Month: April 2012

By Kate Galbraith / The Texas Tribune April 27, 2012 Outside a building that provides medical care for wounded soldiers at Fort Bliss, two long, dark lines of hundreds of solar panels stand on supports over the parking lot, moving to follow the sun. ?Everybody wants to park under the solar panels,? said B.J. Tomlinson,

A Las Cruces mother told ABC-7 her daughter was threatened and bullied for about seven months finally before being attacked physically. She said it’s a classic case of bullying all because of a fight over a boy at Oate High School. “You don’t get jumped from behind by two people for things like that,” the

El Paso County Commissioners are expected to see the new renderings of the future county sportspark Monday morning. Parkhill, Smith & Cooper has been collaborating with County Commissioner Anna Perez and the County Sportspark team over how the new park will look. That’s the team the county put in place in July 2011 which took

El Paso County Commissioners have struggled to find a solution for the County Sportspark for several years. On Monday though, they approved a new design plan with an estimated cost of $6.9 million. The park will include t-ball and baseball fields and batting cages. A company had backed out of a deal last year to

The future plans to enhance access from Paisano Drive to The University of Texas at El Paso and its surrounding neighborhoods will be the focus of a public meeting conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 1, in UTEP?s El Paso Natural Gas Conference Center on campus. Renderings,

Gerald Rubin of River Oaks Properties has donated $100,000 to the El Paso Fire Department equipment fund. Last Tuesday, Rubin met with City officials to express his sadness at the loss of the historic building at 100 E. San Antonio that has been owned by his family for nearly half a century. He also expressed

By UTEP Athletics Dave Feitl had a lot to look forward to on May 2, 1987. With his rookie year in the NBA winding down, Feitl’s Houston Rockets were set to open the Western Conference Semifinals at home against the Seattle Supersonics. The Rockets had fostered a 42-40 record during the regular season, but were

Today is the last day to register to vote in the upcoming May 29 primary elections in El Paso. To download a registration form, click here. More than 370,000 El Pasoans are registered to vote. If a voter has not received their voter registration card yet, County Elections Director Javier Chacon said it should arrive

Music Under the Stars’ 29th season will take place at the Chamizal National Memorial Park this summer and alcohol will be present this year, unlike last year. Only now attendees who wish to have an alcoholic beverage at one of the concerts will have to buy it on site. The National Park Service’s ban on

The Tornillo Independent School District’s school board held a special meeting Sunday evening in response to a preliminary audit surrounding Superintendent Paul Vranish’s alleged mishandling of district funds. After a closed-session meeting, the school board members emerged to vote on whether or not to approve the preliminary audit by the Texas Education Agency that alleges

New research finds that wind farms actually warm up the surface of the land underneath them during the night, a phenomena that could put a damper on efforts to expand wind energy as a green energy solution, according to a report by Discovery News. Researchers used satellite data from 2003 to 2011 to examine surface

Last week, University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa said he would allow a fight between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee at the Sun Bowl, as long as certain conditions, including an alcohol ban, were met. Top Rank Boxing, the promoter for the fight, has now offered the City of El Paso

The University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa has changed his mind and will now allow the boxing match between Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Andy Lee at the Sun Bowl after setting several conditions. The conditions are: -A letter of Assurance from the Chief of El Paso Police, the Chief of the El

Police arrested and charged a 27-year-old woman who is suspected of driving while intoxicated with four children in her SUV. Lucia Pichardo was driving a 1997 Chevrolet Suburban at North Loop and Americas on Saturday just after 11 p.m. when she hit another car that was at the gas pump at a Circle K store

One man is dead following a wreck that occurred around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. An investigation revealed that a tractor-trailer was in the south bound lanes of Lee Trevino and turning right into the Wienerschnitzel parking lot when a motorcyclist was traveling southbound on Lee Trevino crossed into the truck’s path. Police said the driver of

A fire broke out at a local restaurant just after midnight on Saturday in east El Paso, according to fire officials. Fire crews arrived at the El Zarape restaurant located at 8600 North Loop Drive to find smoke and flames coming from the roof of the building. Eleven fire units and 29 firefighters were able

Surprising new details are revealed in documents obtained exclusively by ABC7, surrounding the death of Texas State Trooper Javier Arana, Jr. According to a search warrant affidavit dated March 24, written hours after Arana was killed, investigators were able to obtain narcotics and narcotics paraphernalia, incriminating statements and two video tapes from the crash site.

Correction: Homeland Security Investigations provided an intelligence report to University of Texas System officials regarding the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Andy Lee Fight at the Sun Bowl Stadium and then the report was sent to UTEP officials. Information in Thursday’s story incorrectly reported the chain of events of how the information was passed on.

Army Spc. Jason K. Edens, a Fort Bliss soldier, died on April 26 in Bethesda, Md. of wounds sustained April 15, in Laghman province, Afghanistan. Edens, 22, of Franklin, Tenn., was injured when his unit was attacked by enemy with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 13th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade

Dona Ana County Sheriff’s investigators are considering charging a man with animal cruelty for the second time, after removing 25 dogs from his home. ABC-7’s cameras were the only ones at the 500 block of South Fairacres throughout the day Thursday as deputies removed the seemingly matted poodles from Jack Catlan’s home. One dog appeared

When it comes to the arts, El Paso offers museums, theater, the symphony and the opera. But if residents wanted to catch the ballet, they had to wait for a traveling performance or catch one performed by dance students at the University of Texas-El Paso. Not anymore. The El Paso City Ballet has been in

Javier Perea is no longer mayor of Sunland Park less than a week after taking office. New Mexico Attorney General Gary King ruled that the city violated the Open Meetings Act on April 18 because not everyone was allowed inside for the meeting. It was at that meeting that Perea was appointed mayor. The act

New Mexico State Auditor Hector Balderas told ABC-7 the special audit on Sunland Park is the most difficult audit he’s ever done. Balderas attributed that to the lack of organization and, in some cases, a complete lack of financial records. He said the city’s finances have been in a poor state for years now. With

The StormTRACK Weather First Alert has been lifted today since the winds have died down. The blowing dust has settled this morning, but some breezy conditions may stick around. Temperatures will only make it up to the mid 80s today but warm back up to near 90 degrees by Sunday. It does appear that skies

The 19-year-old high school student who faked having cancer then accepted thousands of dollars in donations, did it for good reasons, her lawyer says. Angie Gomez is charged with theft by deception. The charge is a state-jail felony which could land Gomez behind bars for up to two years and make her pay a $10,000

El Paso Police confirm a person was hit and killed by a train in central El Paso Friday morning. The incident occurred on the railroad tracks near Altura and Happer. Police have blocked off some streets in the area. The investigation continues.

Statement by Sunland Park’s most recent former mayor Javier Perea Late yesterday afternoon the City received a fax copy of an opinion issued by the Attorney General Office in reference to a complaint they had received concerning the City Council meeting last week. In that meeting, I was duly elected the Mayor of our City.

Las Cruces Police arrested a man who they suspect of attacking his 71-year-old stepfather as the two argued on Thursday, according to police officials. Toby Ray Cox, 47, of the 1100 block of N. Miranda St . in Las Cruces, is charged with one count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm. Police said that

One of the most popular comic book characters is being outed. Action Comics writer Grant Morrison, best known for revamping the Batman titles, said the caped crusader is “very, very gay.” Morrison made the statement in an interview with Playboy magazine. He said he thinks Batman’s gayness is why people like him. “All these women

Fight promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank said he was surprised by University of Texas System Chancellor Franciso Cigarroa’s restrictions for the Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Andy Lee fight at the Sun Bowl, including a ban on alcohol sales. Arum said he’ll have to get assurances from the UTEP and local police by early