Month: January 2014

Fall ushers in the chile harvest in the Southwest and the smell of roasted peppers fills the air in Southern New Mexico. The demand for hot peppers in this country continues to grow. But the number of acres of chile planted is dwindling as farmers in New Mexico face competition from cheaper foreign grown peppers.

A massive blaze on the El Paso’s east side ripped through a metal recycling plant over the weekend. It sent plumes of black smoke into the borderland skies that could be seen from miles around. More than45 firefighters were called to control the flames. Passer-by Eva Vallez told ABC-7,”At first, we saw little, kinda, of

The group of investors working to purchase a Triple-A baseball team and bring it to El Paso is making concessions after concerns by El Paso City Council members and public outcry threatened to derail the plan at a City Council vote on Tuesday. The MountainStar Sports Group announced Saturday afternoon that it will remove the

Sept. 15 afternoon update: MountainStar Sports Group announced Saturday afternoon it was making concessions in the contract with the City that could impact Tuesday’s City Council vote. Read about the concessions here. Previous story from early Sept. 15: Tension continues to mount over Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Ten items remain on the meeting agenda that

Artists, vendors, publishers and comics are converging in Downtown El Paso for the third annual EP-CON, the El Paso Comic Convention. Organizers are hoping 2012’s Comic Con outshines last year’s event. Some of the guests who are in town for the convention include actors from “Twilight,” “Breaking Dawn,” “The Hunger Games” and “Star Trek.” ABC-7

The numbers have been all over the place — from $15 million to more than $30 million. That is why the City of El Paso enlisted the help of an independent appraiser to determine the true market value of the current City Hall building. The building was appraised by Martha Gail Reid for $13,080,000. She

Ysleta Teacher Association President Arlinda Valencia is accusing Ysleta Independent School District Associate Superintendent Jerry Molinoski of trying to silence her by using YISD-funded lawyers. She is also accusing Molinoski of misusing YISD attorneys to do his daily responsibilities, which she says has contributed to YISD attorney fees nearing $600,000 over the last 16 months.

El Paso police say they are investigating a shooting that happened Tuesday night in a park in northeast El Paso. The incident happened around 9 p.m. near the intersection of Lawson Street and Maxwell Avenue. Police say the victim is expected to survive.

At El Paso Independent School District’s board meeting Tuesday night, interim superintendent Terri Jordan stepped down. She will be replaced temporarily by Ken George, who will take over for the next couple of weeks while the board looks for a new interim superintendent. Jordan said she chose to step down from interim superintendent over the

Dr. Terri Jordan is out as the Interim Superintendent of the El Paso Independent School District.Jordan announced during Tuesday’s EPISD Board meeting that she was stepping down as Superintendent. She will retain her job as chief of staff as her contract, which was extended by a year in June, stipulates. Jordan became EPISD’s interim superintendent

Fire investigators say they are looking into a possible arson case in the Sunset Heights neighborhood by UTEP. The incident happened around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, when a car went up in flames by the intersection of Corto and Prospect. Firefighters quickly put out the blaze, and say it appears that someone broke a window

There may be a glimmer of hope for those voters who feel disenfranchised by the baseball stadium deal and choice to build it on the current City Hall site. On Sept. 18, City Council will vote on the final contract and Mayor John Cook could have the final say. When City Council initially voted on

An 11-month-old baby girl died the morning of Sept. 7 after the man taking care of her allegedly stuck his finger down the girl’s throat to stop her from crying at a home in the 2600 block of Nations. Police said 21-year-old Irving Gomez did not remove his finger until after the baby, Nevaeh Martinez,

El Paso police blame a traffic wreck for a power outage in the eastside Monday morning. The wreck happened just after 4 a.m. near the intersection of Lorenzo Luis and Loop 375, where a truck had crashed into a utility pole. According to the El Paso Electric website, more than 500 customers in total were

A personnel appointment for a temporary interim superintendent is scheduled as the final agenda item during the El Paso Independent School District’s upcoming Tuesday meeting. Back in 2011, the quick exit of then-superintendent Lorenzo Garcia caught many off guard. He was arrested on federal fraud charges. A chain reaction following Garcia’s leave put Dr. Terri

El Paso Police are investigating the alleged homicide of an 11-month-old girl in the 2600 block of Nations in Central El Paso, according to El Paso Police spokesman Javier Sambrano. Sambrano said 21-year-oldIrvin Aaron Gomez has been arrested and charged with Capital Murder in connection to thebaby’s death.Sambranosaid Gomez is not a relative but also

The Socorro Independent School District has a new superintendent. The president of the SISD board, Michael Najera, said their new pick for superintendent didn’t come easy. “We’re fortunate to have the two candidates that made the decision so difficult.” Dr. Joe Espinoza got the nod. The other candidate was Michael Sorum. School board members traveled

Don Haskins, one of the greatest coaches in college basketball history, died on Sept. 7, 2008 of congestive heart failure. He was 78. Haskins died at his home surrounded by friends and family. “It is a very sad time for all of us,” UTEP Director of Athletics Bob Stull said when Haskins died. “Don is

The Democrat and Republican candidates for the 16th Congressional District will both speak at a luncheon today. The Rotary Club of El Paso is hosting Democrat Beto O’Rourke and Republican Barbara Carrasco during its weekly lunch meeting Thursday. The meeting is at noon at 333 North Oregon Street at the El Paso Community Foundation offices

Have the television networks done away with political convention coverage? One ABC-7 viewer says it’s getting hard, or even impossible to find. “Why wasn’t the Republican convention aired,” asked our viewer Gabriel. There are two answers to his question. The technical answer is that Gabriel didn’t tune in when the coverage was on. ABC and

Jurez municipal officials confirmed August 2012 marked the fewest number of murders in Juarez in the past five years. According to El Diario 34 people were murdered in August but the months-old remains of four people were also discovered. Juarez officials have not yet confirmed El Diario’s report of 34 people murdered in August. Jurez

President Barack Obama signed the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 into law on Monday, providing a wide-ranging package of benefits to military personnel and enacting new restrictions on protests of service member funerals, according to a Huffington Post article. Th Associated Press reports that the law bans protesting

El Paso police arrested two people in connection with the manufacture and delivery of crack cocaine. According to a release, 23-year-old Andre Jones and 21-year-old Suzi Gangnier were arrested Friday evening. The central tactical unit and the narcotics unit discovered 34 grams of crack cocaine in the bedroom of a house on the 1900 block

After six days in court, attorneys Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds were found guilty of contempt of court Saturday afternoon by visiting Judge Juanita Vasquez-Gardner. Caballero was convicted of nine counts of contempt of court and Leeds was convicted of five counts. Neither face jail time Caballero, originally fined $5,000, saw her fine reduced to

ABC-7 reporters Matthew Smith and Maria Garcia provided extensive coverage of the Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds contempt of court trial through Twitter on the last two days of the trial. Read the tweets with oldest at the bottom to most recent at the top. Caballero found guilty of 9 counts of contempt and faces

A house fire broke out Sunday morning, leaving two people without a home, fire officials said. Fire crews were sent to a house fire on the 5800 block of Burning Tree Drive just before 5 a.m., according to a release. Heavy smoke was seen pouring from the attic space, and a total of 21 firefighters

El Paso goes up in flames twice in a matter of hours. It appeared firefighters put out the flames at around 5 a.m. Sunday, but hours later, the electrical fire flared back up for second time. A fire department spokesman said two people were inside the house when the fire started but they escaped unharmed.

Worried nursing students packed the board of regents’ room at New Mexico State University to capacity and beyond. With students lining the walls and filling the hallways, Doa Ana Community College President Margie Huerta updated the board on the nursing program’s accreditation issues. Members of the board responded by saying they didn’t even know the

Eduardo Hernandez’s family has decided to keep the 22-year-old crash victim on life support until his organs can be donated. Hernandez’s sister, Zulema Avila, said when she saw police officers outside her door around 6 a.m. on Saturday, she knew her little brother was in trouble. Their presence signified something much worse, she said, than