DFW Leads Nation in New Jobs

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington led the nation's metropolitan areas in year-to-year job increases during the month of August. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there were 59,800 more jobs in this area when compared to August of '07. According to the BLS, unemployment in the metroplex in August was 5.1%. Nationwide, the rate is 6.1%.

Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown was 2nd among major metropolitan areas with 53,400 new jobs. The McAllen-Edinburg-Mission area ranked 7th in new job creation, while College Station-Bryan was 8th.

FWCANDO - 'Non-Profit' a Figment of Don Young's Imagination

Cowtown's Don Young is a man on a mission. The east-side anti-gas activist, who once led a protest of a church's Sunday morning services, is engaged in his own holy war to drive gas development from our city.

Mr. Young, saves his sharpest barbs for Mayor Mike Moncrief who he has all but charged with criminal behavior. However, when it comes to honesty and ethics, Mr. Young's own record of deception rivals that of our energy-enriched mayor.

Mr. Young's website intentionally misleads visitors to believe that he is head of a grass-roots, non-profit organization. After all, he openly solicits "donations"; his "Just say NO to Urban Gas Drilling" signs are not sold. Oh no, that's far too commercial for Mr. Young. No, his signs are offered for a "$3.00 donation". Mr. Young speaks in the plural, posting stuff like, "We believe... We are concerned..." We demand..." He even has the ".org" suffix in his web address that is commonly used by non-profits.

Yes a visitor would certainly believe that FWCANDO is non-profit organization dedicated to protecting our fair city from the evils of urban gas drilling.

There's just one problem. FWCANDO doesn't exist.

That's right, a check of state and federal records find that no such group has ever registered as a non-profit organization. So just how much money is Mr. Young raking in "donations" for those yard signs? Where does the money go that is "donated" to FWCANDO? So far as I can tell those donations are going into Mr. Young's pocket. However, since no real non-profit organization exists; an organization that would have to keep records and submit financial statements to the proper authorities; we'll never know.

Anti-gas activists have frequently criticized Mayor Moncrief for pocketing gas royalty checks while serving as mayor. Fair enough. But shouldn't the same standard apply to an activist that pockets money "donated" to fight gas drilling?

Note: I emailed Mr. Young some time ago asking him if his organization was a non-profit organization. Rather than answer my question he asked me why I wanted to know. When I explained why and spelled out the issues I've mentioned here he never responded.