Month: July 2014

El Paso’s first City Manager will step down at the end of the work day on Tuesday, May 20. City Council will vote to approve hiring Tommy Gonzalez at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. “Even though his contract is effective June 23, he will be on board, informally, immediately next week and a couple of days

County Commissioners in a meeting May 15 voted to terminate Rosemary Neill, the head of the department that oversaw the now-cancelled Vamonos vanpool program. The program had been funded through the state, but that funding was cut off this month because the County failed to comply with underlying federal regulations. It was a serious oversight

It will be a busy weekend for soon-to-be graduates and families of three area colleges and universities. Texas Tech, El Paso Community College and the University of Texas at El Paso will hold their spring commencement ceremonies. Texas Tech Paul L. Foster School of Medicine Spring Commencement is Friday at 6pm at the Plaza Theatre.

Around the world in 360 degrees. The travels of Alex Chacon, 26, are going viral. The El Pasoan has spent the last three years on the road, documenting his international trips and posting the pictures and videos online. He spoke over the phone to ABC-7 Thursday from Austin about his three-minute video that is creating

The race for two Democrats running for a Justice of the Peace seat is heating up. ABC-7 met with candidates Sergio Coronado and Brian Kennedy on Thursday, who are both on the ballot in this month’s runoff election for Precinct 7. “You can do a lot of good in this position, but you can also

The El Paso Independent School District’s 2014-2015 budget will be finalized and approved in June. We’ve covered the district’s looming $17 million budget deficit. While combing through their finances, ABC-7 came across some surprising information. “Which campus do you think spends the most per student?” ABC-7’sAshlieRodriguez asked different students at various high school campuses. The

May 2014 story: Fort Bliss’ command sergeant major dies from wounds suffered in Afghanistan Command Sgt. Maj. Martin R. Barreras died Tuesday at San Antonio Military Medical Center in San Antonio of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire on May 6, 2014 in Afghanistan. Barreras, 49, of Tucson was

El Paso Police are still looking for burglars who vandalized a maintenance helicopter and a jet fuel tanker in the Franklin Mountains in northeast El Paso on Wednesday. The interior of the Heliqwest “Ranger” had been sprayed with the helicopter’s fire extinguisher. All of the chopper’s windows and its windshield were smashed. Written on the

The final days of Vamonos Vanpool, an El Paso County sponsored program meant to reduce traffic and pollution, are here. County Commissioner Pat Abeln says the Vamonos Vanpool program operating since 2008 had good intentions, but didn’t work out as planned due to poor management. “TxDOT has indicated that the county is not meeting Federal

There is final confirmation that the Lincoln Center will be demolished. The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) has been talking about tearing down the building to make way for freeway expansion. A group of El Pasoans have been trying to save the Lincoln Center, arguing it’s part of El Paso’s history. It housed the first

The saga of the burrowing owls at New Mexico State’s Aggie Memorial Stadium is not over. Dr. Martha Desmond, avian ecologist at NMSU, has been studying burrowing owls for 20 years. She says the owls nesting in the stadium will stay there until the young are old enough to fly. There are typically eight eggs

With finals for UTEP students going on all this week, the university’s residence life office put together a special version of midnight breakfast for students. Students were treated to breakfast specialties like bacon, potato and chorizo breakfast pizzas as well as staples like cereal, milk and orange juice. The event itself was held on the

There was some confusion over how El Paso’s City Council was able to announce its top choice for city manager when there was no vote. Mayor Oscar Leeser told the media Monday that City Council had discussed in executive session the conclusions of the committee that interviewed the city manager candidates and “came to a

During the Otero County commission special meeting Monday morning, resident Denise Lang made comments in support of the United States Forest Service‘s reinforced fencing and locked gates on the Agua Chiquita. Commissioner Ronny Rardin and others are taking the ranchers’ side, by saying the forest service has overstepped its authority, by installing the fencing on

University Medical Center’s leader has expressed concern about University Medical Center losing staff and paying patients to the new teaching hospital in West El Paso. In a newsletter last week, UMC President and CEO, Jim Valenti wrote the new hospital is a “great development” that does not signal a weakening of UMC’s 40-year partnership with

El Paso County Commissioners unanimously voted Monday to cancel the “Vamonos Vanpool” program, but taxpayers may still have to pay more than half a million dollars for it. The county was paying for the program through grants from the Texas Department of Transportation, but county employees failed to turn in required reports to the state.

Police say multiple people were injured when a sedan and a jeep crashed into each other early Monday morning. The incident happened just after midnight near the intersection of Montwood and McRae. The jeep had rolled over during the incident. An exact figure on how many people were injured was not available from emergency crews.

Interstate 10 westbound and eastbound are reopened after two construction workers died after a suspected drunk driver crashed into them while they were performing construction on I-10 East early Sunday morning, according to El Paso Police Department. TX-DOT said construction on the Spur 1966 has been halted because the of the crash and windy weather

Crews were back at work Monday morning at the site of the Spur 1966 construction where two of their own were killed. More than a dozen workers gathered at about 6 a.m. shortly before they went about their duties. Over the weekend they were supposed to complete the overpass that will connect Paisano Drive to

UPDATE 6:00 P.M.: El Paso Sheriff’s deputies tell us one person is dead after a rollover in far east El Paso. Her name isLaura Hurtado, 25. Deputies say it happened in a desert area off John Hayes between Pebble Hills and Montwood on Jobe Road. Deputies say a Nissan 350z rolled over. Three people were

Friday night Southwest University Park didn’t have a triple-a baseball game but Ciudad Nueva wanted to score a home run. “This is really an opportunity to spread the word draw in new people. It’s a fund raising event so we would love to raise a lot of money to be able to run all our

El Paso Independent School District Superintendent Juan Cabrera announced his reorganization plan Friday, which outlines his strategy for tackling declining enrollment and a $17 million budget deficit. Cabrera said his plan revolves around an indefinite hiring freeze for non-campus positions and consolidating responsibilities for top-level employees rather than eliminating teaching jobs. A district spokeswoman said

A 24-year-old man has been charged in the shooting death of a friend. El Paso Police have arrested Enrique Torres, of the 1100 block of Night Hawk, with criminally negligent homicide after his friend is shot while handling a loaded pistol. Police say that on April 11, 2014, 29-year-old Gerardo Sanchez, along with Torres, were

Neighbors in east El Paso woke up early Friday morning to find a truck had crashed through their rock wall. This happened around 1 a.m. on the 3600 block of Dominican. The truck was removed from the scene after police searched it. ABC-7’s Round the Clock news team heard radio scanner traffic that indicated some

Emotions ran high as the Central Appraisal District Board of Directors adopted its budget Thursday. The C.A.D. looked to adopt a $13 million budget, but the board ended up adopting a tighter one at $12.7 million. That came at the cost of employee pay increases and other benefits. It’s a move that frustrated many employees.

Ranchers in Otero County, New Mexico, will have to wait until Monday to see if commissioners pass a resolution that would allow the sheriff to unlock newly installed gates on the Agua Chiquita. The water supply for livestock in the area is between Sunspot and Timberon. The U.S. Forest Service recently installed new fencing and

May 9, 2014 Update: El Paso Police have taken a 14-year-old into custody in connection with the stabbing of another 14-year-old. The stabbing happened at about 3:30 p.m. May 8 on the 7400 block of Cielo Vista Drive, near Bonham Elementary. The officers found the juvenile offender at his residence and took him into custody.

A fight involving several East Montana Middle School students occurred off campus on Greg St. near the school, according to a Clint Independent School District official. An El Paso County Sheriff’s deputy responded to the incident, described as a “big fight,” by the sheriff’s office spokeswoman. The deputy did call for backup. “A sheriff’s deputy

El Paso Police have arrested a woman for filing a false burglary report on April 16. During the investigation police, learned that 26-year-old Brenda Ramos, of the 900 block of N. Zaragoza, allegedly filed a false police report to try and get her sister arrested due to a previous incident between the two. Police say

Leslee Ann Soliz, 24, of the 9800 block of Shining Star Court, is charged with one count of child abuse, a third-degree felony. Las Cruces Police say that Soliz took her daughter Iris to MountainView Regional Medical Center on May 2 for what was first described as an adverse reaction to new medications.Hospital personnel conducted