Month: February 2012

ABCNews Davy Jones, the lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Monkees has died. He was 66. An official from the Martin County, Fla. medical examiner?s office confirmed to ABC News that the office has been notified of Jones? death and is is ?currently evaluating whether or not the medical examiners office will take

EL PASO, TEXAS — Connor Frizzelle scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, leading Rice to a 68-61 win over UTEP on Wednesday for its first victory in El Paso since 2003. The Owls (17-13, 8-7 C-USA) completed the season sweep of the Miners, making 19-of-22 free throws over the final 20

Guillermo “Willie” Gandara Jr. bonded out of jail shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday and resigned his seat on Commissioners Court less than an hour later. His resignation became official when he sent a signed letter of resignation to County Judge Veronica Escobar. Gandara, wearing a white undershirt and faded blue jeans, exited the U.S. federal

County Judge Veronica Escobar is tasked with appointing a replacement to run the precinct three county office, currently held by Willie Gandara Jr, who’s attorney said he plans to resign following his arrest on federal drug trafficking charges. Gandara’s attorney Joe Spencer sent Escobar a letter Tuesday stating that Gandara is resigning from the County

School will soon be tougher for Texas students, going by the harder standards and more rigorous questions found inside the STAAR. STAAR stands for the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness. It’s the new standardized test replacing the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills for public school students currently in third through ninth grades.

An inmate who organized Texas’ biggest prison break has been executed for gunning down a suburban Dallas police officer 11 years ago. George Rivas, of El Paso, was leader of the fugitive gang known as the “Texas 7.” The 41-year-old received lethal injection Wednesday evening in Huntsville. He was among a group of inmates who

The winds have died down and will stay down for your last day of February. Strong winds did plague the Borderland yesterday, producing a 51 mph wind gust at the airport along with blowing dust and sand. Strong winds may return tomorrow and Friday as a storm off the Pacific Coast swarms down to the

A 14-year-veteran of the El Paso Police Dept. has been placed on administrative leave after a warrant was executed at his East Side home on Wednesday. Ricardo Huante, assigned to the Pebble Hills Regional Command Center, was off-duty at the time the federal search warrant was executed. Detectives with the El Paso Police Department’s Special

An autocorrected text message, accidentally sent to the wrong number, was the catalyst to a lockdown Wednesday at West Hall middle and high schools in Gainesville, Georgia, according to The (Gainseville) Times. Just before noon, law enforcement and school officials issued the lockdown after a West Hall community member reported a threatening text message. The

Ever since plans came to light that the city was considering replacing the four-way stoplights at Montwood Drive and Wedgewood Drive with a traffic circle, commonly called a roundabout, many residents of East El Paso have been up in arms. An unscientific poll on kvia.com after the story originally aired in January showed that 60-percent

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (Feb.27)-New Mexico State freshman guard Daniel Mullings was named the Verizon WAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Feb. 20-26. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week for Mullings and second for the Aggies this season. Mullings became only the third Aggie in school

EL PASO ? UTEP football will begin spring drills on Tuesday, Feb. 28 at 3:30 p.m. at Glory Field. UTEP?s practice is the first of 15 with the annual Orange and Blue game slated for Friday, April 6 at 6 p.m. in the Sun Bowl. UTEP, which finished 5-7 a year ago, returns 45 letterwinners

DMA RANK: 91 TV HOUSEHOLDS: 336,570TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS: 346,900TV PENETRATION: 97% CABLE PENETRATION: 43%ADS PENETRATION: 30%OVER THE AIR: 26% El Paso Local Economy & Culture Key Industry/Employment El Paso is located on the U.S./Mexico border near Ciudad Juarez, which has the highest concentration of maquila employment in Mexico. It is also on the Texas/New Mexico border.

Mario Ramos found himself in court Monday morning facing an aggravated assault charge. Ramos, who was once a Constable for Precinct 6, is accused of unlawfully shooting Juan Ortegon on August 16, 2008. On Monday prosecutors called Alex De La Rosa to the stand. De La Rosa was driving her car on the evening of

A StormTRACK Weather First Alert continues for today due to strong winds gusting up to 50 mph. Remember that a First Alert means that changing weather conditions could impact not only your day, but your life. Blowing dust along with minor property damage, especially along the eastern slopes, is possible today. Otherwise, expect mostly sunny

Dona Ana County has a new growing industry: construction tied to solar energy. The sudden boom in renewable energy comes thanks to tax credits being offered by the state, which is why El Paso Electric is tied to three solar energy projects in Dona Ana County. According to Rocky Miracle, senior VP of corporate planning

An independent investigation found no favoritism or nepotism, but did find there was a step missing from the awards process at William Beaumont Army Medical Center, said the hospital?s commander, Brig. Gen. Dennis Doyle in an interview Monday. The investigation, conducted by an officer with the Western Regional Medical Command, was requested by Doyle after

Editor’s Note: Below is the text of attorney Joe Spencer’s intent to resign letter to El Paso County Judge Veronica Escobar on behalf of his client, Guillermo “Willie” Gandara Jr. February 28, 2012 Dear Honorable Judge Veronica Escobar, On behalf of Mr. Gandara, we regret to inform you that he is resigning from his position

Commissioner Guillermo “Willie” Gandara Jr. is expected to officially resign his seat on Commissioners Court on Wednesday, according to County Judge Veronica Escobar. “(Tuesday) afternoon Commissioner Gandara’s attorney Mr. Joe Spencer delivered the attached letter and has authorized me to release it publicly,” Escobar said in a statement released to the media. “The letter specifies

By Army News Service With 10 years of war winding down, the focus is now, more than ever, on retention of quality Soldiers. Beginning March 1, if a Soldier’s estimated termination of service is between Oct. 1, 2012 and Sept. 30, 2013, he or she can re-enlist between now and Sept 30 of this year.

El Paso City Council has begun a potential four-year process to build a landfill at Fort Bliss and possibly a waste to energy plant. The City was slated to implement flow control in 2014, a system that makes the collection and disposal of waste a municipal duty, instead of allowing the private sector to do

El Paso City Council on Tuesday voted to continue the process to try to get El Paso Electric to lower its rates. City representatives voted to delay proposed rate hikes by the regulated monopoly until early June, in an effort to investigate the company’s justifications for the increases and possibly negotiate with El Paso Electric

I asked KVIA Operations Manager Chris Swann to lunch the other day. I watched in astonishment as he barely opened his mouth to mutter, ?I can?t eat. I had a wisdom tooth taken out this morning.? Nevertheless, there was Chris back to work minutes after a painful tooth removal. A day or so later I

The El Paso Police Department’s gang unit is investigating a stabbing that occurred at 11:24 p.m. Sunday at the First Cocktail Lounge in the 6200 block of Airport. Officers found a 19-year-old male the victim of stab wounds to his upper torso. The victim was transported to University Medical Center where he is listed in

Along the border, blood is big business, in particular plasma. The protein rich substance that is full of infection-fighting antibodies is bought and sold by pharmaceutical companies for life-saving treatments. Many plasma centers on the border rely heavily on donors from Mexico like 25-year-old Andres Cano from Ciudad Juarez. ?This is how I support my

This week?s MANHUNT MONDAY Most Wanted Fugitive is yet another Home Repair Con-Artist sought for taking money from Victims for home repairs that never get done. The target is identified as HENRY CHAVEZ (39) of El Paso, TX . JANUARY 2012 Just a few weeks ago on 01-17-12 a Victim hired HENRY CHAVEZ to build

Today will start off mild, then temperatures will climb back to the 70s, just like yesterday. Also, the winds will pick up this afternoon into the breezy category. However, the winds will be stronger with wind gusts up to 45 mph on Tuesday. That is why the National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory

El Paso County Commissioners Court held its regularly scheduled meeting Monday, less than one week since Commissioner Willie Gandara, Jr. was arrested on federal drug charges. The arrest has now resulted in his removal from a big county project, at least on an interim basis. With Gandara still locked up in the county jail, the

Sunland Park Mayor Pro Tem Danny Salinas and City Manager Jaime Aguilera have been arrested on charges they allegedly tried to extort a mayoral candidate to drop out of the mayoral race. Amy Orlando, 3rd Judicial District Attorney for Southern New Mexico, said Salinas and Aguilera were arrested on Saturday night and charged with conspiracy