Wichita Falls Pundit
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08-26-2025 - Back in my "substitute teaching" days, I ran across two kids who stood out in the "I need sugar" category. One ate a half-pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream every day during lunch. If you saw him, you'd believe it. Another kid was extremely hyper and ran almost everywhere. Teachers were constantly slowing him down. One day, I saw him run to a vending machine, deposit his coins, drop to his knees, and say, "Come on, sugar!" Back to the ice cream. Why in the world does anyone need a half-pint of ice cream during the school day, and why did the WFISD not care about the answer to this question?
08-26-2025 - 6:00 PM - The Local Group is up and running o CB Radio Channel 23. Tune in or join in.
08-26-2025 - 8:00 PM - The Clay County Amateur Radio Club weekly net is on the air on 147.800 MHz. Tune in or check in.
08-25-2025 - 4:15 AM - Good Morning! I'm up early this morning. I don't know why. On the schedule today is lunch with a former co-worker. There are no area Amateur (ham) Radio nets tonight. The Wichita Amateur Radio Society had its net last night, and the Clay County Amateur Radio Club will conduct its net tomorrow night. In the news, "shots fired" were reported in Archer County and a "standoff" in Holliday. What's the world coming to? For now, my coffee is ready!
08-25-2025 - 4:35 AM - Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 95. Southeast wind 6 to 9 mph becoming northeast in the morning. Tonight: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 67. Northeast wind around 10 mph.
08-25-2025 - 4:40 AM - Current National Short Range Weather Forecast
08-25-2025 - 4:45 AM - According to Water Data for Texas, Wichita Falls reservoirs are: Arrowhead: 92.5% Kemp: 100% Kickapoo: 96.1%. Monitored Water Supply Reservoirs are 96.4% full. The City of Wichita Falls uses combined levels of Arrowhead and Kickapoo (94.3%) to determine drought stage.
08-25-2025 - 4:50 AM - ERCOT (Texas) snapshot of grid conditions - ERCOT reports that conditions are normal and there is enough power for current demand with an operating reserve of 7,582 Megawatts.
08-25-2025 - 5:00 AM - Are you old enough to remember Draughon's Business College at 905 9th Street in Wichita Falls? Classes featured were IBM Key Punch, Office Machines, Clerk Typist, Secretarial and Bookkeeping, Accounting d Data Processing, Drafting, and Civil Service Training Courses.
08-25-2025 - 5:55 AM - Have you noticed that 99% of "the trouble with Ham Radio" involves a microphone? I don't know about you, but I've never heard someone talking crap using Morse code. For one thing, it takes too much time, and it wouldn't have the same impact as a voice. How do you yell using Morse code? Also, agitators probably don't know a dot from a dash to begin with.
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FEMA Daily Operations Briefing - National Current Ops / Monitoring for Aug 24-25, 2025
New Significant Incidents / Ongoing Ops:
• No new significant incidents / operations
Hazard Monitoring:
• Heavy Rain / Flash Flooding – Southwest, Southern Rockies, and Southern Plains
• Excessive Heat – Pacific Northwest, Northern Intermountain, and California
• Tropical Activity
o Atlantic:
• Tropical Storm Fernand
• Disturbance 1 (AL99): Low (near 0%)
o Eastern Pacific:
• Tropical Storm Juliette
• Disturbance 1: Low (20%)
Disaster Declaration Activity:
• No new declaration activity
Event Monitoring:
• No significant events
08-25-2025 - 9:58 AM - I contacted a station in Dodge #4 State Park (US-1495) in Michigan on 20 meters (14 MHz) CW (Morse code) in the Amateur (ham) Radio Parks on the Air® program. POTA hunter count: 554.
08-25-2025 - 10:08 AM - From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics - Economics Daily - Prices for U.S. imports were little changed, down 0.2 percent, from July 2024 to July 2025. The all commodities import price index increased 1.7 percent over the year ended July 2024. Since 2015, the over-the-year change in U.S. import prices has ranged from –10.5 percent (in 2015) to 10.2 percent (2021). Fuel and lubricants import prices decreased 12.1 percent for the 12 months ended July 2025. Within this category, prices for petroleum imports decreased 13.7 percent and prices for import natural gas increased 62.2 percent over this period. Foods, feeds, and beverages import prices increased 1.8 percent over the year ended July 2025, following an increase of 6.1 percent over the year ended July 2024. Industrial supplies and materials import prices decreased 2.0 percent over the past year. Capital goods import prices increased 1.0 percent. Prices for automotive vehicles, parts, and engine imports decreased 0.2 percent, while prices for imported consumer goods, excluding automotives, decreased 0.5 percent over the 12 months ended July 2025.
08-25-2025 - 10:40 AM - The CB Radio band is flat at this hour. I can hear faint voices o the DX channels. I'll park the radio on Channel 19 for any local trucking and other traffic.
08-25-2025 - 5:30 PM - From the U.S. Federal Communications Commission - IN THE MATTER OF ROBOCALL MITIGATION DATABASE FILERS . Enforcement Bureau removed 1,203 additional non-compliant voice service providers from the Database, preventing those providers from connecting to U.S. networks unless they comply with FCC regulations.. Action by: Acting Chief, Enforcement Bureau. Adopted: 2025-08-25 by ORDER. (DA No. 25-737). EB.
08-25-2025 - 6:30 PM - In the 1977 Wichita Falls City Directory, under listing for Oil Producers, Marketers, Drillers, Refiners, Shippers, etc., there are 290 listings.
08-25-2025 - 6:45 PM - In the 1977 Wichita Falls City Directory, under restaurants, there are 144 listings. One was a Waffle House at 710 10th Street.
08-25-2025 - 6:00 PM - Not much radioing is happening today. I made the lunch date at Grand Buffet earlier today. That meal will last a few days! I'm watching the new season of Ancient Aliens on Netflix, and that'll take me up to the Texas Rangers game. The Rangers crawled back to "500" with yesterday's win. I don't know how this season will end. The Rangers probably don’t know, either.
08-24-2025 - Good Morning! It's Sunday, and the 44th running of the Hotter'N Hell Hundred bike ride is behind us. Area Amateur (ham) Radio Operators did a great job, as usual, providing radio communications support for the event. The City of Wichita Falls should make a greater effort to recognize local Ham Radio Operators who not only provide support for the HHH but also help keep us all safe through their Skywarn® weather spotter activities. I don't provide either of those services, so I'm not trying to drum up recognition for myself. My Folgers Black Silk coffee is ready.
08-24-2025 - 6:30 AM - Wichita Falls NWS Forecast - Today: Sunny, with a high near 93. Northeast wind around 6 mph. Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. East wind around 7 mph.