Denied

The Tarrant Regional Water District fails to get one of their pending lawsuits thrown out of court.

Should play well into getting them thrown out of office.

Judge declines to dismiss lawsuit against TRWD

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Hey, Hey, Hey - Goodbye

Isn't it funny how your opinion changes when they are talking about YOU.

Parsing That Extra Year

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No longer just a "conspiracy"...

Seems the Tea Party just fired off a warning shot to the COG.  They are coming for you, even if they have to take out rep's to do it.

The COG is spending YOUR money and YOU get no say.  They are quoting and enforcing UN policies.  Sound American as apple pie?

Ever heard of Agenda 21?  Ever heard of the Trinity River Vision?  Know the difference?

Want to fix it?  Ask all of YOUR elected officials these same questions.  If they fully support the NCTCOG, they don't fully support YOU.

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Survey says...

Our air sucks and we're out of water.

If you have been personally affected by "the industry", you will want to check this out.

PLEASE CONSIDER PARTICIPATION IN
Natural Gas Production and Community Impacts Survey

I have been contacted by the Damascus Citizens group of Pennsylvania that has crested a survey for citizens to fill out a survey they are collecting to document the Health and Community Impacts of Gas Production in their communities. Although this is being done by a Pennsylvania citizens group their effort is to document not only their local Impacts with testimonial surveys but through other activists groups and communities across the Nation . How can this help our cause ? Get your experiences officially recorded with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in the Department of Health & Human Services. Petition to get a Public Health Assessment in your area. This Survey has been created to help you and your community, and change public policy. Your information will go towards creating a national database and a national review of drilling (NGE&P) impacts. We are hopeful also that we can start to find help for impacted people.

Natural Gas Production and Community Impacts Survey 

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WHO didn't see that coming?

Concerning the Texans for Government Transparency lawsuit against the Tarrant Regional Water District, the local "news" paper has decided while it may be against the law and unconstitutional, it's okay.  Cause an election would cost money.  Let's see, an election to give the citizens a vote, would cost less than the restaurant the TRWD built for their friend.  ($900,000)  It will also cost less than the $6 million dollar lawsuit against Oklahoma.

Seems if they got some more new blood on the water board, they would spend less on frivolous things.  Sounds like the "news" paper is more worried about keeping "continuity" on the water board.  Now WHY would that be?  Wouldn't they be more concerned about THE PEOPLE having a voice?  And a governmental agency following the law?  Maybe they should be.  Maybe they'll be next...

When they extended the other water board member terms in 2012, Jim Lane voted against it, his thinking was the voters deserved to throw him out after his term if desired.   WHAT changed?  Aside from it's his turn? 

If you want to read a real article about the TRWD lawsuit, check out the Fort Worth Business Press.

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Remember

Way back in 2012 when the Tarrant Regional Water District voted to give themselves another year in office?  Even the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, who likes to look the other way when it comes to the Water Board, took note of the usually unanimous voting board being not so unanimous on this particular vote.   Well, to get away with moving their elections this time, they came up with HB3900 and sent it to Perry to extend yet another set of elections.  The first time it was to "save money", this time it's so the elections will be held in odd numbered years.  Either way, it's crap.

So, a newly created group for Texans, along with a former water board candidate and a concerned resident have filed suit. 

You can read about the lawsuit on the Fort Worth Weekly. 

If you want to attend the lawsuit hearing against the TRWD concerning the 'alleged' violations of the TOMA laws, it's Friday at 2:00.  Sounds like it will be a long day on Northside Drive tomorrow.

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Another one bites the dust

Seems Fort Worth demolished yet another home.

WHO do these people report to?

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No, he didn't show...but THEY did

It was standing room only at the Cornyn Town Hall, called by THE PEOPLE WHO elected him.  Sadly the Senator couldn't be bothered to show.  Remember that when he runs for office again.  Matter of fact, call all your representatives from the local level to Washington and ask when their free town halls are held.  After the moment of silence, tell them you are serious.

The Cardboard Cornyn did make an appearance for photo ops.  You know how those veteran politicos love their photo ops.

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Gotta Pay to see Kay

That's what we were told recently when asked about a town hall with Congresswoman Granger.  Apparently she only holds telephone town halls and most all events she attends require a fee to attend. And if you are privileged enough to attend, you are not allowed to ask questions.

We were reminded of this by the meeting invitation for Saturday.  The Senator can't seem to be bothered to attend.  But the people that elected him can.  WHAT do you think they'll do next election?

Sponsored by FreedomWorks and Grassroots Texans since Sen Cornyn has not scheduled any Town Halls...

 People's Town Hall for Senator Cornyn

 Saturday, Aug 17, 2013
 Dallas, Texas
 4:30PM-7:30PM

 Begins : Saturday, August 17 2013 at 4:30 pm
 Location: Embassy Suites - Mesquite Ballroom
 Address: 13131 North Central Expressway Dallas, TX 75243

Local patriots have been putting a lot of time in to organize and promote the People's Town Hall for John Cornyn.

 PLEASE NOTE: This event is 100% FREE--including dinner!

 As you may know, we the people of Texas pay Senator John Cornyn a salary of $174,000.00 per year. Over the course of a six-year term, that's over a million dollars.

 Given that we pay the man much more than most of us make, it's understandable that we would expect that Senator Cornyn would be so kind as to make himself available to us on a periodic basis, to discuss the critical issues facing our Republic and how he plans to address them.

 Apparently, Senator Cornyn disagrees.

 Despite repeated requests from constituents, Senator John Cornyn has not seen fit to host any in-person townhalls during the August Recess to hear from the people of Texas.

 Being Texans, we're not inclined to let that stand. In order to provide every opportunity, WE'RE holding a townhall for him this Saturday.

 We are inviting Senator Cornyn to join us for this conversation. While we have not received a confirmation of attendance we are hopeful he will ultimately decide to participate.

 Following the townhall, we are holding a strategy session for the Come and Take It campaign to stop the Obama Machine's Progressive takeover of Texas.

 Dinner will be provided between the townhall and strategy session.

 4:30 - 5:30 PM Central - John Cornyn Townhall Meeting
 5:30 - 6:00 PM Central - Dinner
 6:00 - 7:30 PM Central - Come and Take It Strategy

 COME ON OUT AND JOIN US!

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Famous quotes...

Okay, they may not be famous, but they made us laugh.  And we have a feeling someday they will be famous.  Just like the Fort Worth Way.

Read Durango's latest Frequently Asked Questions here.

"You reading this in the sane parts of America, I guarantee I am not making this up."

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Seems everywhere you go...

Everyone is talking about the Tarrant Regional Water district. Now WHY is that?

The Weekly and a Texas Watchdog sink their teeth in and tell you why.

The next Water Board meeting is Tuesday morning. The last few were standing room only. Come early.

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Grand Prairie has no water while Fort Worth Pays more for less...

That may sound odd to those of you who aren't from around here, but us locals are unfortunately used to the Fort Worth Way. 

While Fort Worth and the Tarrant Regional Water District fiddle with the rates, again, we're told to water twice a week (by a guy they pay with those rate increases).  Good luck to you, Grand Prairie.  Maybe you guys can come take a bath in the Trinity River on Thursday nights when the Trinity River Vision Authority (under TRWD) holds their weekly Floating with Feces event.  It's probably not what you had in mind, but beggars can't be choosers. 

How old was the water main that broke in GP?  How old is the one to your hood?

WHO's next?

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One step forward and two steps back

That's what the Fort Worth Star-Telegram has done.  Again.  Just when they start to give a glimpse of being a real newspaper, they let their Editorial Board shoot themselves in the foot...again.

Just yesterday the Fort Worth Weekly even gave them props for finally reporting on a story that the Weekly reported on seven years ago...

(News judgment reached an embarrassing low leading up to the May election for board members. The newspaper’s articles sounded as if they’d been written by the incumbents’ mothers.)

And then today, we're back to the same old drivel from the "news" paper. They want people to quit talking about the Tarrant Regional Water District deer lease, deer camp, whatever you want to call it.  However, no one has yet to answer the real question - IS IT LEGAL?  Well, is it?  Public lands for the private use of district employees.  Does it sound legal to you?  Is that why they want you to stop talking about it?

The district says they can't sell the land because it's in a floodplain on Lake Bridgeport.  Is this the same Lake Bridgeport that the "news" paper reported on yesterday as being so dry you can walk across it?  Partly due to the fact the TRWD is sending their lake water down to the other lakes?

But while the water district wants to blame Mother Nature for the lake’s dry condition, some area property owners say a longstanding agency policy favors downstream reservoirs such as Lake Worth and Eagle Mountain Lake.

From mid-April to June 20, the water district released a large amount of water from Lake Bridgeport — about 20,000 acre-feet — to maintain levels at downstream lakes as part of agreements with water customers such as the city of Fort Worth.

Will someone start a real "news" paper in Fort Worth already?  The Weekly can't do it all alone and frankly, we're tired of waiting.

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When the river runs dry

You swipe water from someone else.  That's how the game is played here anyway.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has started writing articles about TRWD that have nothing to do with Trinity River Vision.  Finally.  Because the real question should be, WHAT does that have to do with water?  Or flood control for that matter?  The bonus question is - WHY are people floating in the sewer??

The comments on the articles are sometimes the most telling, here are a few -

One thing that everyone needs to realize - Bridgeport lake was built in the first place primarily for flood control to Tarrant county, and secondly as a water supply. If TRWD maintains the lower lakes to almost full level (by draining from Bridgeport) then Ft Worth and surrounding areas will be at a greater risk for flooding.    

Many short sighted people here.  This is a valuable resource that we should all be concerned about.  If this drought persists, we could all have trouble getting water.  This will impact all of the N. Texas region, impacting the overall economic health of this region.

It's not just the drought drying up our lakes. The City of Granbury is selling acres of water from Lake granbury to the oilfield industry.Residents have banded together to try and stop it. Lake homes with docks now sit on dry land and they are trying to raise petitions to stop it.

It was worse in 1980.  This "lake" was created to be drained.  Everyone who lives on it knows that.  It will rain again.  It always has.

What's really crazy is the water being let out of Benbrook so the drunks can float in their inner tubes downtown. Call it what you want; it's still a sewer.

How many weeks has this rag been running articles on this non-news event?
We're in a drought- no one can use water from Texoma- a certain amount of water from this lake has to be allowed downstream- water utility districts contracted for water from this lake and someone neglected to put a max drawdown in the contract.  Go after the lawyers who wrote the contract.

Climate change?  What climate change?  Whoever could have predicted that the Western United States, including all of West Texas, would have become consistently hotter and drier?  Just move along, nothing to see here. 

OK Sheeple, follow the star-telegram's directions here: It's all the fault of the TRWD board of directors. They should all be out doing rain dances across the dry lake bed.

Cry babies.  Sorry, live on a real lake that isn't manage by the TRWD if you want fair.

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They are gagging YOUR kids...literally

Have you ever told a child not to tell something? WHY?  And how long did their silence last?

The gas industry has been known for paying people in return for their silence, though this takes the cake.

Speak up before they silence YOUR children next.

The Hallowiches, former anti-fracking activists, had been living on a 10-acre farm in Mount Pleasant when they brought a lawsuit against Range Resources, Williams Gas/Laurel Mountain Midstream and MarkWest Energy. They claimed that the adjacent Marcellus Shale operations damaged the health of their family, including their children, then 7 and 10, by causing burning eyes, sore throats, headaches and earaches. 

They also claimed operations contaminated their drinking water and rendered their property worthless. They had purchased it in 2005, unknowingly inheriting a lease with Range Resources. Soon after the Hallowiches built their house in 2007, gas wells, access roads, a gas-processing facility and compressor stations were constructed on bordering properties, bringing with them noise, lights and emissions, according to reports. 

The hearing transcript about the children’s gag order, ordered public by a judge along with the other court records last week, shows the Hallowiches agreed to the restrictive terms of the settlement—which also included the signing of a statement saying that the family’s health was not negatively affected by the drilling—in order to be able to move on from the situation.

“We have agreed to this because we needed to get the children out of there for their health and safety,” Stephanie said, according to the transcript. “My concern is they’re minors, I’m not quite sure I fully understand. I know we’re signing for silence forever, but how is this taking away our children’s rights being minors now?”

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WHERE's Tommy Lee now??

Seems Arlington has jumped on the suing Chesapeake bandwagon. Others suing the company include the DFW Airport, the Fort Worth Bass family, unnamed landowners and folks out in Johnson County.

The list (and someone's nose) keeps growing.

Read about it in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Especially if you've been fracked...

WHO's next?

The city is suing Chesapeake Exploration, saying the company underpaid royalties on natural gas pumped from about 1,908 acres of public land.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in a civil District Court in Tarrant County, alleges that the Oklahoma City-based energy company has deducted post-production costs from the city’s royalty payments that are not only unauthorized under the lease agreements but also appear to be “excessive and unreasonable.”

Arlington said it has not been able to quantify its monetary damages for the contract breach because Chesapeake has withheld lease documents. But the city said in the suit that it expects to seek monetary relief in excess of $1 million.

Arlington said it has not been able to quantify its monetary damages for the contract breach because Chesapeake has withheld lease documents. But the city said in the suit that it expects to seek monetary relief in excess of $1 million.The suit also alleges that these deductions are not apparent from the information that Chesapeake has provided to the city, saying that those statements “misleadingly reflect” that no deductions are being taken. 

The city sent a letter to the company in April raising concerns about underpaid royalties and the improper deduction of costs. The company did not respond, according to the suit.

“Instead, Chesapeake continues to engage in a scheme of affiliated transactions aimed at hiding or embedding impermissible cost deductions and suppressing the royalties it pays to the city,” the suit says.
Arlington’s suit is similar to one filed against Chesapeake in federal court this year by Fort Worth investor Ed Bass and more than a dozen other landowners in far south Tarrant County. That lawsuit claims that Chesapeake has cheated them out of potentially millions of dollars in royalties for leases on 3,952 acres at the Tarrant-Johnson County line, south of Benbrook Lake.

Last year, Chesapeake Energy agreed to pay Dallas/Fort Worth Airport $5.3 million to settle a similar lawsuit after the airport alleged it had been shortchanged on royalty money from wells Chesapeake drilled on its property. The airport used its gas money to help pay for capital projects including the $1.9 billion terminal renovation.

Joining these large entities in suing Chesapeake are individual landowners. In 2012, Charles and Robert Warren, along with another couple in Johnson County, were seeking class action status in a lawsuit filed in federal court, a rarity in a Texas oil and gas royalty dispute. The case was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn in May and is currently on appeal.

The suit against Chesapeake isn’t Arlington’s only legal battle with the natural gas drilling industry. 

Last year, the Texas Oil & Gas Association and the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association sued Arlington over the creation of a gas well fee.

The fee was expected to generate about $800,000 a year so that Arlington, which has 300-plus gas wells, could hire six more firefighters and to train and equip 42 current firefighters for the creation of two gas well emergency response teams. 

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Do they read??

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram finally did an article on the Tarrant Regional Water District deer lease. 

See: Tarrant water district's use of private camp on public land draws questions.

We're impressed they are finally reporting on the water board.  However,  the FWST states, "Few people knew about the camp before the election."  WHY is that?  The Fort Worth Weekly wrote about the deer lease in 2006.

John Basham and Adrian Murray questioned the deer lease in their 2010 campaign.  We're glad the FWST is getting up to speed.  Hopefully they catch up quick.

The Tarrant Regional Water District, the public agency that supplies most of the water in North Central Texas, owns and operates the land. For decades, its employees have been allowed to use the camp, which includes deer stands and a shooting range, for free.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which manages millions of acres of public land, has an ethics policy that prohibits employees from accepting free hunts, a spokesman said.

“The Parks and Wildlife doesn’t have any private hunting resorts for its employees,” spokesman Mike Cox said. “We’re prohibited by our ethics policy from accepting any free hunts from anybody.

If it’s funded by taxpayer funds, we’re providing them a $15,000 to $20,000 retreat,” he said.

Kelleher, the challenger who received more votes than anyone on the ballot, said she will continue to press for the board to be more transparent about its money and its property.

Giving the public a closeup view of the hunting camp, she said, is a start.

“I just want it to be acknowledged that a deer hunting camp does exist,” said Kelleher, who proposed that the land use be reviewed periodically.

For example, Kelleher said she was glad to know that visitors are required to sign in and out of the cabin on a log book, which was placed on the dining table during the Star-Telegram’s visit last week.

On that day, however, the book contained only blank sheets.

Read more here:

The Texas Parks The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which manages millions of acres of public land, has an ethics policy that prohibits employees from accepting free hunts, a spokesman said.“The Parks and Wildlife doesn’t have any private hunting resorts for its employees,” spokesman Mike Cox said. “We’re prohibited by our ethics policy from accepting any free hunts from anybody. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which manages millions of acres of public land, has an ethics policy that prohibits employees from accepting free hunts, a spokesman said.“The Parks and Wildlife doesn’t have any private hunting resorts for its employees,” spokesman Mike Cox said. “We’re prohibited by our ethics policy from accepting any free hunts from anybody.

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Goodbye to a River, and a REAL Texan

RIP, John Graves.  John Graves was best known for writing Goodbye to a River, trying to save the river he so dearly loved.
 
Does anyone else find it odd that some who are writing with such admiration for Mr.Graves and his love for the river are the same who write about and promote destroying ours?

Only in Fort Worth could they say, poor John, then promote this.

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