Month: February 2018

College football has meant a lot to Las Cruces quarterback Payton Ball. And now he can say he is a college football player. Ball signed his letter of intent Wednesday at Las Cruces High School to continue his career at Abilene Christian University. “Ever since we were little, we were going to those Aggie games

There are some important questions still unanswered following Tuesday’s announcement that MountainStar Sports Group will be bringing a United Soccer League team to El Paso. At the top of the list, where will the stadium be built? “We haven’t had any discussion about that. That is MountainStar’s call. So they are going to have to

CISD Police Department and campus administrators to held a safety and security meeting Wednesday. The district explained to parents what steps they are taking to keep their students safe. The meeting started off with a 17-second moment of silence for those killed in Florida’s school shooting but it quickly turned to introductions of sheriffs deputies

The mother of the U.S. boy whose body was found in Juárez last Tuesday was in El Paso Wednesday. ABC-7 reporter Julio Cesar-Chavez spotted the woman and said she was on her way to Juárez to pick up the boy’s body. Chihuahua state investigators revealed in a news conference last Wednesday that James Martin Camacho

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with information regarding the status of the vendors at the time they made the political contributions. ABC-7 has learned former El Paso School District President Dori Fenenbock, who is running for Congress, received campaign contributions from EPISD vendors while on the board. Campaign finance reports on the Federal

Investigators arrested and charged two people allegedly in possession of more than 25 pounds of cocaine. Police officers stopped 36-year-old Sarah Mendoza as she was driving a Lincoln Navigator hauling a small trailer. Mendoza was allegedly speeding 60 miles per hour in a 50 miles per hour zone on I-10 East. The traffic stop was

Blanca Cottman worked with special education students for over 30 years in different cities but spent her last 4 years as a special education teacher at Ysleta Pre-K in El Paso. Cottman passed away in December of last year after losing her 2-year battle with breast cancer, but her memory is being kept alive at

A social studies teacher barricaded himself inside a classroom at a Georgia high school on Wednesday and fired a handgun, sending students running outside or hunkering down in darkened gym locker rooms, authorities said. No Dalton High School students were in the classroom when the teacher fired the weapon, and despite the chaotic lockdown and

Attendance numbers plummeted following a number of shooting threats, evacuations and lockdown drills across Las Cruces Public schools on Friday, according to data from the district. The school with the most unexcused absences, by far, was Las Cruces High School. On Friday, more than 800 of the school’s 1,700 students were absent – almost half

More Metallica tickets for the Don Haskins Center will be released Thursday and Friday, the director of special events at UTEP told ABC-7. Many fans were concerned to see only a handful of seats in the Don Haskins Center seating chart Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, with many believing the the show is nearly sold

MountainStar Sports Group announced Wednesday it will be bringing a United Soccer League team to El Paso. “This is a big day for El Paso as we join cities like San Antonio and Phoenix who are already experiencing the excitement we are about to bring to El Paso,” Alan Ledford said. “We’re handing this over

A Las Cruces judge dropped one of five charges in a case against the Silver City district attorney suspected of driving her state vehicle erratically in June 2016. Francesca Estevez, the sixth judicial district attorney, represents Grant, Hidalgo and Luna Counties. According to records, a private citizen noticed Estevez’s vehicle swerving between lanes on June

Two burglaries within the span of six hours, on opposite sides of Las Cruces, cost business owners tens of thousands of dollars. “It was pretty frustrating,” said Chris Ortiz, head golf professional at Red Hawk Golf Club off Sonoma Ranch Boulevard. “We work so hard here day in, day out, every day.” Ortiz said the

In the wake of the deadly shooting rampage at a Florida high school, different discussions about school security are being held including arming teachers with guns. The El Paso Teachers Association tells ABC-7 they do not believe in arming teachers is a good idea. “That is not the solution to this ongoing problem that has

Walmart announced Wednesday that it will no longer sell firearms and ammunition to people younger than 21 and would also remove items resembling assault-style rifles from its website. The move comes after Dick’s Sporting Goods announced earlier in the day that it would restrict the sale of firearms to those under 21 years old. It

A student at Socorro Middle School allegedly had a handgun inside his backpack, a spokesperson with the Socorro Independent School District confirmed. A parent called ABC-7 to say he received a phone call from the district with a message stating the student was in custody and would be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the

The U.S. government has awarded a Montana-based company a contract worth more than $73 million to design and build replacement fencing along 20 miles (32 kilometers) of the U.S.-Mexico border in southern New Mexico, officials confirmed Wednesday. Existing vehicle barriers west of the Santa Teresa port of entry will be replaced with taller bollard-style barriers

A social studies teacher barricaded himself inside a locked classroom at a Georgia high school on Wednesday and apparently fired a single shot from a handgun, authorities said. No students were in the classroom at the time, and the only injury reported was a student who hurt their ankle running when Dalton High School was

A top immigration official said Wednesday that about 800 people living illegally in Northern California were able to avoid arrest because of a warning over the weekend by Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. “What she did is no better than a gang lookout yelling ‘police’ when a police cruiser comes in the neighborhood, except she did

A Texas prosecutor has dismissed 13 more cases against bikers stemming from a 2015 shootout in Waco involving bikers and police. McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna made the announcement Wednesday, a day before scheduled hearings for 10 of the bikers. Of the original 154 bikers indicted, prosecutors are still pursuing 128 cases. Reyna said

Authorities in suburban Houston’s Montgomery County say three people have been arrested and more are expected after a traffic stop led to discovery of an identity theft ring believed to have stolen nearly 2,000 documents involving at least 300 victims. According to court documents, sheriff’s officials pulled over a couple for speeding and found them

Women may not be getting the same medical care when it comes to heart attacks, according to an American Heart Association study published in its journal Circulation. Chest pain is the main heart attack symptom in both men and women, however Del Sol Medical Center Emergency Dr. Leo Loaiza said women often show additional signs.

Customs and Border Protection officers seized more than 900 pounds of marijuana at an El Paso port of entry over the last few days. Officials said there were 10 marijuana busts, with the largest individual bust at 205 pounds. Beverly Good, CBP El Paso Port Director said,”CBP officers perform a delicate balance of enforcing the

Owners of the Apple iPhone may have noticed an event they didn’t schedule on Friday, March 2. Apple has added the Hindu holiday of Holi to its users’ calendars. Holi will be celebrated on Thursday, March 1 and into the evening of Friday, March 2. Despite Holi being a Hindu festival that originated in India,

Sprouts Farmers Market is giving away free coupons and bags at its ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning. The grocery store’s opening ceremony is at 2340 East Lohman Ave. at 7 a.m. with several giveaways available: The first 200 shoppers in line will receive 20 percent off their first purchase Free muffin and coffee giveaway to everyone

Texas has long been a solid Republican state. But CNN has just moved Texas from solid Republican to likely Republican in the network’s Senate race ratings. Experts say the race to watch is the one predicted between El Paso Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. O’Rourke, a Democrat, is still considered an underdog

UTEP interim head coach Phil Johnson says guard Keith Frazier will not return to the team for the final two regular season games and will also not play in the Conference USA Tournament, effectively ending his time with the Miners. Frazier had not played in the team’s last five games and was not present this

Juan Velarde has been a taxi driver for eight years. He said his job changed when Uber came into town in 2014. “Those companies, they took some of our rides. That means less money for us,” Velarde said. He’s one of eight drivers who works for Andale Ride. A ride-sharing app started by local company

The security clearance of White House senior adviser and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner has been downgraded, significantly reducing his access to classified information, according to two people informed of the decision. Kushner had been operating with an interim clearance at the “top secret/sensitive compartmented information” level for more than a year. Now he is authorized

A new report released by Workforce Solutions Borderplex shows El Paso wages lag behind other major U.S. cities. However, the report also shows that things are getting better in the county. In 2012, the average weekly wage was $668 and the unemployment rate was 9.5 percent. Conversely, in 2017, the average weekly wage was $725