Month: December 2011

On Christmas Day, my family and our viewers watched the Kevin Lovell “Fruitcake Story.” It?s now a 21-year-old holiday tradition at KVIA to air this goofy little report that I produced with fellow photographers Brent Clarke and Jeff Howard back in 1990. The story involves me receiving a holiday fruitcake from fictitious ?Aunt Edna.? I

The 78th annual Sun Bowl will be remembered for two things: a great football game and the best weather on game day in nearly 40 years. Sun Bowl day started with perfect landings by all of the members of the Army’s Golden Knights parachute team, who delivered the game ball. “Two great teams, great crowd,

New Year’s Eve is the worst day for drunken driving incidents, according to a recently released Liberty Mutual survey. One local cab company is offering free rides home to help keep El Pasoans safe on the streets. The news release by the El Paso Sheriff’s Office reads: “The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office is proud

It didn’t matter if you were a Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets fan or rooting for the Utah Utes. The parking lots and side streets surrounding the game filled with fans from all over the country gearing up for the Sun Bowl on Saturday morning. Slideshow:Sun Bowl tailgating parties. Some fans came from just a few

It’s the fiesta before the face-off. Friday evening, football fans filled the convention center in Downtown El Paso for some fun at the Fan Fiesta before the 78th annual Hyundai Sun Bowl. “The Fan Fiesta is a big tailgate party where everyone in El Paso and all our out-of-town guests can come and have a

As 2011 draws to a close, there’s plenty to look back on locally and elsewhere. Yet some of the stories that dominated the airwaves will follow us straight into the new year. An ongoing investigation into public corruption brought several high-profile arrests as recently as days before Christmas. Former County Judge Anthony Cobos and three

The El Paso Police release the mug shot of the driver from Wednesday morning’s fiery fatal wreck on Mesa. According to EPPD officials, Miguel Vargas is now booked on two (2) counts of Intoxicated Manslaughter, two (2) counts of Intoxicated Assault, and two (2) outstanding Municipal Court warrants (No Insurance and Driving Without Headlights). Two

El Paso Children’s Hospital is several weeks away from its mid-February opening, but ABC-7 got an exclusive preview of the $120 million facility during a tour Wednesday. “This is the largest city in the country without a dedicated, separately licensed children’s hospital,” said Chief Executive Officer Larry Duncan. “That’s unconscionable.” The hospital’s building shares some

According to numbers gathered by author, researcher and NMSU librarian Molly Molloy, who studies the violent city, in 2010 there were more than 3,622 murders in Juarez. In 2011, 1,976 people were killed there. Juarez’s homicide rate plummeted by about 45 percent in one year. Molloy gets her statistics through several sources including Juarez authorities.

The Wyler Aerial Tramway set a new record this week with single-day visitors. On Thursday more than 420 people rode the gondolas that make the park one of the most unique attractions in El Paso. What makes the feat more impressive is that the news comes roughly six months after Texas lawmakers announced cuts across

An El Paso native was chosen as one of three winners for a President Barack Obama campaign website poster. Obama for America invited artists from all over the U.S. to volunteer their talents to create a new look for the President’s jobs campaign. Edgar Bonilla, a Sun City native, created a winning poster for Obama’s

El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Fredoz Pizza at 919 N. Fabens Road in far east El Paso County Thursday night in response to an aggravated robbery. An investigation revealed that two suspects, only described as Hispanic men dressed in black, entered the pizzeria just after 10 p.m., armed with a handgun and

Gov. Susana Martinez and members of the Legislature, alongside Mothers Against Drunk Driving and families of victims of drunk drivers, intend to pursue new measures to crack down on repeat DWI offenders in New Mexico, according to Martinez’s spokesman. ?It is shocking and sad to hear about drivers who have been convicted of their 10th,

Officials from the El Paso Police Department said they arrested a man Thursday for dumping tires in El Paso’s Lower Valley. A police investigation revealed 56-year-old Gustavo Romero illegally dumped two tires at an empty lot in the 8800 block of Yermoland Drive around 2:40 p.m. on Thursday. A Mission Valley police supervisor saw the

Utah?s first bowl game as a Pac-12 team might be a milestone for the program, but the game itself isn?t exactly a hot ticket for fans. The Utes sold just 1,500 tickets of their 8,000 allotment for the New Year?s Eve game against Georgia Tech. According to Zack Lassiter, Utah?s Associate Athletic Director who oversees

The warming trend will continue today as high pressure out west will keep the Borderland dry. Temperatures will continue to climb through Saturday, which means a beautiful Sun Bowl is expected with sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s. Today, sunny and mild with a high of 59 and a low of 34.

A sinkhole almost swallowed up a police car in South Central El Paso around 2:30 a.m. on Thursday. Our ABC7 crew discovered this wasn’t the first time the neighborhood has seen a busted water pipe. A spokeswoman for El Paso Water Utilities confirmed that on Nov. 12, there was another pipe-break just two blocks away

The search continues for a missing Las Cruces baby investigators fear might be in danger. Police said 1-year-old Nevaeh Jauregui.was last seen on Monday with her mother and her boyfriend, who they say have outstanding warrants for child neglect. The girl’s grandmother, Angela Regalado, was in charge of the baby after a domestic disturbance on

The families of three young people involved in a deadly wreck early Wednesday morning in West El Paso opened up to ABC-7. “The whole family is devastated,” said Juan Araujo. Araujo is the uncle of one of the victims, 23-year-old Kim Araujo. “She was a good mom,” said Araujo, who visited the site of the

A section of Scenic Drive will be closed to vehicles on New Year’s Eve for a “fun run” held by Run El Paso. The running group obtained a special privilege permit from the city of El Paso to close Scenic Drive from about Mina Perdida Road to Wheeling Street. The stretch of Scenic Drive will

New Year’s resolutions: Some of us have them and others skip them. But El Paso “life coach” Tish Times, founder and CEO of Hire Times Success Coaching Group, told ABC-7 that the clean break when the ball drops on midnight is ideal for a new year reinvention. “it’s a good time to release those errors,

EL PASO, TEXAS — Wes Eikmeier made 7-of-8 shots and scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half as Colorado State knocked off UTEP, 56-53, on day one of the Bank of the West Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational on Wednesday at the Don Haskins Center. The loss sends UTEP (6-7) into the

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Dec. 28)-The New Mexico State men’s basketball team fell to New Mexico, 89-67. The Aggies (8-5) split the season series with their in-state rivals after winning the first meeting of the year in Albuquerque. Redshirt senior forward Wendell McKines recorded a game-high 25 points and 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double of

TEMPE, ARIZ. ? Kelli Willingham’s potential go-ahead three pointer from the right wing was blocked with seven seconds to play, allowing Arizona State to creep past UTEP, 47-45, inside Wells Fargo Arena Wednesday evening. It was a back-and-forth defensive battle, with seven ties & nine lead changes. The Miners (10-2) trailed by four (47-43) with

It was a sunny and warm Wednesday for one local Army veteran to receive a big honor. Army Specialist Adrian Garcia now has a park named after him. Garcia had his legs amputated in 2007 after an attack while serving in Iraq. He had only been deployed overseas for three weeks. The park is located

Deputies conducting a traffic stop Tuesday in East El Paso found anabolic steroids after they said the driver appeared “extremely nervous.” Deputies with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Officer Strike Team pulled over a car after the driver changed lanes in an unsafe manner about 6:50 p.m. on the southbound lanes of North Zaragoza Road.

THE TIP-OFF UTEP (6-6) faces old Western Athletic Conference rival Colorado State (7-4) in the 50th edition of the Sun Bowl Invitational on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Don Haskins Center. The nightcap pits Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-9) versus Jacksonville State (4-8) at 9. The consolation game will be played on Thursday at 5 p.m.,

The New Mexico State men’s basketball team concludes a five-game home stand against in-state rival New Mexico, Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m., and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Saturday, Dec. 31 at noon inside the Pan American Center. The UNM game will be shown live on AggieVision and broadcast across New Mexico on Comcast, Altitude2, KVIA 24/7

As 2011 comes to an end, many are left looking at the past. Each year new technologies and trends seem to kick out the old. One major storyline in 2012 could very-well be the death of the U.S. Postal Service. With Facebook, text messaging and email fewer and fewer people seem to frequent the U.S.