Residents are outraged that Fort Worth burger joint may move

Hot outrage, cooked to perfection

Aside from a few partisans of Fred's, another beloved Fort Worth burger joint, readers reacted with unabashed outrage over news that the new landlord for Kincaid's is seeking to triple the rent on its original restaurant on Camp Bowie -- to a level that the Gentry family says may force them to move in August.

"It's a shame! What's happening to Fort Worth? First the [old Leonard's/Tandy] subway and now Kincaid's? Terrible," April posted on the Star-Telegram Web site.

Many tore into Lois Corbett, who inherited the building last year from her cousin, Bob Vance. Vance was a distant relative of Charles and Gertrude Kincaid, who kept the building after selling the grocery business to the Gentrys.

Corbett, who moved recently to Oregon, has not responded to calls or e-mails. Turns out she was a resident of Fort Worth's Parkhill neighborhood, a nurse-turned-hospital lab manager and, we're told, a beloved basketball coach at Nolan High School.

The last few years she coached on a volunteer basis for the sheer love of it, said Steve Prud'homme, the school's athletic director.

Meanwhile, Kincaid's owner Ron Gentry said he found a real estate broker outside his office door when he reported to work Thursday, the day the story on the lease dispute appeared.

Gentry is trying to find a property nearby on Camp Bowie to recreate the ambience -- if not the fried chopped meat.

Recycling water, eh?

The million-plus gallons of freshwater that goes to fracture each well in the Barnett Shale has received a lot of attention, but the roughly 1 million gallons used to drill the well in the first place has been largely ignored.

Canadian Don Smith wants to change that. He visited Midland and Fort Worth last week to pitch the services of BOS Rentals, his 7-year-old company, which recycles drilling fluid to reclaim what he says is up to 70 percent of the water used.

Smith said BOS runs 71 of its "dewatering" systems in Canada and has job prospects in West Texas and southern Oklahoma.

He said he has been visiting the big producers in the Barnett Shale and hopes to establish a Fort Worth office.

Drillers mix water with a clay material called bentonite to make drilling mud, which is pumped down the drill pipe during drilling.

The mud lubricates the drill bit, prevents oil or gas from rushing into the well bore and carries away the pieces of rock chipped away by the bit.

Drillers can separate those solids from the water, but in rural areas that allow it the mud is frequently disposed of in a pit, the cheapest way of handling it. Smith said his equipment can recycle that mud into reusable water and clean solids at less total expense than conventional means.

Ladder's open house

A Fort Worth nonprofit group that offers women computer skills has a new home.

The Ladder Alliance, a 6-year-old organization that serves disadvantaged women -- primarily single mothers and victims of domestic violence -- is planning an open house this week at its headquarters in the former Riverside Christian Church near downtown Fort Worth.

The group moved there in January after several months in another east-side church.

The alliance now has four full-time employees and provides about 60 students with computer training, résumé-writing tips and other professional instruction, as well as donated meals and child care during classes, Executive Director Sharon Cox said.

Online: ladderalliance.org

We'll drink to that

Beer drinkers, rejoice.

It's already a great time to be a discerning imbiber of malt beverages: There's a solid microbrewery in the neighborhood, Rahr & Sons; bars with monster draft selections like The Ginger Man and Flying Saucer; and retailers that offer a wide range of craft beers and macros -- major brands from Miller, Coors and Anheuser-Busch. Hall's Grocery in Colleyville alone says it has more than 700 beers on hand; some gourmet supermarkets have more than 300.

And it's only going to get better.

The local Miller distributor has begun selling suds from the Boulevard Brewing Co. of Kansas City, Mo., starting with a well-respected wheat beer on tap, and will soon have it and others in six-packs.