• Donate monetarily: Mineral Wells Disaster Relief Fund (via Envision Mineral Wells): https://www.zeffy.com/…/donate-to-mineral-wells…
• Donate tangible items: Mineral Wells Center of Life, 200 SW 5th St. Please see the MWCOL Facebook page for a list of donation needs. We will post any relevant updates or changes as they are available.
• Hours: 9 am – 6 pm tomorrow, April 30th
• Volunteer: Report in person, fill out volunteer forms and you will be deployed as needed.

Steve Purdue Training Center-

300 S. Oak Ave., Mineral Wells, TX 76067

For questions, reach out to 940-328-7766.

• Need assistance: Red Cross is based out of the First Baptist Church or can be reached at 1-800-RED-CROSS (1-800-733-2767)
• To request volunteer assistance contact 940-328-7777

This appears to be the path of the EF-3 tornado that caused winds up to 145 mph that hit my beloved hometown of Mineral Wells on Tuesday. So it barely missed the high school, but took out a good chunk of the country club and what used to be Fort or Camp Wolters, which is now an industrial park. My heart goes out to all those employees who are not displaced and have nowhere to work to earn an income.

It was so surprising for me to hear that an EF-3 hit my hometown of Mineral Wells on Tuesday. It was even more surprising when I was watching the CBS Evening News, the national, not local, broadcast, and to see them do an extended live segment.

Heck, we even made the Paper of Record and the BBC.

And here’s aerial footage from CNN, without sound.

 

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I’d just like to add that I was really proud of my 1994 classmate, a football teammate since sixth grade and now the chief of police, who handled a press conference exceptionally well. My hometown is in good hands.

A new feature from TxDOT’s Statewide Planning Map shows Texans where to find roadside wildflower blooms across the state. Just be sure to select “Blooms Across Texas” beneath the “Basemaps” sidebar menu.

The map shows the locations of four types of blooms: Prairie verbena, Texas paintbrush, Indian blanket, and bluebonnets. It also includes locations of annual wildflower festivals and other floral attractions across the state.

For the last several months, I’ve been seeing reports that the U.S. military is running short on weapons (WSJ: The U.S. Ammo Shortage Is Worse Than You Think) (US at risk of running out of missiles if another war breaks out after depleting stockpile in Iran operations).

And when you hear reports that the USS Gerald R Ford broke the record for longest deployment since the Vietnam War, countries like China (toying with Hong Kong) or North Korea could really stir the pot and take advantage of how thinly spread things are.

I’ve never watched The Sopranos, nor can I recall ever watching a James Gandolfini movie other than his small part in Crimson Tide, but I really like his son’s performance as a young, sleazy staff member in the New York Mayor’s office.