Texas racing; zoning definitions; changes at UT; looking Muslim

Texas racing

Out-of-state gaming companies contribute hundreds of thousands of dollars to Texas politicians.

Why are Texas politicians gambling on losing 36,000 local jobs and $5 billion?

Texas horsemen are asking the Legislative Budget Board to immediately fund the Texas Racing Commission. The TRC is self-funded and no taxpayer money is at play, but 36,000 jobs are at risk.

While Texas racetracks are the most visible segment of the sport, the industry’s real backbone includes family and small businesses: veterinarians, farriers, feed store operators, jockeys, trainers, equipment suppliers, van operators, grooms and track employees. Add in a ripple effect among hotels, restaurants and retail stores.

The fight involves a few Republican politicians objecting to new historical racing technology that would be used at Texas racetracks. The false premise is that HRTs are identical to casino slot machines, but they share neither the design nor function of slots. The technology would only be used at the roughly one dozen facilities in the state.

The new technology for horseplayers would increase purses at Texas tracks, leveling the playing field with neighboring states’ racing programs and further benefitting the Texas economy.

— Mike Danapas, Tyler

Zoning definitions

Your recent article, “Fort Worth property owners upset with proposed zoning ordinance changes,” didn’t bother to cover concerns about the damage caused to established residential neighborhoods by greedy or unscrupulous investor/developers.

Residents in the areas around TCU organized, fought for and obtained an overlay to protect the fabric of their neighborhoods.

Realizing the value of strong, involved neighborhoods to the fabric of the city, city staff examined the current zoning definitions governing those communities, tweaked some and created a single housekeeping unit designed to help residential property owners establish and/or maintain their neighborhoods.

Do the investors/developers like the new definition? Of course not.

Are they truly property owners who live on their income-producing properties? Not likely.

And lastly, could the definition options be tweaked to accommodate both sides of the issue? You betcha.

Let’s just hope enough residents of our neighborhoods show up at the Zoning Commission meeting and the later City Council meeting to see that the definition is passed into ordinance.

— Susan Harper, Fort Worth

Changes at UT

Perhaps the University of Texas at Austin should go all the way and remove from the Tower the biblical verse: “Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth will set you free.”

— Douglas Pritchett, Fort Worth

Looking Muslim

One Weatherford resident made a humorous and puzzling claim about his day guarding the U.S. Armed Forces Recruiting Center.

“There was one Muslim that flipped us off,” he said.

How was the person’s faith verified? Was he or she wearing some garb? Did he or she just “look” like a Muslim? How does a Muslim look?

Could he or she have been someone from Mexico, Spain, Israel or an American Indian?

There are Muslims in our military, and at least one, Keith Ellison, in Congress. Islam is a faith, not an ethnicity or appearance.

You can’t always tell a person’s faith or lack thereof by looking.

— Judy B. Beeman, Weatherford

This story was originally published September 1, 2015 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Texas racing; zoning definitions; changes at UT; looking Muslim."