Month: January 2014

A true Patriot … that’s how a Fort Bliss military policeman, who was killed by a wrong-way driver over the weekend, is being remembered. ABC-7 spoke with close friends and colleagues of Robert Karr today to learn more about the soldier. The 46-year-old survived two tours in the Middle East before dying suddenly early Sunday

El Paso City Council on Tuesday voted to refinance pension bonds in an effort to save nearly $75 million. City Representatives unanimously voted to refinance about $110 million for the police and fire pension fund. The decision stems from a 2004 decision by voters who approved a city charter amendment authorizing a one time contribution

El Paso City Council on Tuesday approved an inspection contract for the Downtown ballpark and agreed to use MountainStar’s money for additional construction costs. In a 7 to 1 vote, city representatives approved a $399,474 contract with AMEC Environmental & Infrastructure Inc. AMEC will inspect the stadium construction, which is ongoing. The City has committed

The new home of the Insights Museum could be determined Tuesday by the El Paso Independent School District Board of Managers. Board of Managersis expected to vote if the vacant Alamo Elementary School in south El Paso will become the museum’s new location. The elementary school was closed temporarily in 2005 while the Housing Authority

City Council is scheduled to vote tomorrow on an updated budget proposal for the downtown ballpark, which would bring the total project cost to $72 million. More than 90 percent of subcontracting bids are close to being finalized, giving Council a much clearer picture of exactly how much everything will cost. “There’s a lot that’s

Lost and now found. “Keegan” a bunny, was stolen from the Southern New Mexico State Fair earlier this week. But little did the thief know the impact he’d have. “She was heartbroken,” said mother, Megan Francis. “She would ask me regularly why somebody would do this and I didn’t want to explain to my 8-year-old

A local school board president is accusing State Rep. Marisa Marquez of inappropriately promoting a lobbyist while she says the trustee is deflecting from the issue of school board transparency. Canutillo Independent School District Board President Armando Rodriguez on Sunday night said Marquez had “raised red flags” when she suggested to him Canutillo ISD should

New businesses are flocking to Las Cruces. Officials at the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce thinks this is only the beginning. Troy Tudor, the vice president of the chamber, told ABC-7 he thinks the milestone 100,000 mark in population has made Las Cruces more enticing for businesses. Signs are hung up at many new

KVIA joins New Mexico State University for this weekend’s “Pink Game” against Rice in Las Cruces. It is the seventh consecutive year NMSU’s football team has joined with the university, local businesses, and the community to raise money for breast cancer research. The “NMSU Aggies are Tough Enough to Wear Pink” committee is a volunteer

ABC-7’s Ashlie Rodriguez participated in the Total Mud Rush 5K and obstacle course Saturday, October 12th. The run raises money for hearing loss.

Chances are many residents have piles of empty plastic bags in pantries or in the garage. The City of El Paso’s Environmental Services Department wants to turn those bags into benches. The city’s goal is to collect thousands of plastic bags that will be recycled to make benches and placed around El Paso recreation centers

El Paso police sayman who had been arrested for after adomestic disturbance call at a central El Paso motel, died after having seizures at a police sub station. Police said the man was given first aid before the ambulance arrived. Police said the man was transported to Las Palmas Hospital where he died. The man’s

A Fort Bliss soldier riding his motorcycle was hit and killed by a woman who police say was driving the wrong way on the I-10 freeway early Sunday morning. Police said they did not know why the woman ended up heading the wrong way on the freeway near the McRae overpass. The driver has only

Police are investigating two separate deadly wrecks in east El Paso. A motorcyclist was hit and killed around 1:30 a.m. on I-10 near McCrae. According to witnesses, a small car was driving the wrong way and struck the biker. The car rolled multiple times. According to police, both the motorcyclist and the driver ofthe car

Two men were arrested after an overnight incident in far east El Paso. According to police, two men threw rocks at a home on Oxhart Street. The homeowner, according to investigators, followed the two men back to their homes, until he was spotted near Kingdom Street. One of the men who had been throwing rocks

Aman is in critical condition after a crash in east El Paso. Police tell ABC-7 that the woman lost control of her vehicle and crashed into a tree. The wreck happened before 3 a.m. near the intersection of Pebble Hills and Arrambide. According to police, EMS workers rushed the woman to Del Sol Medical Center.

A high-profile Sunland Park embezzlement case thrown out by the District Attorney’s Office in Doa Ana County could be re-opened. Last month, District Attorney Mark D’Antonio called the case against Annette Morales “garbage.” New Mexico State Police, the agency that investigated the case, was frustrated and baffled by that decision. After some discussion the case

Texas Tech University System Chancellor Kent Hance has announced that he will resign as leader of a system that’s grown to enroll more than 44,000 students. The board of regents voted Friday to accept the resignation of the 70-year-old Hance. In 2006 he became the third chancellor of the system, which includes the flagship Texas

Fort Bliss spokesman, Major Joseph Buccino confirms two men were injured at McGgregor Range Thursday evening. He said the men had no known affiliation with the military. It appears the men picked up an unexploded device that went off. An administrator at University Medical Center confirmed the injured men were airlifted to the hospital at

Fire crews spent most of the day Thursday putting out a fire at a recycling plant in Montana Vista. El Paso County Sheriff’s deputies were the first ones to arrive on the 3800 block on Rene Dr. at Chico’s Demolition Recycling at about 8:30 a.m. Thursday. The El Paso Fire Department, including volunteer fire departments

It’s been nine days since the Affordable Care Act’s companion website Healthcare.gov came online for Texas residents. What was expected to be a flood of information, instead turned out to be a trickle after issues arose. Many people still haven’t made it through the hoops and barrels of the website. Even fewer have had a

El Paso City Manager Joyce Wilson is unsure about her future after submitting her resignation Wednesday. “Who knows what’s out there for me? I’ve got all these people calling me,” Wilson said on Thursday morning. Wilson is set to leave her job when her contract ends on Sept. 30, 2014. Wilson added that the institution

A StormTRACK Weather First Alert is in effect for todaydue to strong winds in the area. Peak wind gusts recorded at the airport mid-afternoon so far at 39 mph. Cold front has yet to move through the area. It will this evening and will briefly kick the winds up. Cooler temps tomorrow and Saturday behind

Las Cruces City Council held an emergency meeting Wednesday morning to change its new gross receipts tax ordinance to avoid losing millions of dollars. State officials told City Council that its gross receipts tax ordinance was worded wrong and if the wording wasn’t corrected in time the City could lose $4.4 million. City Council voted

El Paso City Council on Tuesday said it was not ready to decide whether to award $3 million in tax incentives for a new hotel Downtown. Local developer and attorney Jim Scherr, who’s company turned the dilapidated International Hotel into the DoubleTree wants to build a new 15-story urban hotel next to the DoubleTree. City

An El Paso family is devastated by the loss of one of their own in the Chihuahua monster truck tragedy. And now they want to make sure it never happens again. UTEP student Stephanie Becerra’s 6-year-old cousin was the youngest of eight victims killed. Becerra was tailgating for UTEP’s Homecoming game last Saturday when she

El Paso City Council on Tuesday voted to start a smaller bike share program with bike stations between the University of Texas at El Paso and Downtown. Each station would have about a dozen bikes, said Marty Howell, a City Development official. He said the city will look for third party vendors to set up

Arturo Valtierra-Payan, the man El Paso Police say was responsible for a string of home burglaries and aggravated sexual assaults, pleaded not guilty at his latest arraignment Tuesday morning. Valtierra-Payan appeared unaffected in the courtroom by the mountain of charges he’s now facing. He has pleaded not guilty in all of the cases he has

An Arkansas reporter is rescued from Big Bend Ranch State Park Sunday, after being lost for more than four days. Cathy Frye and husband Ricky McFarland were airlifted to University Medical Center, where Frye is still recovering. “It was a real pretty hike and I’m thinking,you know, it’s beautiful,” Frye said. “So we decided we’d

The El Paso Police Department has another 38 officers on the streets, including one who is a fourth-generation Sun City police officer. When 24-year-old Dominic Morales decided he wanted to become an El Paso Police officer he had to look no further than his stepfather, EPPD officer Slade Davis, for advice. But for Morales, the