see here.

I thought I remembered one of the horses getting in the pool, and it being a bit of a struggle to get the horse back on dry land. I have been informed that this is a false memory, likely the result of a nightmare.

My cat, Hortense, who made the move to Texas via flying, liked the horses. Hortense would purr, whilst holding her by a horse, and would reach out with a paw to pet the horse.

Moving on to Life Jugs...

The above photo was taken in Dinosaur Valley State Park.

Dinosaur Valley is one of my favorite Texas parks, with great hiking and mountain biking trails. The park has a swimming hole courtesy of the Paluxy River. I was slightly appalled when I saw the LIFE JUGS: THROW A DROWNING PERSON sign, with two jugs hanging from the sign.

Was this supposed to be a joke? Or are they serious. The swimming hole looked fun to swim in, except there were turtles enjoying it. You don't want to swim with turtles. I was chased by a big turtle whilst swimming in Lake Grapevine. If I remember right that turtle chased incident was the last time I got into a Texas lake.

Moving on to more signs...

Washington's Maxine sent me the above photo a couple months ago. She saw this in a store in Lynden. 

Slotemaker is Dutch for Jones.

The original Slotemaker farm is a short distance east of Lynden. For some reason the Slotemaker road signs get frequently stolen. One or two of my nephews engaged in this practice, with the purloined signs hanging on their bedroom walls.

Let me see if I can find a photo of the last time I was looking at the Slotemaker road sign.

That would be three of the youngest Slotemaker Jones, Ruby, Theo and David, standing under the Slotemaker Road sign whilst their favorite uncle takes a picture of them.

The above photo was taken August 12, 2017, almost five years ago. Hard to believe it was that long ago. In my memory it seems like yesterday.

That was one special, unforgettable day...

(If you click on the link the date on the blog post is August 14, that being the day the post was posted, but August 12 was the date the photo was taken)

This Morning My Calendar Took Me To Arches National Park With Wanda

 

I flipped my wall calendar to the new month of April this morning to find this month's featured National Park is Arches National Park, in Utah.

I had been to all the other Utah National Parks before finally visiting Arches after having been to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands National Parks.

All the Utah National Parks are scenic wonderlands, with great hiking. Hike-wise, I think Arches is my favorite, due to the ranger guided Fiery Furnace Hike. 

On Utah license plates you see Delicate Arch being the symbol of Utah. You do not need a ranger to guide you on the hike to Delicate Arch. The hike to Delicate Arch may be my all time favorite hike.

Let me see if I can find one of the photos I took of Delicate Arch, which turned out to be one of my all time favorite photos.

Found it...

That would be Wanda the Washingtonian next to me, with Delicate Arch behind us.

This photo was taken by my now antique Casio digital camera, which had the ability to take what are now known as selfies, before phones made that practice ubiquitous.

Seeing Arches National Park this morning sure makes me want to once again gaze upon a scenic wonderland. I have not gazed upon a scenic wonderland for over three years, with the scenic wonderland of Arizona being what I gazed upon at that point in time...

Time To Worry About Sundance Sasha With Lady Whistleworth

 

Yesterday Elsie Hotpepper pointed me to a couple news articles about what is currently worrying locals regarding downtown Fort Worth.

This morning, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, I saw the headline you see screen capped. 

So, the Star-Telegram is also reporting on that which is worrying downtown Fort Worth.

Basically, what is worrying people is troubles with the management of the downtown Fort Worth organization known as Sundance Square.

Sundance Square perplexed me, and others, upon first visiting downtown Fort Worth and seeing signage pointing to Sundance Square. But, there was no square in Sundance Square, til years later when one of the downtown parking lots was turned into Sundance Square Plaza. I forget how many years it was til I learned Sundance Square was the name given a downtown Fort Worth revitalization project.

I remember learning this and thinking, yikes, if this is the revitalized version, what was this sleepy downtown like before getting vitalized?

Is that homage to Fort Worth's heritage, known as Heritage Park, still a boarded up closed eyesore on the north end of downtown Fort Worth? Or has Heritage Park been revitalized? Heritage Park at the north end of downtown Fort Worth, and the Water Gardens at the south end, are really the only two things about downtown Fort Worth which are even remotely unique.

Well, I guess it could be said that downtown Fort Worth is also unique in that it is the only big city downtown in America without any department stores. Or full sized grocery stores.

Because of the lack of shopping venues downtown Fort Worth is a ghost town on the busiest shopping day of the year, that being Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. We have made mention of this in various venues, including Day After Thanksgiving on my Eyes on Texas website, and multiple blog posts, including Having Fun Looking For Black Friday Shoppers Today In Downtown Fort Worth.

The two articles about Sundance Square which Elsie Hotpepper directed me to are...

'It is a shell': Reata's departure isn't the only issue facing Fort Worth's Sundance Square

and 

What's the Deal With Sundance Square?

The comments following the What's the Deal article are quite informative and enlightening.

Basically locals with an interest in downtown Fort Worth, such as restaurant owners, and other business owners, have been having trouble with a woman named Sasha Bass, the young trophy wife of Fort Worth billionaire, Ed Bass, who is 76 years old.

A paragraph from the Wikipedia article about Ed Bass...

Bass is a long-time supporter of downtown redevelopment, and has been described as a "leader in what is recognized as one of the most successful urban revitalization efforts in America". He and his family began the Sundance Square development in 1982. It combines commercial and residential space in the central business area of Fort Worth, and it received the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce's Spirit of Enterprise award in 2004. He led the development of Bass Performance Hall, financed without public funding, which opened in 1998.

The high cost of parking in downtown Fort Worth has become a troubling issue, and may account for being one of the reasons for the drop in the number of downtown Fort Worth visitors.

Since I have been keeping my eyes on Fort Worth I have witnessed many incredibly stupid things. The stupidest may have been letting Radio Shack build a new corporate headquarters at the north end of downtown Fort Worth. A corporate headquarters which Radio Shack could not afford, which was eventually turned into a Tarrant Community College campus.

The reason the Radio Shack debacle was stupid was that it ruined the other thing remotely unique about downtown Fort Worth, in addition to Heritage Park and the Water Gardens, that being the acres of free parking, with the world's shortest subway line taking visitors from the parking lot into the heart of downtown Fort Worth. 

Free to park, free to ride the subway.

I frequently frequented downtown Fort Worth when the parking and the subway made it easy. After the subway and parking was destroyed I only visited downtown Fort Worth a few more times.

The Sundance Square Sasha Bass Scandal has spawned another amusing thing Elsie Hotpepper directed me to, that being the Lady Whistleworth Instagram page, where Lady Whistleworth is the "Center of morality, governance, fashion - precisely because they are all broken."

No one knows who Lady Whistleworth is. Below is a screencap from the Lady Whistleworth Instagram. And below the screencap you can read the most recent Instagram posting from Lady Whistleworth. And just to be clear, the Evil Queen to which Lady Whistleworth refers is Sasha Bass...

Dearest Readers,

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

While we all learned this morning that a long time iconic downtown restaurant is unfortunately looking for a new location, this author has also heard that the dark cloud of Servitude is beginning to fold inward against the evil oppressor.  It seems, you see, that time is indeed running out for our Queen. As previously penned, there is increasing pressure with lenders to resolve the mortgages concerning the Queen’s properties which are on the verge of default. The problem is whilst she actively shops new lenders, in what we all hope will be another one of her futile endeavors, she is also actively working against tenants and commerce in general! Raise the rents? Check! Raise parking prices? Check! Pay any tenant to leave the Square that does not share her “vision”? Check! One would think that this rate of failure, combined with her immeasurable grandiosity, should finally prove persuasive enough to bring justice to Fort Worth!

At this point it may also be instructive to review the Queen’s resume, which won’t take long: No college degree. No career. No business experience. Family history of criminal activity, arrests, convictions, shoplifting, green card marriage, & disenfranchisement of all associated Royals. How could a lender look at this background and track record and do anything BUT foreclose? The real silver living to the cloud though is that perhaps the Brothers will hear the cries of their fair City, and come to the rescue. It would resolve things for all parties involved.

God Save the Queen? No, God Save Fort Worth!

 

Ever Yours,

Lady Whistleworth

___________________________

The verbiage of all the Lady Whistleworth postings is at the same high level of elevated snarkiness as the above example.

Upon reading the Lady Whistleworth words I thought she might be Elsie Hotpepper. I asked Elsie if it was she, to which Elsie said no, it was not she. So, who is Lady Whistleworth?

Texas Has Some Of The Worst Cities For Allergy Sufferers

Yesterday I found myself on Facebook, discussing with a Washingtonian, how I never had allergy woes til I moved to Texas.

Yesterday the pollen was extra insufferable. Hot and windy, blowing the sneeze wheeze makers at great volume at high speed.

Overnight a cold front has arrived, along with a noticeable drop in the airborne irritants. I have not felt the need to take an allergy pill this morning.

Blessed relief.

I saw that which you see above, this morning, on the aforementioned Facebook. I don't know why Austin is not at the top of the worst cities for allergy sufferers. I've known people who moved from Austin to escape the annual onslaught of Mountain Cedar Pollen.

The worst allergy bout I have been through was in Fort Worth several years ago, caused by conditions which blew large amounts of Texas Hill Country Mountain Cedar Pollen north to the DFW zone.

There are Mountain Cedar trees here in Wichita Falls. A couple years ago I was biking through Lake Wichita Park when I saw a Mountain Cedar suddenly release what looked like a fog but was Pollen going airborne due to who knows what sudden stimulus. I had never seen such a thing happen before in person. I had seen videos of such.

I have not yet decided if I am going to venture into the outer world today. Current, at 10 in the morning, it is only 52 degrees outside...

Today's Google Memories I Actually Remember

I think today marks the first time since I have been getting emails from Google, ostensibly showing me photo memories from that particular day, that I remember all the memories. 

I remember these photo memories so well I know most did not take place on this day of March 29.

On the upper left, that is a scene in Taos, New Mexico. If I remember right it was called the Lumina Gardens. I may remember that memory wrong. To the right of the Lumina Gardens, on the upper right, I believe that is known as the Mabel Dodge house, also in Taos, near the Lumina Gardens.

This visit to Taos took place in October, not March. 

Below the Mabel Dodge house, that is the New York New York casino in Las Vegas. Below the New York New York photo memory we are looking at the Luxor pool and pyramid, also in Vegas. The stay in the Luxor also took place in October, part of the same roadtrip which saw Taos.

And then there is the lower left memory.. That would be Big Ed on his mountain bike, riding the Slickrock Trail, located near Moab, Utah.

Staying a couple nights in Moab was part of the roadtrip which included Taos and Vegas, but I do not remember taking bikes along on that roadtrip.

Oops, erase that bit about not taking bikes along. That roadtrip included an overnight stay in Silverton, Colorado. The bikes were along. Because I remember trying to ride at that high elevation, and it was brutal. We pushed the bikes up a hill, trying to reach a statue which overlooked the town. Eventually that proved hopeless, turning into a long downhill fast coast back to street level. Also, now I remember riding bikes all over Taos, including to the aforementioned Lumina Gardens and Mabel Dodge house. Also pedaled out to the Taos Pueblo.

Maybe these Google memories are providing me a valuable service, causing me to strain my memory trying to remember...

Back Being Mobile & Hot At Lucy Park

Til today, it had been about a week since last I communed with nature at Lucy Park.

My primary means of motorized motion was checked into the doctor's office last Wednesday, where soon it was diagnosed some major pump surgery was needed.

This morning the motorized motion device was given a clean bill of health, ready to roll, so we rolled to Lucy Park, where I wandered the backwoods undeveloped part of the park.

Due to the temperature being in the low 80s I kept an eye out for anything slithering. I saw no instances of such. What I did see was a lot more green than was seeable a week ago.

A burst of rain a few days ago, along with warm temperatures, has Spring in full breakout mode.

Including, apparently, record breaking pollen.

Yesterday, on a bike ride, I found myself having a sneezing fit due to that record breaking pollen.

Now that I am back mobile I need to go to Walmart to stock up on some supplies. That I shall do in a few hours, perhaps taking Linda Lou along for the ride...

Hollywood Used To Like Fort Worth As Much As Fort Worth Liked Hollywood

I saw the above on the front page of this Saturday's, March 26, 2022, online edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Upon seeing the When Hollywood liked Fort Worth as much as Fort Worth liked Hollywood
 headline I instantly wondered if this was going to be one of those Star-Telegram staples I made mock of many years ago, a staple which seems to have disappeared in recent years, the disappearance of  which caused one to think someone at the Star-Telegram had developed an eye for the absurdly ridiculous.

The Star-Telegram staple to which I refer I came to call the Star-Telegram's Green with Envy syndrome. Articles about some perfectly ordinary thing relating to Fort Worth which the Star-Telegram would claim made towns far and wide green with envy.

Eventually I made a Green with Envy web page documenting some of this type nonsense.

So, I read today's Star-Telegram with it mind that today's article would likely contain some element of the Star-Telegram's Green with Envy verbiage. Or in some way be totally delusional.

This was a long article. The first instance of delusional verbiage came in the last sentence of the second paragraph...

Fort Worth was on its way to becoming the Hollywood of Texas!

And then there is the paragraph which followed Fort Worth becoming the Hollywood of Texas...

Big-time production certainly seemed to be heading to Fort Worth in 1920 when Lone Star Pictures Corp. announced plans to relocate here from California. Like southern California, North Texas offered the promise of good weather for outdoor filming almost year-round. Their first picture was to be a “romance of the Texas oil fields,” but the studio never came, and their oil-field love story was never filmed.

Fort Worth has a long history of some big deal not materializing. Or being delusional about some development being touted as destined to become the #1 tourist attraction in Texas. Which is what the Star-Telegram touted when the Cabela's sporting goods store opened a store in Fort Worth.

The following paragraph contains multiple Fort Worth delusions...

Hollywood liked Fort Worth as much as Fort Worth liked Hollywood, reflected in how many films opened here. In the fall of 1940 Warner Brothers opened “The Westerner” starring Gary Cooper here. The decision to premier it in Fort Worth was easy since this was “the city where the West begins” as Amon Carter often said. At its Sept. 19 opening, with World War II already raging in Europe, a Star-Telegram headline screamed, “Everybody but Hitler here for Premier.” The city rolled out the red carpet for Cooper, director William Wyler, and producer Samuel Goldwyn, and Warner Brothers booked the film into all three first-run theaters (the Hollywood, Worth, and Palace). The opening pushed news of the war off the front page of the Star-Telegram. Amon Carter joined in the spirit of things by throwing a party for distinguished visitors at his Shady Oak Farm. Everyone agreed, Fort Worth hospitality was unmatched, or as Samuel Goldwyn said, “It is doubtful such an event would have been held anywhere else outside Hollywood.”

Hollywood used to like Fort Worth as much as Fort Worth liked Hollywood? The use of the past tense seems to indicate neither town still likes the other. The decision to open a Hollywood Western in Fort Worth was easy because Amon Carter often said Fort Worth is where the West begins? Only Fort Worth pretends the town to be where the West begins. Most Americans think the town which has that honor is St. Louis, Missouri. That town even built a giant arch to symbolize St. Louis being the Gateway to the West.

The Star-Telegram screamed everybody but Hitler is in Fort Worth for the movie premier? Clearly, the Star-Telegram's habit of printing ridiculous hyperbolic nonsense is a habit that has been around for a long long time.

And then we have this doozy of a paragraph...

The year 1951 proved a banner year for movies about Fort Worth. “Follow the Sun” was 20th Century Fox’s “inspiring true story of America’s greatest athlete,” which for the movie’s purpose meant Fort Worth golf legend Ben Hogan. It opened on March 23 simultaneously in all three first-run theaters, and the city proclaimed, “Ben Hogan Day!” One Star-Telegram columnist called the premier “the biggest thing to hit this town since Amon Carter put on a cowboy hat and climbed up on a horse.” After the premier Mrs. Hogan told the Fort Worth Press “they got all the facts exactly right,” and Amon Carter pronounced star Glenn Ford worthy of an Oscar.

Movies about Fort Worth? With 1951 being a banner year for such?

And then we have this paragraph...

Horses and Fort Worth just naturally went together. A 1951 Warner Brothers movie starring Randolph Scott used the city’s name for its title though there was little connection to actual historical events in the script. In “Fort Worth” Scott played peace-loving newspaperman Ned Britt trying to tame the town through the power of the press, but of course in the end it took a six-gun. The only bow to history was a passing reference in Britt’s newspaper to a panther spotted sleeping on Belknap Street. The movie’s opening (June 13) reportedly broke “all known world premier records” with 7,000 flocking to all four downtown theaters (the Big 3 plus the Majestic). The city also provided an “Official World Premier Hostess” to escort Scott around town. Applicants for the job had to supply a photo of themselves in a bathing suit.

The idea of someone trying to tame Fort Worth with the power of the press is an amusing thing to read. To this day Fort Worth does not have what most towns have, that being a real newspaper practicing real journalism, ferreting out corruption and wrongdoing, instead of being a cheerleader for what is known as the Fort Worth Way, currently best exemplified by how the Star-Telegram has covered Fort Worth's ongoing mess known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island Riverwalk District Vision. And, really?

The premier of this movie titled Fort Worth broke all known world premier records? I am guessing towns far and wide were green with envy when that happened.

And then there is the final paragraph of this Star-Telegram article, a paragraph which contains the most delusional item in the entire article...

With all the natural attractions of Cowtown, and the hard work of the Fort Worth Film Commission there is a good chance Fort Worth will attract future productions. They will need financial inducements, location settings, and plenty of extras. Fort Worth is open for business.

Fort Worth has natural attractions? Really? And those are what? The Tandy Hills is the only thing I can think of?  The Fort Worth Stockyards are not a natural attraction, but they are an attraction, really, the only thing remotely unique in all of Fort Worth....