BY ANGELA KOCHERGA, EL PASO MATTERS EL PASO, Texas — Days before its official unveiling on Tuesday, El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego walked through the healing garden planted to honor the victims of the 2019 Walmart mass shooting. Since the hate crime that took the lives of 23 people and left dozens more injured, Samaniego
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UPDATE, Aug. 3: A federal judge in El Paso on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order prohibiting Texas Gov. Greg Abbott from carrying out plans to have state troopers stop vehicles suspected of carrying migrants. In siding with the federal government, U.S. District Judge Kathryn Cardone found Abbott’s order posed “irreparable harm” and went against
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By Ed Lavandera, Ashley Killough and Dakin Andone, CNN When Camila Fortuna went with her mother last week to a mobile veterinary clinic in Austin, Texas, she thought they were just getting shots for the family’s three chihuahuas, Cuca, Lilly and Tobi. But when they left, Camila, 13, had also gotten a shot: the first
Continue Reading By Keith Allen, CNN The man suspected of fatally shooting a 17-year-old who was a passenger in a vehicle on the way home from a Houston Astros baseball game last month has surrendered to authorities, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said Monday. Gerald Wayne Williams, 34, is charged with felony murder in the July 6
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As stricter rules and mask mandates return, frustration is building particularly among those who are fully vaccinated against coronavirus. CNN’s Dan Simon reports how some California residents say they feel they’re being punished for the inaction of others.
Continue Reading EL PASO, Texas – The Texas Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 1697, which gives parents the ability to withhold their child from advancing to the next grade in school. The new law contains both permanent and temporary components. Parents with children in 4th through 12th grades have the option to prevent their child from advancing,
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RELATED STORY: Willie Nelson, Beto O’Rourke rally with hundreds for voting rights at Texas Capitol (Editor’s note: Beto O’Rourke is an El Paso native, the former U.S. Congressman for the community and a former Democratic candidate for President of the United States. The views expressed in the below commentary distributed by CNN are his own.)
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AUSTIN, Texas — Hundreds of people packed the steps of the Texas Capitol on Saturday at a protest rally to make the end of a four-day march in support of voting rights. Country music legend Willie Nelson, himself a Texan, led spectators in singing “vote them out.” The 27-mile “Selma to Montgomery-style” march, which began Wednesday,
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KAUFMAN COUNTY, Texas — Video taken by a family member shows a Kaufman County sheriff’s deputy on top of an 18-year-old woman, and then arresting her mother during a police encounter on Tuesday afternoon in Forney, Texas. In the video, the woman being held down is heard yelling, “I can’t breathe.” The Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office
Continue Reading By Ashley Strickland, CNN When NASA returns humans to the moon, SpaceX will build the vehicle to land the first woman and next man on the lunar surface. The US Government Accountability Office denied protests that were filed by Blue Origin and Dynetics on Friday. The protests were filed by the companies in April after
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BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The Biden administration has resumed fast-track deportation flights of undocumented immigrants, Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed to The Washington Post. On Friday, two deportation flights left Texas’ Rio Grande Valley for Central America with 73 immigrants onboard. The planes were originally supposed to carry 147 adult and child deportees, but many were unable
Continue Reading DALLAS,Texas — A federal freeze on most evictions that was enacted last year is scheduled to expire Saturday, after the Biden administration extended the original date by a month. The moratorium put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September has been the only tool keeping millions of tenants in their
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC. — U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland threatened legal action against Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order targeting migrants in a Thursday letter, calling it “both dangerous and unlawful” and urging the governor to immediately rescind it. On Wednesday, Abbott issued an executive order restricting ground transportation of migrants “who pose a risk of
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DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said this week that it’s likely Iowa taxpayers will pay the cost of sending 28 Iowa Department of Public Safety officers to assist Texas officials at the U.S./Mexico border from July 10 through 20. Public Safety Commissioner Stephan Bayens estimated the total cost at around $300,000 but said $100,000 of that
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UPDATE, July 29: AUSTIN, Texas — Church leaders and former Democratic El Paso Congressman Beto O’Rourke continued leading a nearly 30-mile voting rights march in Texas on Thursday. The walk began Wednesday with nearly 100 participants, including prominent civil rights activist Bishop William Barber, in suburban Austin and is scheduled to end this weekend at
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OXNARD, California — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott was listed Thursday as day-to-day because of a right shoulder strain after leaving training camp practice on Wednesday with a sore throwing arm. Prescott had an MRI that revealed the muscle strain but said he “didn’t see this as any kind of serious setback.” The 2016 NFL
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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Southeastern Conference university presidents voted Thursday to invite Texas and Oklahoma to the league and create a 16-team powerhouse on the field and at the bank. But how soon? The latest step in a move that has potential to help reshape college sports came two days after Texas and Oklahoma requested to join
Continue Reading WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. House Oversight and Reform’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Subcommittee held a hearing regarding voting bills in Texas on Thursday. The hearing entitled “Democracy in Danger: The Assault on Voting Rights in Texas” featured the testimony of several Texas lawmakers. They are among a group of Texas Democrats who flocked
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HOUSTON, Texas — ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill, one of the Texas blues trio’s bearded figures, his died at the age of 72. ABC affiliate KTRK reported that Hill died in his sleep Wednesday at his home in Houston. A cause of death wasn’t given, but a July 21 post on the band’s website said
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LA PORTE, Texas — At least two people were killed and dozens were injured after an acetic acid leak at the LyondellBasell facility near La Porte, which is part of the Houston metropolitan area, officials said Tuesday. “The leak has been isolated, and air monitoring at the facility perimeter indicates no offsite impact. There is
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AUSTIN, Texas — A Texas National Guard deployment along the U.S.-Mexico border will start helping troopers make arrests, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday, as the state begins filling a formerly empty prison with migrants accused of trespassing. Abbott said the Guard would “assist” troopers with arresting migrants on state charges but offered no details
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ARLINGTON, Texas — Republican Jake Ellzey of Texas won a U.S. House seat on Tuesday night over rival backed by Donald Trump, dealing the former president a defeat in a test of his endorsement power since leaving office. Ellzey’s come-from-behind victory over Republican Susan Wright, the widow of the late Rep. Ron Wright, in a
Continue Reading BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Texas and Oklahoma made a request Tuesday to join the Southeastern Conference — in 2025 —- with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey saying the league would consider it in the “near future.” The wheels are in motion for a monumental move in college sports, but the Longhorns and Sooners are not yet free
Continue Reading By Jamie Gangel and Chandelis Duster, CNN Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in his bid for re-election, snubbing George P. Bush despite his firm support after Trump has belittled some members of the Bush family. “Ken is strong on Crime, Border Security, the Second Amendment, Election Integrity and, above
Continue Reading By Diksha Madhok, CNN Business Jeff Bezos wants to spot NASA up to $2 billion in a bid to reignite the battle for space between his rocket company Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX. The world’s richest man appealed to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson in an open letter Monday, offering to cover billions of dollars
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KERMIT, Texas — A Horizon City man was one of two semi-truck drivers killed in a fiery weekend crash when their 18-wheelers collided on a west Texas highway, state troopers said Monday. Investigators identified 68-year-old Gilberto Uresti of Horizon City and 58-year-old Jose Alonso-Montelongo of Del Rio as the deceased truckers in Saturday’s crash along
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DALLAS, Texas — El Paso native and FC Dallas forward Ricardo Pepi has been voted the Major League Soccer Player of the Week for Week 15 of the 2021 MLS season. Pepi became the youngest player to ever score a hat trick in MLS at 18 years and 196 days old in FC Dallas’ 4-0
Continue Reading FRISCO, Texas — Led by El Paso native Ricardo Pepi’s three-goal performance, Dallas FC secured a 4-0 victory over the LA Galaxy on Saturday night. The 18-year-old Pepi became the youngest player in Major League Soccer history to net a hat-trick with the performance. Pepi notched the first goal for Dallas (3-7-5) in the 27th
Continue Reading By Rachel Trent, CNN Some freaky-looking creatures are out looking for mates this summer. And no, we’re not talking about the contestants on “Sexy Beasts.” Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas is alerting visitors that summer rains are bringing arachnids called vinegaroons “out of their burrows in search of food and love.” These three-inch
Continue Reading By Priscilla Alvarez, CNN US Customs and Border Protection is terminating two border wall contracts in the Laredo sector that cover approximately 31 miles, the Department of Homeland Security announced Friday. In one of his first actions in office, President Joe Biden ordered a pause on wall construction and called for a review of projects
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