Month: July 2011

Recently, an ABC-7 viewer emailed our staff concerning the condition of a northeast El Paso park. According to the message, there is a “deplorable situation that exists at Chuck Heinrich Park” due to trash, dead grass, weeds and a lack of upkeep in the area. ABC-7 reporter Jennifer Myers traveled to the park to see

El Paso police say a woman intentionally drove off the side of an embankment on Rim Road in central El Paso, plunging 60 feet. The crash happened on the 800 block of Rim Road around one Tuesday afternoon. El Paso police were sent out to what was believed to be a traffic collision. Police said

A man is in jail, accused of committing a chilling act of violence against a 5-week-old kitten. The kitten’s owner, Bernd Gregor said his son and his roommate, Frank McLung, where outside their Chaparral home Saturday when, according to Gregor, McLung grabbed one of his small kittens and threw it against a wooden post. “That’s

Frustrated with the way the county’s Purchasing Department does business, County Judge Veronica Escobar pushed her way onto the Purchasing Board Monday. However, the move didn’t come without a fight. Escobar said she’s tired of dealing with complaints about the county’s Purchasing Department. After a heated discussion about it, she’s promising change. “We’ve got to

The man whose body was pulled from an irrigation canal July 6 turned out to be a father who intended to cross the border illegally with his 5-year-old daughter. The little girl also died in the attempt. The Office of the Medical Examiner in El Paso said the man was 30-year-old Rodolfo Gustavo Beltran Rubio

The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a deadly wreck involving a pedestrian. Deputies were called out to the wreck on the 5000 block of Oleary in Montana Vista around 10 p.m. Monday. Investigators found a man in his 30s dead at the scene. The spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office told ABC-7 investigators believe

Family and friends of Margaret Salcedo are demanding that New Mexico authorities charge the owner of the pit bulls that fatally mauled in Truth or Consequences. “Those dogs killed somebody,” Gerald Salcedo said. “They did what, I think, they were trained to do and nothing is happening.” Margaret Salcedo, 48, was out walking when the

The religious group that fought to take away the health insurance of gay and unmarried partners of city employees has officially notified the city they’re going to attempt to recall Mayor John Cook and city Reps.Susie Byrd and Steve Ortega. The organization, El Paso for Traditional Family Values has 60 days to gather enough signatures

If a person decides to get behind the wheel after having a few drinks, or when situations become tense with family members and arguments quickly become physical, police will get involved. It can happen any time. El Paso Police will administer tests and determine whether people were driving while intoxicated, and police will determine whether

El Paso, Texas – The Drowning Prevention Coalition of El Paso and El Paso Electric Company will host the first ever ?Respect the Water Luncheon? at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 at the Marriott Hotel, 1600 Airway Blvd. Tickets for the Luncheon are $75 per person and a table of 10 people is

EL PASO ? UTEP?S Risper Kimaiyo has been selected the Conference USA Scholar Athlete of the Year for women?s cross country chosen by the league?s Faculty Athletics Representatives. ?Our program is very proud of Risper receiving this award,? head coach Paul Ereng said. ?She is just one of those few athletes whom every program would

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (July 18)-With three seniors and three juniors returning to the hardwood in 2011-12, the New Mexico State men’s basketball team is slated to host 18 home games in the Pan American Center. The schedule features three 2011 NCAA Tournament teams and a trip to the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout. Fifth-year head coach

EL PASO ? UTEP softball co-head coach James Rodriguez has announced the addition of El Paso?s McKenzey Finley and Ashley Eldridge to the incoming class. ?I believe both these young ladies will come in and contribute to our softball program and will represent our university very well.? Finley, a catcher from Coronado High School, was

After recent rain showers and higher humidity readings, the Lincoln National Forest will reopen to the public on Thursday, though some fire restrictions are still in place. The Smokey Bear and Sacramento ranger districts will be open to camping, hiking and horseback riding. The Smokey Bear Ranger District is the forest area surrounding the village

The capital murder trial for the woman accused of killing her mother and stepfather continued Tuesday in the 171st District Court. Laura Grisel Carsner is accused of shooting and killing 68-year-old Irma Quiroz and 66-year-old Alejandro Quiroz in the backyard of their Northeast El Paso home in 2009. Neighbors said Carsner was in a custody

Police are looking for a 60-year-old Las Cruces man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl and threatening to call immigration authorities if she reported him. Javier Mendez, 60, has has two warrants out for his arrest. He’s wanted on three counts of criminal sexual penetration of a child, one count of intimidation of a

Fire crews will stay at the scene of a serious fire overnight in downtown El Paso as they continue keeping an eye out for hot spots. Flames broke out at a building on the 100 block of San Antonio Avenue near El Paso Street a little before 7 p.m. Sunday. “We started smelling the smoke,

Fire investigators are looking for the people who live in a duplex that caught fire Sunday afternoon. El Paso Fire Department officials said the fire was tricky to put out because it was in an older part of the cross space of the building. They said they had to get through two roofs to reach

Police identified two people who were killed in a crash on Interstate 10 that shut down most of the eastbound lanes near the Mesa Street exit ramp about 11:30 a.m. Sunday in the West Side. Investigators said Bernabe Perez, 59, and Jesse Maldonado, 15, both of Santa Teresa, were in a white Mazda SUV when

Angie Sommers, Precinct 7 constable, still gets choked up thinking about Jerry the horse. “He was such a fighter,” she said. Jerry was left to starve in a San Elizario field on the 1300 block of Janelle Lynne. He died Wednesday, the day after Sommers and others worked tirelessly to nurse him back to health.

Investigators revealed the fire that tore through the 100 block of San Antonio Avenue in downtown El Paso was set on purpose. Fire department spokesman John Concha said, “the fire is ruled an arson fire. It was incendiary in nature and worked its way into a business at 108 East San Antonio.” The fire that

An SUV officers pulled over after a stop-sign violation Saturday afternoon turned out to be a stolen vehicle, police said. An officer stopped a blue 1998 Ford Expedition for a stop sign violation in the 8300 block of Wells Road and later determined that the Expedition had been reported stolen on Thursday, police said. Police

Officers who approached a man running with a case of beer saw him toss a small bag of cocaine, police said. Daniel Acuna was running with a 12-pack of beer in hand in the 200 block of Baltimore when officers approached him. Police said Acuna threw a plastic bag containing a little more than half

A drug-sniffing dog named Sandy alerted Customs and Border Protection officers to 94 bundles of marijuana hidden in “non-factory” compartments in a 2003 Jeep Liberty driven by a mother of four on Sunday afternoon at the Bridge of the Americas, a CBP spokesman said. Officers arrested a 28-year-old Laura Rivas of Albuquerque on suspicion of

An effort to remove Mayor John Cook and city representatives Susie Byrd and Steve Ortega from office has officially begun. The religious group that spearheaded the move to take away the health insurance of gay and unmarried partners of city employees filed the paperwork Monday — and it wasn’t done quietly. Those three elected officials

A man reported missing Friday morning was found safe and unharmed early Monday at the Paso Del Norte Bridge, officers with the Police Department’s Crimes Against Persons Unit said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers spotted 56-year-old Leonel A. Meza-Morado returning to El Paso from Juarez, police said. Meza-Morado, of the 11600 block of Gwen

Officers responding to a call of a drunken driver parked in green Ford Explorer outside Kohlberg Elementary School were led on chase that ended with a crash early Sunday, police said. The Explorer was spotted heading south on Resler Drive, but the driver refused to stop and led officers on a chase about 4:15 a.m.,

El Paso Police continue to investigate an early morning aggravated assault in the city’s lower valley. It happened Saturday around 3:57 a.m. on the 1000 block of Wyatt Drive, according to investigators. Police said a fight had broken out between several people in the street when a man drove his vehicle into the crowd, hitting

Green chile farmers in the Hatch and Mesilla valleys in southern New Mexico expect a smaller crop during this season due a scarcity of water. Farmers have had to rely almost exclusively on groundwater pumped from wells. Those farmers lacking wells have had to cut back on chile planting or switch to less thirsty crops.

Amber Sullins, former weekday morning ABC-7 meteorologist, was chosen to fill in this weekend on Good Morning America. Sullins will be doing the national weather segments for both the Saturday and Sunday Good Morning America: Weekend Edition. After leaving ABC-7 in 2009, Sullins joined the ABC15 News team in Phoenix, Ariz., as a weekday morning