Marching In The Street
A crowd marched in protest of police brutality on Saturday, and the Star-Telegram published Laura Buckman’s photos. The No. 8 photo shows someone holding a sign seeking justice for Daniel Brumley, who was shot by a Fort Worth police officer on Jan. 18. Watch for an update of this case in this week’s Fort Worth Weekly.
Protesters Arrested
Three Denton activists, as reported by the Blackland Prairie Rising Tide, were reportedly arrested for trespassing today. The residents were trying to enforce the ban against fracking in Denton, a local ordinance that was rendered moot by recent legislation signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The group’s Facebook page said members were blocking the gates at a frack site.
That’s The Spirit
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce is giving love to little ol’ Tarrant County College, which isn’t little at all. Did you know TCC is the country’s 15th largest higher education institution? Me neither. The Chamber deems the college as crucial in training the local workforce, and will honor TCC with the Chairman’s Spirit of Enterprise Award on June 5. The award recognizes companies making significant contributions to the “city’s advancement and prosperity while reflecting the strengths of the American private enterprise system.” The award, established in 1975, goes to a higher education institution for only the second time, and not since Texas Christian University won it in 2006. Go Frogs! Go…uh…does TCC have a mascot? Oh, turns out they do. Toro was created in 2011. It’s a bull.
Unexpected Drenching
FOX Sports reporter Emily Jones wasn’t wearing the right dress to be drenched in Gatorade during an interview with the Texas Rangers’ Josh Hamilton. The right fielder’s ninth inning double won the game. Jones was getting the scoop when Elvis Andrus came calling with bucket in hand.
Campus Carry Goes To Governor
Gov. Greg Abbott has already said he’ll slap his John Hancock on Senate Bill 11 and make it legal for people to openly carry handguns at public universities, with limitations. I remember college barely. Lots of alcohol, hormones, and testosterone. Adding guns to that mix isn’t a great idea. However, I will take perverse satisfaction the first time one of the open-carry gunslingers takes down a crazed gunman during a campus shooting.
Here’s the press release sent out today by the Blackland Prairie bunch:
Denton Residents Defend Fracking Ban, Blockade Site of First New Frack Well
DENTON, TX — MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2015– Attempts to drill the first new frack well since Denton residents voted to pass a fracking ban last November have been met with acts of civil resistance. 3 local community members and volunteers with the Frack Free Denton movement blockaded the gates of fracking operator Vantage Energy’s newest well pad in defense of the city ordinance that nearly 60 percent of residents supported at the ballot box.
“How could I sleep at night or look my children in the eyes if I was not here today to mark, with my body as well as my words, this injustice?” Said Adam Briggle, a 37 year old father of two who was arrested for trespassing after blocking the frack site entrance with his body and refusing to leave.
“I have more of a responsibility to do what is right than to comply with an unjust law that directly harms my neighbors and my own family,” said Tara Linn Hunter, volunteer coordinator of the Frack Free Denton movement and cofounder of the musical troupe The Frackettes, whose satirical videos have tens of thousands of views. “ We are no longer pleading with the oil soaked state politicians who have sold us out at the cost of our health and safety. We are taking direct action to enact the will of the people who voted fracking out of our community.”
With the recent passage of HB40, a law that preempts all local control of oil and gas production across Texas, Vantage Energy claims to have legal authority to frack within the city limits of Denton. “A just law would give those exposed to the harms of fracking a meaningful voice. An unjust law would subordinate those voices to the dictates of the powerful and wealthy. HB40 is an unjust law,” stated Briggle.
Also arrested was Niki Chochrek, another member of the Frackettes and a long time Frack Free Denton volunteer. “I believe our community has the right to defend itself from imminent threats,” she said. “The legislature in Austin wants us to believe that we must stand aside and allow ourselves to be poisoned by this reckless industry. I refuse to stand aside, and I believe most people in Denton feel the same way.”
Accompanying the 3 blockaders were a group of supporters who also blockaded the fracking gates until being dispersed by police. Supporters brought several banners, including one with the language of Denton’s fracking ban written large. “Sec.14.201 Prohibition of Hydraulic Fracturing. It shall be unlawful for any person to engage in hydraulic fracturing within the corporate limits of the City.”
I really do not understand this move by the legislature. I have read in the Texas Observer that Fracking Oil and Gas Companies get huge tax breaks from the state. Are all of our legislators beholden to the insurance and oil and gas industries?
To Weekly Reader, yes they are.