Month: January 2014

According to Fort Bliss officials more than 70 people have called the 24-hour hotline set up for anyone who has been inside a bunker on Biggs Army Airfield where initial tests revealed low levels of radiation. ABC-7 spoke with one of those people Thursday. Efrain Zamora, Jr., is 71 years old, but up until about

An El Paso city representative said this week she has been “suspicious” the County does not properly use its share of Hotel Occupancy Tax, something that would violate state law. Hotel Occupancy Taxes (HOT taxes) are paid by visitors who stay in El Paso hotels. The County gets about $3.3 million a year in HOT

A federal judge has delayed the trial of a former county judge and an architect. Judge Frank Montalvo moved the trial for ex-El Paso County Judge Anthony Cobos and architect Lorenzo Aguilar from Aug. 26 to Sept. 9 of this year. It was moved after prosecutors filed a third amendment to the indictment of Cobos

The Hyundai Sun Bowl has reached agreement on a six-year extension of its affiliation with the Atlantic Coast Conference. The annual college football bowl game is currently heading in to the final year of its original four-year deal with the ACC. The new agreement starts with the 2014 game. A news release provided by the

Fort Bliss officials confirm government environmental investigators expanded their search for sites emitting radiation on post Wednesday. The broadened investigation comes after a bunker and its surrounding area were found to contain alpha and beta radiation particles, a finding which was released publicly on Tuesday. “We’ve received more than 40 calls,” Major Joe Buccino said.

A cautionary tale for uninsured drivers and those of us who cross paths with them everyday. The daughter of a man who lost his leg in a motorcycle accident wrote an email to ABC-7 this week. That email, from 48-year-old Jose Rodriguez’s daughter, talked about the difficult time her family has had both emotionally and

El Paso City Council will have to decide if it wants to approve an additional million dollars to replace some of the city fleet. The entire city fleet consists of about 2,500 vehicles. That includes garbage trucks, street sweepers, administrative SUVs for departments like engineering and parks, plus all of the police fleet and firetrucks.

The Border Network for Human Rights is calling it an “overkill” of border security. Protestors across the nation and in El Paso will hold demonstrations against the latest Senate-approved immigration reform bill in what is being called National Day of Action Against Border Militarization. It is the same bill that calls for an additional 700

Four KVIA, ABC-7 anchors received high honors at the El Paso “Best of the Best” awards ceremony for “What’s Up” Magazine. Estela Casas, Stephanie Valle, Paul Cicala and Whitney Burbank were all finalists in one of the dozens of categories. It was a clean, 1-2-3 sweep for KVIA in the category of “Best TV Newscaster

A woman saved a mother and son who were trapped inside a burning home early Tuesday morning on the 2200 block of Holiday Avenue in west Las Cruces. Around 5 a.m., neighbors saw a strange light coming through their windows. That’s when they realized the trailer home next door was on fire. “I started running

Fort Bliss officials said on Tuesday morning that alpha and beta rays were found in and near a bunker in East Fort Bliss. Gamma rays, which are the most harmful, were not found at the location. The three main types of radiation are alpha, beta, and gamma radiation according to the Idaho National Laboratory Site

An investigation has begun at Fort Bliss after a small amount of radioactive material was found in and near a bunker on East Fort Bliss where Army training weapons were stored since 2003. Prior to the 1960s, before it was turned over to the Army, the Air Force stored uranium there for use in nuclear

Asuspect considered armed and dangerous is in custody after a manhunt woke up residents in west El Paso early Tuesday morning. At about 1:45 a.m. police responded to a possible domestic violence incident near Shadow Mountain Drive. El Paso Police officials saida Hispanicman in his mid-twentieswas fighting with his girlfriend, when he pulled out a

A Las Cruces teacher accused of molesting three of his students made his first appearance in court on Monday. Jesus Solis is charged with 52 counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. Solis is a teacher at Desert Hills Elementary School. Court documents show Solis allegedly molested three fourth-grade students over the course of

The loudest rumble at an East El Paso gas station Friday night didn’t come from the cars. It came from customers fuming over their stalled cars. As ABC-7 reported, nearly two dozen customers were very upset when their vehicles stopped working after filling up a the 7-Eleven, now Alon, gas station at the corner of

The Amigo Airsho could be close to striking a deal with the Santa Teresa Airport, a move that would keep the more than three-decade long annual tradition in the Borderland for many years to come. Federal budget cuts from the sequester forced the Airsho to leave Biggs Army Airfield after 31 years. But it appears

El Paso police have identified the man who died on Paso del Norte International Bridge early Sunday morning as 52-year-old Roger Tarango of the 100 block of N. Coldwell. The police department’s Crimes Against Person’s Unit is continuing to investigate Tarango’s death after he acted bizarre on the Paso del Norte bridge at about 4:36

El Paso is the No. 1 safest city with a population of 500,000 or more in CQ Press’ most recent ranking of safest and dangerous U.S. cities. The rankings are arranged according to population and are based on a city’s rate for six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft.

El Paso railroad crossings are ready to undergo some changes. Officials with the City of El Paso’s Engineering and Construction Management Department announced 11 railroad crossings will be upgraded, some with new crossing arms and medians. Four crossings will be completely closed off to traffic. City officials said the closures will allow trains to pass

George Zimmerman blinked and barely smiled as a jury found him not guilty of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin. Supporters of Martin’s family who had gathered outside the courthouse yelled out “No! No!” The jury had been given the chance to convict Zimmerman of manslaughter but did not do so, despite

Lyda Ness Garcia stands watching the Texas Senate debate HB-2.She and other mothers apart of the pro-choice organization Stand With El Paso Women, hold their breath, hoping the Senate rejects the bill. The law would require doctors to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, only allow abortions in surgical centers and bans abortions after 20

Las Cruces police arrested a local elementary school teacher on more than 50 felony counts of inappropriate behavior with fourth-grade students. Jesus L. Solis, 46, of the 2100 block of Sedona Hills Parkway, is charged with 52 counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor. The charges are all third-degree felonies. The charges against Solis

Doa Ana County Sheriff’s investigators are looking for a suspect following a shooting that happened in the 3300 block of Winterhaven early Friday morning. According to court documents, a woman called 911 just before 4:30 a.m. to say she was taking a 21-year-old male to the hospital with a gunshot wound to the upper torso.

Fireworks and arguments kicked off the July El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) meeting. MPOs are tasked by Federal law to plan for transportation development and are meant to move communities forward. Every year, El Paso’s MPO handles millions of dollars worth of transportation projects. Friday marked a day of transition for the El Paso

El Paso police were led on a chase down Interstate 10 early Friday morning, which may have involved gunfire. According to police radio transmissions (the facts of which at this time are unconfirmed by the police department), officers were chasing two sports cars and shots may have been fired from one of the vehicles. Our

The Deputy City Manager in charge of the El Paso trolley project said the city was assured the state would pay $90 million for the streetcar through “informal communication.” City Council, last summer, voted to commit $5 million for the design, environmental clearance and preliminary engineering of the proposed streetcar line that was supposed to

Where’s Whataburger? Due to a Texas Department of Transportation project, some in Socorro have had to say goodbye to a popular food chain restaurant. The Alameda and Horizon Boulevard intersection is being reconstructed. It’s all part of a plan to widen Horizon Boulevard from two lanes to four lanes. But one of the casualties is

State officials say about 70 percent of New Mexico’s public schools improved or maintained their letter grade this year, and that more than a third of schools received an A or B. Gov. Susana Martinez and Public Education Secretary Hanna Skandera released the grades Thursday for 839 elementary, middle and high schools. The grades depend

Things are getting messy out in Santa Teresa. Residents are fighting with the owner of the now-closed Country Club over their choice of trash carrier. Santa Teresa residents say the owner of the Santa Teresa Country Club claims to own the arterial roads leading into the neighborhood and since he has a contract with El

One woman has serious, life-threatening injuries after a two-vehicle collision early Thursday morning in the Upper Valley. At about 3:04 a.m., a red VW Jetta, traveling northbound on Doniphan, allegedly ran into the rear of a black Mazda 3, forcing it off the roadway, and causing it to collide with a utility pole. Police officials