Month: March 2011

Japan’s magnitude 8.9 earthquake registered half a world away in the ‘Sun City.’ Seismic equipment at UTEP’s Kidd Observatory was able to pick up the quake, according to Dr. Aaron Velasco, Chair of the university’s Geological Sciences Department and seismologist. Velasco told ABC-7 he awoke Friday morning to 40-50 missed messages from work. Right away,

The mayor and police chief of the Village of Columbus, N.M., were among 10 people arrested Thursday morning on allegations of buying firearms in the U.S. to illegally export to Mexico, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Mexico. Among the eleven defendants charged in the 84-count indictment are Angelo Vega, the Columbus chief

It was a nail-biter of a basketball game for the UTEP Miners at the Conference USA championship Saturday morning. The Memphis Tigers pulled out a one-point victory after UTEP’s Christian Polk’s jumper shot fell short at the last second. The final score? 67-66. “I feel disappointed because we had ’em! We had ’em!” said one

Day 22: Water Torture I challenged myself to drink my daily recommendation of 80-ounces of water today. Yesterday I drank 40-ounces. Today, I made it to 60-ounces. I feel so full of water, my back teeth are swimming. I am now convinced that in the 27 years I have walked this earth, I have never

A hiker fell off a mountain just outside the Hueco Tanks State Park Saturday night. El Paso County sheriff’s deputies said the 21-year-old was airlifted to University Medical Center from an area near the 18600 block of Carinha. Officials said he fell shortly before 5: 30 p.m. and may have broken both legs. A sheriff’s

Joe Jackson made two free throws with 7 seconds left and Memphis rallied past UTEP 67-66 on Saturday to win the Conference USA championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. UTEP had a final chance to win at the buzzer, but Christian Polk’s jumper fell short. After Jackson’s clutch shots gave the Tigers

Six people were hurt in a crash Thursday evening along Idaho Avenue near Luna Street in central Las Cruces. Las Cruces police say a 33-year-old man was driving a Toyota pickup truck westbound on Idaho when he crossed over to the eastbound lanes and slammed a Mazda SUV head-on. A woman was riding on the

BOYS 5A ONATE 67 CLEVELAND 50 FINAL Knights to play Manzano Saturday at 8:30 p.m. in Albuquerque. GIRLS 5A MAYFIELD 48 HOBBS 41 FINAL Trojans to play Cibola Saturday at 4:30 p.m. in Albuquerque. BOYS 2A MESILLA VALLEY 58 TULAROSA 47 FINAL Mesilla Valley to play Tucumcari Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Albuquerque.

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office in coordination with the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) will be utilizing a $50,000 GRANT for additional patrols this Spring Break 2011 Season for DWI traffic enforcement. The purpose of this program is for extra Patrol Deputies to saturate high risk roadways / intersections where alcohol related accidents occur

Jesara Lopez describes to a classroom of freshmen the delivery of her son, not sparing any details. The 22-year-old tells the kids in a matter-of-fact tone about the pain that came from the birth and recovery four years ago, not minding the murmurs and shuffles from the students shifting uncomfortably in their chairs. Lopez is

UTEP senior Randy Culpepper started off with the hot hand, scoring nine of his team’s first 14 points, but Tulsa battled back to take a one-point lead into halftime in the C-USA men’s semifinal game. The Miners were able to overcome the deficit in the second half and defeated Tulsa, to advance to Saturday morning’s

El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal on Friday announced the arrest of 54 individuals with hot check warrants during a three-day roundup that ended Thursday night. Thirty officers from the El Paso Sheriff’s Office, County Constables Precincts 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7, and investigators from the County Attorney’s Office participated in the

The 2011 Buick C-USA Women’s Championship Game at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Don Haskins Center is free to all fans. The first 2,500 fans will also get a free hot dog. No voucher is needed for entry or for the hot dog.

Before the jury was able to look at a video of David Marmolejo being interviewed by El Paso Police, Judge Gonzalo Garcia spoke to the jury about the argument between the prosecution and defense over how the video should be shown. “If I implied that the state misled you, that’s wasn’t my intent,” Garcia said.

A Lowe Valley bank was robbed Friday morning. At about 11:30 a.m., a man walked into the Compass Bank located at 7744 North Loop, El Paso, Texas, approached a teller with a note, and allegedly demanded money. The teller handed over an undisclosed amount of money. The suspect did not display a weapon and fled

Japan was struck by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake off its northeastern coast Friday, unleashing a 13-foot (4-meter) tsunami that washed away cars and tore away buildings along the coast near the epicenter. There were reports of injuries in Tokyo. In various locations along Japan’s coast, TV footage showed massive damage from the tsunami, with dozens

Day 21: Chug Chug Chug. It’s been three weeks since my journey began to start eating a healthier diet. So far I’ve learned a lot about healthy eating, but one component I’ve been purposefully ignoring is my water intake. Before I started this new diet, I drank maybe four to six ounces of water a

Las Cruces Police have arrested 26-year-old Eric Marquez in Thursday evening’s shooting that resulted in the death of a man on the city’s East Mesa, according to police officials. Marquez, of the 5000 block of Ortega Road in Las Cruces, is charged with an open count of murder in the death of 22-year-old Julian “J.T.”

Opening arguments are set for today in the murder retrial of David Marmolejo in San Antonio. Monday evening, 12 jurors and two alternates were selected after an hours-long process. The six men and six women will decide whether David is guilty of strangling his mother, Gloria Marmolejo, in July 2009. Defense attorney Greg Anderson requested

It took much longer than anyone expected, but the jury is set in David Marmolejo’s murder retrial taking place in San Antonio. They will decide if he is guilty of strangling his mother in July 2009. Seven men and seven women will sit in the jurors’ box – two of them will be alternates, but

The retrial for David Marmolejo took an emotional turn this afternoon when his brother, Manny, took the stand. During the first trial in the fall, Manny glared at his brother when he appeared in court. David has been charged with murder in the July 2009 death of his mother, Gloria Marmolejo. This time, both brothers

The retrial for David Marmolejo took a gruesome turn Wednesday afternoon. Jurors covered their mouths in horror and the defendant buried his head in his hands as prosecutors showed the jury pictures of Gloria Marmolejo’s body after it was found in the desert near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. David has been charged with murder in

A feisty exchange between prosecutors and the defense in the retrial for David Marmolejo took place Thursday afternoon with both sides arguing over the videotaped interview David gave after he was arrested. And it all happened in front of the jury. David Marmolejo has been charged with murder in the July 2009 homicide of his

El Paso Police have charged a 29-year old man with two counts of Aggravated Assault with a deadly weapon after an incident that allegedly occurred Wednesday morning. According to police, Kevin James Pugh III was driving a 2012 grey BMW south on Stanton when a group of pedestrians crossed Stanton in his path. A verbal

David Marmolejo’s fall 2010 trial day by day. Day one: Jennifer Marmolejo, who is married to David Marmolejo’s brother, Manny, testified that Gloria Marmolejo did not get along with Mariah Wilson. Also taking the stand were several El Paso Police officers. The defense repeatedly questioned their investigation, including why one officer failed to include an

EL PASO, TEXAS- UTEP bolted out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back on the way to throttling eighth-seed SMU, 75-57, in its opening-round game of the 2011 Buick Conference USA Championships inside historic Memorial Gym Wednesday evening. It marks the largest margin of victory in a league tournament in school history for the

EL PASO, Texas — The Conference USA Basketball Tournament got off to solid start at the Don Haskins Center, Memorial Gym and along Glory Road on Wednesday. And now there is talk that if El Paso does well this week as host, the next goal of the El Paso Sports Commission will be the NCAA

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – Damier Pitts scored 28 points and DeAndre Kane added 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead Marshall to a 97-87 victory against Houston in the first round of the Conference USA tournament on Wednesday night. The sixth-seeded Thundering Herd (22-10) advance to a quarterfinal contest against No. 3 seed UTEP

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – Courtney Taylor had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Jasmine Johnson hit several clutch free throws down the stretch to lead No. 22 Houston to a 67-64 win over UTEP Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament. UTEP’s Kelli Willingham tried for a desperation shot as the

A 22-year-old man was shot to death Thursday evening in northeast Las Cruces. The young man’s body lay in the parking lot of Gas, Diesel and More Foodmart near Bataan Memorial West and Jornada Road as his family arrived at the crime scene. Monique Melendrez told ABC-7 the victim was her brother, Julian. “He had