Editor’s note: For transparency, ABC-7 added full interviews with El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and Precinct 2 Commissioner David Stout. You can watch them by scrolling through the videos above. You can also watch Samaniego’s full interview here, and the full interview with Stout here. To clarify, the public records reviewed cover travel planned
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) –The El Paso City Council voted 6-2 on Tuesday to direct the city manager and city attorney to develop a policy to safeguard taxpayers from covering public safety and venue costs when candidates visit the city on the campaign trail. The policy would include an upfront deposit to cover projected event
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso City Council Representative Lily Limón is planning to propose a new policy at next Tuesday’s City Council meeting that would prevent taxpayers from covering public safety and venue expenses associated with political campaign visits. The proposal was prompted by an ABC-7 investigation that revealed the City of El Paso
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Seven years after thousands crowded the El Paso County Coliseum to see then-President Donald Trump campaign for re-election, the El Paso City Council has renewed its efforts to collect on a half-million-dollar bill for services related to the rally. However, collecting payments may be more complex than they thought. Records obtained by ABC-7 reveal that the City of El Paso
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is seeking an opinion from the Texas Attorney General’s Office on whether it must release records requested by ABC-7 related to discussions with El Paso County about managing the County Coliseum and Sports Tourism program. The records request follows a tip ABC-7 received
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso County has released records detailing communications over a seven-month period between a county official and an executive from the University of Texas at El Paso regarding Coliseum management and sports tourism. The records were released in response to an open records request filed by ABC-7. The documents primarily contain
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Records obtained by ABC-7 reveal that the City of El Paso has hired an outside attorney to investigate two complaints filed against now former Zoo Director Joe Montisano. That private investigation has been going on since July — well before Montisano was placed on paid administrative leave on September 22, records
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A family court judge has removed herself from a child custody case involving well-known government watchdog and University of Texas at El Paso associate professor Max Grossman, according to court records obtained by ABC-7. The records show 383rd District Court Judge Lyda Ness Garcia filed paperwork Monday morning voluntarily recusing herself
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Coach responds to reprimand: “The incidents that were reported I could not even imagine.” EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says a report by an Austin law firm hired by El Paso ISD to investigate hazing allegations in Franklin High School’s football program can be withheld from the public under the state’s
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — An ABC-7 investigation shows longtime Franklin High School head football coach Daren Walker was reassigned while being investigated for slapping a player on the back of the head at a fundraising meeting, according to newly obtained records. The outcome of the investigation prompted Franklin High School Principal Amanda Bowser to
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — An ABC-7 investigation has uncovered what’s being described in an investigative report as “inappropriate physical conduct linked to hazing” among teammates on the Franklin High School football team. The school launched its investigation in October 2024 after Franklin High School Principal Amanda Bowser received two anonymous letters alleging hazing was happening
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) –Court records show the City of El Paso’s Chief Military Officer for the Division of Veteran and Military Affairs was charged with DWI. According to court records obtained by ABC-7, Paul Albright faces a charge of driving while intoxicated after he was pulled over on February 24. According to the city’s website,
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso City Council wants to develop a training that sets parameters for elected officials on how they use their staffers during election season. On Tuesday, council members took up an item in executive session that involved an investigation involving a former elected official. City spokeswoman Laura Cruz-Acosta declined to say
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EL PASO, TEXAS (KVIA) — The new year is here, and that means several laws passed during the 2023 legislative session will take effect in Texas on Wednesday. ABC-7 compiled a list of some of the new laws that take effect New Year’s Day. Vehicle inspection reports no longer required Non-commercial vehicles won’t need a full
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — With less than two weeks until polls open in the General Election, Mayoral Candidate Brian Kennedy sent out an election mailer saying his opponent’s company, Management and Engineering Technologies International, Inc. (METI), was found liable for the firing an El Paso man because he is Mexican.The mailer was sent out
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The Texas Attorney General’s Office on Friday sent a letter to Canutillo Independent School District’s director of communications demanding he comply with the state’s Public Information Act. This, after failure to respond to open records requests –and even the attorney general’s own investigators, according to the letter. “Due to the district’s pattern
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include Rep. Chris Canales’ response to ABC-7. EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso City Representative Brian Kennedy is looking to transfer tens of thousands of dollars from his discretionary fund back to the city’s general fund. Kennedy, who is also running for mayor, is asking council to approve the
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Brian Kennedy, El Paso city representative for District 1, announced he is officially running for El Paso mayor in 2024. “I don’t want a ringside seat at a train wreck. I want to make sure the train keeps rolling in the right direction,” Kennedy wrote on his campaign website that went
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — A change for those who are running for city office. El Paso’s City Council has approved making candidates report political contributions during public meetings, just like they do. Under the prior local ordinance, only city council members were required to report campaign contributions of $500 or more within a month of
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso city taxpayers paid thousands of dollars to find out whether City Rep. Brian Kennedy officially announced his run for mayor by saying he “was seriously considering” a run for the top seat. Earlier this week, members of the El Paso City Council came out of executive session and
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The City of El Paso is getting ready to close out its contract with the El Paso Zoological Society and questions remain about how much money was raised from the Society selling zoo memberships. According to the agreement between the City and Zoo Society, the non-profit got 75% of the membership
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) —The FBI in El Paso has confirmed to ABC-7 that it investigated allegations of excessive use amongst city representatives’ taxpayer-funded gasoline cards, and the case is now in the hands of federal prosecutors. “The El Paso Field Office conducted a thorough investigation into the allegations and subsequently presented the comprehensive results and
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Editor’s Note: The story has been updated to include a response from Judge Marlene Gonzalez to ABC-7’s inquiry regarding redaction vs. sealing of records. EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The divorce case of current City Representative and mayoral candidate Cassandra Hernandez may be closed, but it raised questions of transparency and resulted in her endorsement
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon has filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming it and some of its former and current staff members harassed and intimidated him following a gasoline card audit done by his office. That audit found “excessive” use of two city representatives’ taxpayer-funded gasoline cards. Calderon is seeking between $250,000 and $1 million dollars in damages,
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — Texas’ capital murder trial against accused El Paso Walmart mass shooter Patrick Crusius is inching forward and it doesn’t come without a hefty price-tag for state taxpayers.Crusius, 25, of Allen, Texas, has already been convicted in federal court of killing 23 people and injuring 22 more inside the Cielo Vista Walmart on August 3, 2019.
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Editor’s note: Following the publication of this article, El Paso City Representative Cassandra Hernandez reached out to ABC-7 to say that Deborah Paz’s complaint against Kennedy and Annello has no connection to her or her campaign. Hernandez says Paz took a minimal role in her campaign after being hired by her campaign manager. While ABC-7
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EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — The City of El Paso’s Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon said his office has recently completed an additional gasoline card purchase analysis for council members. It includes prior years 2020 and 2021.But it is unclear if Calderon has shared the report with local law enforcement, or if he plans to provide them
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Lesley Engle is the content manager for ABC-7, the most-watched station in the El Paso area. She has spent the majority of her more than 20-year career in New England, overseeing news operations for ABC22 and FOX44, which cover Vermont, New Hampshire, and Northern New York. Engle has covered a wide variety of news and
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In a special meeting scheduled for Thursday morning, members of the El Paso City Council will be discussing a newly released audit that revealed two city representatives may have used their taxpayer-funded gas cards to fuel two or more vehicles. The meeting comes on the heels of the city’s Financial Audit and Oversight Committee (FOAC) meeting held on May 4 when Chief Internal Auditor Edmundo Calderon went over the audit
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Update: The city of El Paso’s Financial Oversight and Audit Committee will meet Thursday, May 4 to discuss the internal audit. EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) — El Paso City Mayor Oscar Leeser says an audit found inconsistencies in the usage of taxpayer-funded gasoline credit cards that are provided to city council members for city-related business. Read our initial article. In a phone interview with ABC-7, Mayor Leeser
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