John Rich

There's no reason to feel guilty about liking something. Enjoy it. Who cares what other people think of what you like. It's none of their business. Like what you like, and don't let peer pressure make you believe you shouldn't. Don't be guilty, be happy.

I'm sure it will take a few years for all this to come true, but no doubt it will, as developers take advantage of the new super-highway surrounded by "empty" land. Glad you enjoyed the photo album.

I've hiked the stretch under construction from I-10 in Katy north to Hwy 290, and I can tell you for sure that it is more like 400 YARDS wide. It cuts a very wide swath through the countryside. The roadway itself is elevated with fill dirt to get above the prairie flooding, then you have shoulders on both sides, and then you have a wide drainage ditch beyond the shoulders, and finally another shoulder outside the drainage, before you get to the new pasture fencing. Or you can just drive the already-completed stretch from I-10 going south to Sugarland, and look at how wide that is. Highway 99 - Katy Prairie by John Rich These photos have been taken during my hikes along the new section of Highway 99 (Grand Parkway) which is under construction from Interstate-10 north to Highway 290. The general theme is the contrast between human construction and the natural beauty of the Katy Prairie. During this spring season, wildflowers were in profusion, and quite beautiful. Come see the prairie beauty, before it's gone... https://picasaweb.go...5JYK&feat=email

I've canoed the Brazos for about 93 miles from Navasota down past I-10 to Wallis. I've never seen a single gator, nor tracks, despite all the rumors. I wouldn't be surprised if they were in the river down nearer the coastline, but once you're north of Sugarland - no gators. There ARE giant toothy gar in there though, as well as wild pigs with large tusks, bobcats, and zombie beavers. For gators, the place to go is east to the Trinity River, Lake Charlotte and Lake Anahuac area. Full of 'em!

It seems to be a big unofficial secret. It's bordered by private property on both sides, so you can't get to it without landowner permission, and driving across pasture land. There's a kayak play park a half-mile upstream where kayakers play in the big whitewater flowing over the house-sized rocks when the river level is high. But that's around a bend and you can't see the dam and lock from there. I'm not even sure the people that go there know what lies just downstream. So the only way to see it is by boat. And with the shallow water in many spots, even motorboats don't have ready access. There is no good put-in spot for a canoe or kayak nearby upstream, so you can't really start there and make your way downstream to visit as you go by. That leaves the only way to get there as the way I did it - with a tough upstream paddle, then turning around and coming back. I'm not even sure I would want to do it again, certainly not on a windy day. So the lack of easy access helps keep this an unknown site. The only good thing is that in Texas law, the rivers belong to the state, so they are public property, and that includes the land between the riverbanks up to an average high-water mark (or something like that). Anyway, that means you can beach your boat on sandbars, and you're legal, not trespassing. That allows exploration of such things, without worry about arrest. NenaE: By gosh, that reference you provided is beautiful! The photos labeled "lock and dam #1" are it! They match exactly with my own photos. The ones called "#8" are almost identical, but must be a different one further upstream, as the lock is on the oppostie riverbank. Those photos show how those steel beams held up a wall of steel plate to hold back the river. They show how the recesses in the inside of the lock walls held the swinging doors which closed off the ends of the lock. Those photos answer a lot of questions! THANK YOU! Very darned cool. I'm going to add copies of two of those photos to the Facebook album previously mentioned.

Another day canoe trip on the Brazos River. I've canoed in the Houston area for several years, but had never heard of this dam & lock structure before, until I read the book "Sandbars and Sternwheelers". That made me curious, so I went looking for it! This trip started at the Highway 105 bridge over the Brazos, just west of Navasota, Texas. I paddled upstream 3½ miles to locate an old dam and lock built in 1910. The purpose of this large and impressive structure was to raise the water level over Hidalgo Falls, which is a rocky stretch of river that was a barrier to steamboat traffic. The lock would then lift the boats from the lower water level below the dam and falls, to the higher water level behind the dam. The raised water level behind the dam allowed the boats to pass over the rocky shoals without ripping open their hulls. The odd thing about this is that steamboat trade on the Brazos had already almost completely died out at that time, having been replaced with railroads. Previously, paddle-wheel steamboats were an important means of bringing goods from the port of Galveston into the frontier, and for shipping out cotton, sugar, lumber, hides and other products from the plantations back to Galveston. Photos: 1) Map of the area, with the location of the falls and the dam & lock shown. 2) The put-in location. 3) High dirt banks with layers of stratified color. 4) Concrete ahead! I think I've found the dam and lock! The dam still exists on the left, and the lock is on the right. The center of the dam is missing, with some debris still in the river. When this operation was shut down, maybe they dynamited the center to restore natural flow, or maybe mother nature did it on her own over time. Well, it seems I've used up all my photo space here. So if you want to see the remainder of the photos, go to this Facebook album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1934353928440.2092457.1530082411&l=585ada3a80&type=1 This is supposed to be a public album, so you shouldn't need to open an account to view it. It's a 32-photo slideshow, with captions to explain what you're seeing. Feel free to ask questions or comment.

Now you have my attention. I've long driven past that house with it's tin roof and wrap-around porch, and been glad that it has held off from selling out for residential or commercial development, like all the other land all around it. I've done a lot of hiking and research into the old towns of Addicks and Barker in the flood reservoirs, so this revelation is very interesting. That area was settled by German immigrants starting about 1880, and they had a thriving community with a rich social life and traditions. I've seen the ruins of the foundations of some of their old homes, and often wondered what happened to the homes that used to sit atop those foundations. I always figured the Corps of Engineers bulldozed them when they took over the land. So it's interesting to find out now that maybe they survived in another form! Several of the German immigrants were so distraught over the take-over of their land for the reservoir, that they commited suicde rather than see their land and homes taken by the government. For a great book about the history of this local area, look for a book called "The LH7 Ranch", about Emil Marks, who ran a ranch in that area, with up to 6,500 head of cattle.

Do you feel that all suicides are "cowards"? Why? Don't people have the right to choose to terminate their own life if they wish? Who are you to tell someone that they should go on living if they don't want to? If someone is dying from a terminal illness, are they cowards for choosing when to go? You are way too judgemental about the way you view other people's lives. You should be careful about that, because some day you may find yourself in their shoes.

I'd go with the lower end of your estimate. And it takes 12 seconds and 1,400 feet to accelerate to terminal velocity. Since the parking garage from which he jumped was not that high, he wasn't falling at nearly that speed. Still, it is plenty enough to kill anyone, and to do it very quickly. And unless they are an expert skydiver, they're not likely to be able to control their body attitude during the short descent.

30,000 people commit suicide in America each year - 82 per day. But it's rare to ever read or hear of one in big-city news. For the most part, they just aren't considered "news" - they're too common and routine. "News" has to be new, or different. On the other hand, look at the Freddie Mac CFO that committed suicide overnight - that one will be splashed all over the place. But he's just one of 82 that committed suicide yestereday. So why is his death somehow more important for everyone to know about, then all the others? Every one of those suicides is a tragedy, with grieving family and friends left behind. There's a story behind every one. And if a story that would normally fill the bill for publication is somehow withheld, then perhaps the news folks are being biased in their presentation of the news to the public. If they're going to do it under a certain set of circumstances to everyone else, then they shouldn't make exceptions in cases where the death strikes too close to home - that's media bias. And once they start doing that, then the public doesn't really have a true picture of what's happening. Don't withhold facts. Print all of the facts, and let the chips fall where they may.

Which reinforces what I said. It's not about respect. It's about how "newsworthy" it is. You imply that they don't publish the random emo kid suicides out of respect - when in fact, it's just not news in a big city like Houston. Nobody cares outside the immediate family. It doesn't sell papers. The famous person, on the other hand, oh yeah, Americans love to read that crap. You're reminded of that fact every time you stand in the checkout line at the supermarket. News about famous people sells. So it's not about respect for the little guys - nobody wants to read news about little people. Once again, you're reinforcing my point. The criteria for withholding the story has nothing to do with respect. It has to do with how sensational it is, and how many people are interested in it. I said nothing about any conspiracies, so you're making up a strawman argument there. I'm just talking about reality, and what I've observed over many decades of life between what happens in the real world, and what makes it into a news story. There are certain principles that apply. Like; the further from home the story is, the less people care. A hundred deaths in an apartment fire in Houston will make major news. A hundred deaths in an apartment fire in Bangladesh won't get a mention. There's truth to the old saying; "If it bleeds, it leads". That's the real world. By the same token, run of the mill suicides aren't reported in the big city because there are too many of them and nobody cares to read about it. Not because the news media intentionally withholds information out of respect for the families. In small towns, on the other hand, events are scarce enough that everything gets reported. The police blotter report, for example, is full of routine crimes, naming names. Do they withhold those out of respect for the families of errant criminals? Nope. Reality. Likewise, if someone dies in a routine car crash, and on the same day a skydiver dies in a 13,000-foot plunge, which fatality is going to get the attention of the media? The skydiver, because it's sensational. Respect be damned.

I disagree with the "respect" portion of your theory. The media has no respect for anyone. The simple truth of it is that run-of-the-mill suicides aren't "newsworthy". Like you said yourself, it's got be someone famous for them to "care". Or else it's got to be something unusual. They're interested in grabbing your attention, selling papers, and getting ratings. Respect for victims isn't part of that equation. (Call me cynical...)

Which ones do you believe to be "too small"? Why is size so important to you?

Re: William Bracken, age 16 Quote: "Police are still investigating the case, but say the boy may have jumped off a five story parking garage. However, they are not calling it a suicide. At this point they are not ruling out anything, and neither is the medical examiner's office. "The cause and manner of death is pending further investigation. At this time, we really don't have a clear picture of what happened at the time of death..." Source: Texas Cable News Maybe a bicycle stunt gone bad?