Month: January 2011

A shop teacher at Santa Fe High School has been put on paid on leave after cell phone video surfaced of her locking up a student in an outdoor cage. Santa Fe police say the 15-year-old boy was acting out in class on Jan. 7. The teacher had other students help drag the boy outside

Flavia Bolourchi, 59, of Sacramento, Calif., was sentenced Tuesday to 37 months in federal prison and was ordered by Chief U.S. District Judge Bruce D. Black to pay $856,000 in restitution for defrauding Spartan Health Sciences School of Medicine, a company that moved its corporate headquarters in 1998 to El Paso and Santa Teresa, N.M.,

City of El Paso voters may soon have a second opportunity to decide if gay and unwed partners of city employees should receive health insurance. The City Council, in the Fall of 2009, extended health coverage for domestic partners of city employees. When local religious group, El Paso for Traditional Family Values (EPFTFV), found out

Paper, plastic or neither? Thanks to a new fee proposed by city employees, that plastic bag you use at the store could cost as much as 10 cents. Marty Howell, El Paso’s sustainability manager, said the fee wasn’t designed to bring more revenue to the city. “What we are hoping to do is reduce litter

A bank account to help with funeral expenses of a Montwood High School junior killed Jan. 11, 2011 has been created. It is Wells Fargo Bank account 7810816681. Montwood junior Jennifer Gomez was killed when a car she was a passenger in struck a Socorro ISD school bus. Her aunt, Maria Gomez, also was killed.

Las Cruces Police responded to shots fired in the 1600-block of south Espina Street, near the intersection of Missouri Avenue shortly before 8 p.m. Tuesday. ABC-7?s New Mexico Mobile Newsroom was on-scene as police investigated the shooting that sent a 39-year-old Hispanic man to the hospital. The victim, who police had not released identification for

The vice chairman of the El Paso Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board of Trustees spoke out Monday about the controversial and lucrative contract awarded recently to the agency’s CEO Gary Larcenaire. The contract calls for Larcenaire to be paid $170,000 a year base salary, $750 a month in car allowance, a $50,000 bonus if

Last Wednesday’s morning commute for two Juarez residents turned out to be anything but a typical “hump” day. The U.S citizens are now in a Mexican jail after they claim over 100 pounds of pot was planted in their car. Forty-year-old Dr. Justus Lawrence Opot is a Kenyan-born naturalized U.S. citizen. His co-worker, 40-year-old Marisol

A bank account has been set up to help with funeral expenses for the 4-year-old boy, JaDavion Jordan, who drowned in a backyard pool on Sunday. The account No. is 488033135768 and is set up at Bank of America. Friends of the family told ABC-7 that the family has been dealing with tragedy after tragedy,

El Paso Police have charged one person in a hit-and-run collision from Sunday night. Aldrian Michael Tom, 29, of the 6300 block of Deer, was driving a 2010 Mazda north on Gateway North when he allegedly failed to stop at the intersection of Alameda. The Mazda allegedly disregarded the stop sign, entered the intersection and

Excerpts of Governor Martinez’s 2011 State of the State Address “Today, we begin to write a new chapter in New Mexico’s history. “By working together, we will take our state in a new direction: embracing bold change over the status quo, choosing progress over complacency and putting aside partisan differences to achieve lasting results for

The El Paso Police Dept. have released the name of the 4-year-old boy who drowned Sunday. At about 10:25 a.m., Sunday, El Paso Police responded to a water emergency in the 8400 block of Hopewell. Officers found 4-year-old JaDavion Jordan outside by the pool being tended to by his grandfather, 64-year-old Bennie Jordan. El Paso

With a new year and the start of a new semester under way, a generous gift is paving the way for a new program at The University of Texas at El Paso that will be a model for how engineering is taught around the country. The public announcement of the gift and the initiation of

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers conducting southbound operations in cooperation with the Border Enforcement Security Task Force (BEST) at the El Paso port of entry Monday morning stopped a 46-year-old man from leaving the country with $420,440. The large money bust was one of two southbound currency seizures CBP officers made over the

Facebook wants your address and mobile phone number. But it’s not sure exactly how to ask. It’s a complicated digital courtship, particularly because Facebook doesn’t just want this data for itself — it wants to “share” this info with all of its friends, which in this case happens to be app developers (think FarmVille, Compare

El Paso City Council will decide on Tuesday whether to bring the issue of domestic benefits back to the voters – this time with a non-discrimination clause in the city charter written by a city attorney. The move is meant to trump November’s voter-approved citizens referendum that stripped away the health insurance of gay and

El Paso city council is set to decide if it wants to enact the “Plan El Paso 2010: Connecting El Paso.” The plan includes building transit-oriented neighborhoods around town and redeveloping ASARCO. This plan basically gives recommendations on how to best implement Smart Growth and Transit-Oriented Developement communities along Oregon Street, the Five Points neighborhood

This week’s MANHUNT MONDAY Most Wanted Fugitive is a Sureno Gang Member wanted for a violent 2010 assault in Westway, TX. The target is identified as DIEGO CUELLAR (25) of El Paso, TX. MAY 2010: On 05-27-10 at approximately 8:00 pm, Deputies were called to the area of the 8300 block of Tom Mays in

Attorneys for the family of 15-year-old Sergio Hernandez have filed a lawsuit against the United States government for the deadly shooting of the teen by a U.S. Border Patrol agent. “The family is very relieved that we have started the process that will get them some answers to what happened and where it happened,” Bob

“Glory Road,” the Disney film that told the story of the Texas Western Miners historic 1966 championship over Kentucky turned five years old this month. The 1965-66 Texas Western College (now UTEP) team is credited with opening basketball playing opportunities for African Americans across the country. The NCAA championship game was historic because the Miners

The El Paso Police Dept. has arrested one man in relation to a Sunday evening Aggravated Assault. According to police, Jorge Torres, 51, of the 2000 block of Magoffin, and a 36-year old man had engaged in a verbal argument inside the Alameda Bar at 9:52 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 15, 2011. Torres and the man

Today is Martin Lther King Jr. Day. Here’s a reminder of some of the holiday closures: All city and county offices will be closed, so will local schools and there will be no mail delivery. Trash pick-up and bus services, though, will run as normal in both El Paso and Las Cruces. Learn more about

Twelve people escaped from a prison just east of Chihuahua City at 5 a.m. Monday, according to Chihuahua State investigators. At 5 a.m., shots were heard – which were thought to be a diversion – as a vehicle rammed part of a fence around the prison. At the same time, twelve prisoners escaped from a

El Paso County sheriff’s deputies said they were dispatched to 1316 Horizon Street in far east El Paso county Saturday afternoon after hazardous materials were reported leaking from a truck. Just before 4:30 p.m. deputies met with the driver of the truck who alerted them to the spill. She told them her truck was being

The El Paso Police Department said a man was killed after being hit by a tractor-trailer Sunday morning along Interstate 10 West near Raynolds. The incident occurred at about 2:30 a.m., authorities said. El Paso police worked overnight to clear the area. They had to close two lanes of the freeway to diagram the scene.

Las Cruces firefighters evacuated employees of the Las Cruces Sun-News on Sunday afternoon after a fire broke out at the newspaper’s office. Officials with the Las Cruces Fire Department said three buildings — all owned by the Sun-News — were damaged in the blaze. The fire started in a building used for storage, according to

An El Paso district judge is suing the county for wrongful termination. The ABC-7 I-Team has obtained a copy of the lawsuit. In it, associate judge Roberta Bramblett of the 339th district court said El Paso County commissioners voted to let her go last October. But she said they didn’t have the right to do

Sunday was a tragic day for an east El Paso family after the drowning death of their 4-year-old boy. The child’s body was discovered face down in a swimming pool Sunday morning at a home in the 8400 block of Hopewell Drive. El Paso police detectives continued their investigation into the circumstances leading up to

This week marks the 20th anniversary of the start of the Persian Gulf War. ABC-7 will take a look back beginning with the role Fort Bliss played. Chances are you remember where you where when you saw that grainy video of a city at night, illuminated in green. A little more than 25 years after