Month: January 2014

Parents of children with disabilities told our New Mexico Mobile Newsroom they dream of a day when all children can play together on an equal basis. For now, there’s the Dream League Soccer Program in Las Cruces. Tim Query and his wife are parents of a very active eight-year-old boy named Mateo. They said it’s

The father of 27-year-old Johnnyray Nevarez speaks out about his son’s murder-suicide. Jimmy Nevarez says Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome or PTSD is behind the tragic death of his son and daughter in-law, Crystal Nevarez-Lugo. “There’s a lot of kids coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan that are coming back with PTSD,” Jimmy Nevarez told ABC-7.

The U.S. Postal Service is implementing what it’s calling the Post Plan. Hours at thousands of post offices in small towns across the country will be cut. Just a few miles from Hatch, N.M., there’s a string of small towns. Driving down the main road, you can see fields, small markets and dairy farms. For

The 77th Annual “Celebration of Lights” in downtown El Paso is this Saturday. The celebration begins at 4:30 p.m., and lasts until the end of the firework show, which begins at 7:15 p.m. Decorating for the celebration began early, and took a lot of manpower. “This used to be my trade, I’m a retired firefighter,

An El Paso City Hall meeting turned tense Tuesday as City Rep. Carl Robinson publicly berated City Manager Joyce Wilson for sending emails he called offensive and unprofessional. An open records request by attorney Stephanie Townsend Allala uncovered thousands of emails between council and staff, some of them mean-spirited. In some emails, Wilson referred to

Creating future engineers in fields ranging from biomedical to aerospace and everything in between is the goal of programs funded by the Spaceport America gross receipts tax. Dona Ana County voters approved the tax in 2007. The Las Cruces Public School District receives about $800,000 a year from the tax. District officials have put the

City Council voted 5-3 today to deny a resolution that may have saved the tallest of Asarco’s smokestacks, meaning the 826 foot tall stack will likely be demolished along with a shorter stack early next year as part of a $69 million remediation of the site. City representatives Ann Morgan Lilly, Carl Robinson, Dr. Michiel

An email thread between City Manager Joyce Wilson and City Representative Ann Morgan Lilly shows Wilson is directing policy and not just implementing the Council’s vision, according to City Rep. Eddie Holguin. Wilson and Lilly said there’s a much more simple explanation to the email that has nothing to do with Wilson trying to be

Sunny the sea lion, one of the most beloved animals at the El Paso Zoo, died overnight. Sunny, 26, died in a behind the scenes pool where he was being closely monitored by keepers and left off-exhibit because he was not feeling well. California sea lions are thought to live 15-25 years. Sunny was born

Spike, a Malayan Tapir, who was one of the first residents in the Asia section of the El Paso Zoo, has died. Spike arrived at the El Paso Zoo in August of 1995 from San Diego Global. Spike was euthanized on July 17, 2013 due to a prolonged gastrointestinal illness. Veterinary staff and zookeepers were

Burges High School may have been the only team to win on Friday, but they may not be the only El Paso team advancing in the 4A Division II State Playoffs. According to a report by the El Paso Times, Franklin High School football players may need to continue on with practices. The El Paso

DANICA COTOAssociated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Hector “Macho” Camacho was a brash fighter with a mean jab and an aggressive style, launching himself furiously against some of the biggest names in boxing. And his bad-boy persona was not entirely an act, with a history of legal scrapes that began in his teens

The Burges Mustangs live one more day. They beat out Hereford Friday evening in the 4A Division II State Playoffs in Midland. It was the first time the schools met since 1975. The Mustangs were the first ones to change the scoreboard, and they stayed on top to end 35 to 28 over Hereford. Burges

The controversy surrounding the Sunland Park mayoral election continues almost a year later. Former mayoral candidate Gerardo Hernandez is still fighting for an appeal of the results eight months later. Hernandez lost the race for mayor to Daniel Salinas, who was unable to take office after he was arrested. Hernandez himself has a controversial past

Nearly 2 dozen trials are lined up in connection with alleged Sunland Park corruption including bribery, extortion and voter fraud. Former mayor-elect Daniel Salinas is scheduled for trial Monday — his first of four cases — on extortion charges, but his attorney said that may not happen. Salinas is charged with more than 30 counts

Many in Las Cruces feel downtown is finally on the path to becoming the life of the city. Main Street is open to car traffic after 43 years, and soon Las Crucens will be able to live downtown in a brand new apartment complex. The lot on the corner of Alameda Boulevard and Court Avenue

Under a cloudy, gloomy sky, actor Sherman Hemsley was buried at Fort Bliss National Cemetery Wednesday afternoon. Doves were released and military personnel played “Taps” in honor of Hemsley, who served in the Air Force for four years. “Emptiness. I feel very empty,” said Flora Enchinton-Bernal, Hemsley’s best friend, manager and partner. “Sad but happy

Nearly 500 pounds of marijuana was on a bus carrying Van Horn junior varsity basketball players back home from an out of town game. “The kids were talking and they saw bags being taken off the bus,” said Tomas Mendoza whose daughter was one of the 47 players on the bus. The Van Horn junior

Could the U.S. Supreme Court rule the swab of DNA that led police to Katie Sepich’s killer unconstitutional? A decision on a Maryland case could have a ripple effect extending all the way to New Mexico. Twenty-five states across the country have laws that allow them to collect DNA samples from suspects arrested for felony

A federal bill that supports a New Mexico law is now in the hands of President Barack Obama after Congress approved it. Katie’s Law was enacted and named in honor Katie Sepich, a New Mexico State University who was 22 years old when she was raped and murdered in 2003. She had the DNA of

A Borderland superintendent is on administrative leave as the school board plans to hire a forensic auditor to evaluate all purchases and school transactions made under his watch for the last several years. Tornillo Independent School District Superintendent Paul Vranish was escorted out of the School Board meeting Monday evening after the board decided to

An El Paso fifth -grader’s mother is suing his teacher for thousands of dollars after he claims she told him his schoolwork was ‘trash.’ Kirkpatrick Noaker, 9, a student at Del Norte Heights Elementary School, says when he turned in his schoolwork to his teacher, Carmen Grijalva, she told him it was trash. “She said,

UTEP Head Football Coach Mike Price announced Monday he will be retiring after Saturday’s home game – the final game of the 2012 season. Price, 66, in the final year of his contract, made the announcement during his weekly news conference. He built up the suspense by first talking about UTEP’s win over Southern Miss.

The El Paso Scottish Rite Temple in the downtown art district gets a big gift. A grand piano and a piece of history, but the compelling part, is how the temple got a hold of it’s new acquisition. That grand piano once belonged toWladziu Valentino Liberace. The 9-foot grand concert piano was commissioned especially for

Nearly four months after his death, television icon Sherman Hemsley will be buried in El Paso on Wednesday. Hemsley’s funeral schedule is as follows: Visitation will be on Wednesday from 9:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m. at the San Jose Funeral Home East. The funeral will be on Wednesday at 12 p.m. at the Cielo Vista

“Statistics show that on any given night here in El Paso, there’s over a 100 women who are homeless vets. It’s a tragedy,” said Hope Jackson, founder of the H.O.P.E. institute. The newly -established non-profit is aimed at helping homeless soldiers and they areall women. Jackson tells ABC-7, “It’s a problem nationwide,” she says, “It’s

A routine traffic stopped lead to the arrest of a wanted felon Friday night. Juan Leon, 31, was pulled over after driving with a defective tail lamp, according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies arrested Leon after he gave a false name. There were indicators he was lying about his name, according to

It’s been a year since Fort Sill Apache land near Deming, N.M., was designated as a reservation. The tribe bought the 30 acres of land in 1998. They’ve been working for more than a decade to build a casino there. Tribal members are hoping to see the project completed as soon as possible because they

The wait to determine what’s next for City Hall continues. El Paso struck a deal with Mountain Star Sports earlier this year to build a downtown ballpark. That plan calls to demolish City Hall, and use the land as the site for the ballpark; however, a former mayor isn’t letting that happen. Ray Salazar filed

The family of the Dallas truck driver imprisoned in Mexico arrived in El Paso, Thursday morning, hopeful Jabin Bogan would soon be returning to U.S. soil. “We are so excited that today is the day,” Aletha Smith, Bogan’s mother said. “Thank you God this is finally going to be over. Praise the Lord.” In an