Month: June 2012

County Commissioners elected to chip in $2,595,000 into a jail expansion for the El Paso County jail annex. The funds, which come from a 2007 bond initiative, have sat for five years. According to the assistant county attorney, the money wasn’t spent because the project hit several snags including multiple sheriff’s taking office, and an

The El Paso Times took the rare step Sunday of running a front-page editorial calling for the resignations of the five senior members of the El Paso Independent School District’s Board of Trustees. It’s the latest in what appears to be a tougher El Paso Times since changing editors eight months ago. ABC-7 sat down

A federal judge ruled Monday that a Texas horse trainer charged with conspiring to launder money for Mexico’s powerful Zetas drug cartel should be released on bond, rejecting the prosecution’s argument that the threat of cartel reprisals against him was so severe it could harm the surrounding community. Eusevio Maldonado Huitron remains in custody while

June is typically the hottest month of the year in El Paso, so it was no big surprise that Monday became the hottest day of the year — so far. As we try to find ways to keep cool — whether it’s staying indoors by the AC, heading to the local pool or finding a

Roger Clemens has been acquitted on all charges by a jury that decided he didn’t lie to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. Jurors returned their verdict Monday after close to 10 hours of deliberation. The outcome brings an end to a 10-week trial that capped an expensive, five-year investigation into one of the

El Paso Independent School District board president Isela Castanon-Williams maintained Sunday night that the school board did not know about former superintendent Lorenzo Garcia’s criminal activity and that the board did what it could. Castanon-Williams also said she has no plans to resign as the El Paso Times asked her and four school board members

Just like challenger Andy Lee had high hopes for defeating champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the City and promoters hoped for a big showing for the bout on Saturday at the Sun Bowl. With 2:21 left in the seventh round all the bravado challenger Lee had shown before the fight was gone – as were

Boxing website Bad Left Hook stated in a post Saturday night that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. refused to take a urine test before his bout with Andy Lee at the Sun Bowl. The site did not state a reason for the refusal. Read more about the fight at http://www.badlefthook.com/2012/6/17/3092452/chavez-vs-lee-results-julio-cesar-chavez-jr-impressive-7th-round-tko-hbo-boxing-news

New Mexico prison officials say they have made one of the largest drug busts within the state prison system after a prison worker was caught trying to smuggle cocaine and heroin. Officials said Monday the worker tried to bring 26 grams of cocaine and 46 grams of heroin into the Southern New Mexico Corrections Facility

The daughter of immigrants and award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa will discuss the detention and deportation of immigrants tonight during the second day of the 2012 Immigration Policy Conference at NMSU. Hinojosa, the host of the long-running radio show ?Latino USA,? which airs on National Public Radio, is the keynote speaker. Her speech is titled ?Stories

The El Paso Times editorial board, in a rare front page editoral, has called for the resignations of five of seven El Paso Independent School Board members in light of former superintendent Lorenzo Garcia’s guilty plea in federal court last week. David Dodge, Patricia Hughes, Isela Castaon-Williams, Russell Wiggs and Joel Barrios are the board

April 24, 2012: Boxing Match At Sun Bowl Canceled Due To Security Concerns April 24, 2012: Mayor John Cook Hits Back At UT Chancellor After Boxing Match Pulled From Sun Bowl April 24, 2012 Who Is UT Chancellor Francisco G. Cigarroa? April 25, 2012 United Front: City Leaders, Locals React To Boxing Match’s Cancelation April

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. recovered from a slow start he blamed on leg cramps and stopped Andy Lee at 2:21 of the seventh round Saturday night to retain the WBC middleweight title. A right uppercut by Chavez snapped Lee’s head upwards and sideways and Chavez connected on a barrage of punches before referee Laurence Cole

The El Paso Independent School District is attempting to rebuild its reputation and gain the trust of the community. Thursday night, Interim Superintendent Terri Jordan refused to answer questions about former superintendent Lorenzo Garcia’s guilty pleas to a pair of conspiracies to defraud the district. Phone calls made by ABC-7 to six of the seven

Story by Sgt. Robert Larson, a journalist with the 24th Press Camp Headquarters Many service members come back for their deployments with visible wounds. Some have scars from the shrapnel that ripped through their bodies. Many have lost limbs or other body parts as a result of their service in Iraq or Afghanistan. But there

You may want to pack your poncho for the big Chavez Jr.-Lee boxing match at the Sun Bowl Saturday night. ABC-7 meteorologist Jennifer Myers is calling for a 30% chance of showers until about 6 p.m. Saturday evening, then chances decrease to 20% for the remainder of the night. The biggest threats with these storms

Kaitlyn Llanez is a calm and sweet little girl who loves to show off her funky manicure and listen to her brother tell stories. And like most children who get the chance to visit Disney World, she liked it. “It was fun,” she said softly. Cancer is almost never thought of as a good thing

A 63-year-old woman became ‘pregnant’ with 12 baby squid after eating calamari, according to a claim in a bio-tech report. The real-life ‘octo-mum’, from South Korea, was eating a portion of cooked whole squid when she felt a sharp pain in her mouth. The bizarre claim has been made in a scientific paper from the

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced that effective immediately, certain young people who were brought to the United States as young children, do not present a risk to national security or public safety, and meet several key criteria will be considered for relief from removal from the country or from entering into removal

With just two days away from the title showdown in the Sun Bowl, boxers Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. & Andy Lee are making final preparations. The two will weigh-in Friday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Plaza Theatre in downtown El Paso. It’s open to the public. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., the champ, has a

One person is dead in an officer-involved shooting, according to El Paso Police spokesman Chris Mears. The shooting occurred near Prado and Alameda in the Lower Valley on Friday morning. Mears said police received a call from a citizen around 8 a.m. about a suspicious man. The man then allegedly pulled a knife and went

The storms rolled in with furious winds. They snapped power lines, tore up signs and kicked up dust. With the same intensity, emergency dispatch lines lit up as people began reporting the damage left in the storm’s path. Vehicles on the freeway were seen struggling to stay in their lanes, light beams on, trying to

Federal agencies are going after top leaders of a Mexican drug cartel for allegedly laundering money using race horses in New Mexico and other states in the U.S. In a multistate sweep, federal agencies said a network of people connected to the Mexican drug cartel known as the Zetas has been allegedly laundering money by

As firefighters continue to get the Little Bear Fire under control, Gov. Susana Martinez is asking the federal government to do its job to prevent large fires like this from happening again. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce blamed the state for not responding quickly to the fire, but Martinez told ABC-7 the blame really lies on

El Paso police are searching for the driver responsible for striking a pedestrian and fleeing the scene. The incident was reported on Mesa street near the intersection with Brentwood around 2 a.m. Friday. ABC-7’s Round the Clock crew spoke with the victim, Brandon Halow, who said he was trying to break up a fight outside

Questions remain about whether rule-breakers are still working in the El Paso Independent School District in the wake of a plea deal struck by the district’s former superintendent. Dr. Lorenzo Garcia, who resigned from his position as superintendent late last year, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy involving mail and wire fraud in federal

Lorenzo Garcia, the former superintendent of the El Paso Independent School District, pled guilty to federal charges in court Wednesday afternoon. Garcia pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud contained in two separate charging documents. The first charge, count one of a federal grand jury indictment returned in July 2011, alleged

Terrell Shelley said he saw the first sparks of what would become part of the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history. “I’ve been here 65 years. I’ve never seen any (fire) like this one,” said Shelley. Shelley said he could see the first flames from the Baldy fire just 10 miles away from his ranch

The fallout from Dr. Lorenzo Garcia’s plea agreement is just beginning. Garcia pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy involving mail and wire fraud. Last August, Garcia was indicted on federal charges and accused of defrauding the district by steering a contract to a girlfriend’s company back when he in 2006. Garcia, who was married

Results are in for the new state end-of-course exam. The State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR, exam is considered more rigorous than the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, or TAKS. Freshmen across the state were tested in five subjects: reading, writing, biology, algebra and world geography. It is designed to measure