5-31-13
Today i read about A Northeast El Paso man is accused of sending inappropriate photos of himself to someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, but who was actually an undercover federal agent. Efren Ulises Cavaness-Morales, 25, of the 8900 block of Lawson Street, is charged with attempted coercion and enticement and attempted transfer of obscene materials to minors. He is scheduled to attend a status hearing before U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama next week. Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations arrested Cavaness-Morales in March after he showed up at a West Side apartment complex after arranging to meet the girl there using text messages. According to a criminal complaint affidavit filed against Cavaness-Morales, he posted a personal ad on the Craiglist classified website in February with his cellphone number, asking to meet "a very hot woman who isn't afraid of anything," and that "age and weight aren't important, only hygiene." An undercover agent, posing as the 14-year-old girl, sent Cavaness-Morales a text stating her name was "Missy" and that she was 14 years old. Cavaness-Morales allegedly responded to the text by asking for photos. Agents also allege Cavaness-Morales sent the agent photos of his genitals and other graphic texts describing sex acts. The agent and Cavaness-Morales arranged to meet on March 1 at an apartment complex on North Mesa Street. The agent asked Cavaness-Morales to bring her aSnickers candy bar and a Diet Coke. When Cavaness-Morales arrived at the complex, agents allegedly found the soda and candy in his black Ford Focus. During an interview with agents, Cavaness-Morales initially denied knowing the girl's age, then later admitted he knew she was 14, and also admitted sending photos of his genitals, according to the affidavit. "Only 'Missy' and another gay man answered my ad," Cavaness-Morales is paraphrased in the complaint affidavit as allegedly telling agents. "I don't prefer girls over women, just she caught my attention." Cavaness-Morales has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free after posting a $10,000 bond. If convicted, Cavaness-Morales faces a sentence between 10 years to life in prison on each count. ICE officials said Cavaness-Morales' arrest was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide Homeland Security Investigation's initiative to protect children from sexual predators, including those who travel overseas for sex with minors, Internet child pornographers, criminal alien sex offenders and child sex traffickers. ICE agents ask the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity by calling 866-347-2423.
5-22-13
Today i read about a 2-year-old girl may have been abducted by father in 1997. Authorities say Nadia Rougebianni was only 2 years old when she went missing 16 years ago in El Paso. She is suspected of being a victim of parental abduction, and may have been transported to another country. Her father, 54-year-old Omar Rougebianni, who did not have legal custody of the child, took off with her, according to authorities. Nadia's father could be in Arbil, Iraq, where he has family. The father is described as 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighing about 165 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. Sahid and Awla are other names associated with the father. Nadia may be in need of medical care, but authorities did not disclose why. At the time of her disappearance, Nadia was 3-feet tall and weighed about 35 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. According to the Doe Network, Nadia Rougebianni is classified as an endangered missing person. Each year, thousands of children are reported abducted by noncustodial relatives, within the United States or to other countries. In case of a family-related abduction, contact local law enforcement immediately, and after that notify the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) at (800) 843-5678. NCMEC's Family Abduction Unit provides technical assistance and support for families, law enforcement agencies and lawyers. Support focuses on preventing family abductions and assisting in finding and recovering missing children nationally and internationally.
5-20-13
Today i read about The mug shot of a local high school teacher who was arrested was released Saturday morning. Bobby French is a teacher at Andress High School who was charged with having an inappropriate relationship with a student. On Friday, federal and local authorities executed a search warrant at his home, district officials said. Resident around French's home at 8613 Saratoga Drive were evacuated after special agents found suspicious devices during their investigation, according to Leticia Zamarripa, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "For precaution, they exited the house, requested the assistance of our bomb squad who's now here at the scene," said Mears. After searching the home filled with cars in the front yard, agents did not find threatening materials and people were allowed back into their homes after nearly four hours. "You know, as long as it doesn't come near my family, then we're okay, but this is too close for comfort," said Chris Valadez, one of French's neighbor. Renee Desantos, a spokesperson for El Paso Independent School District, said French was removed from his classroom and reassigned earlier this month to allow administrators to review the case and for police to investigate. French's bail was set at $100,000.
5-16-13
The Northeast Regional Park is about to get improvements because of the 2012 Quality of Life Bond Program.Starting in June, construction crews will build a skate park and additional parking spaces with landscaping.The cost of the project at 11270 McCombs will be $1.4 million. City Council members on Tuesday awarded the construction project to Medlock Commercial Contractors LLC.Improvements are expected to be completed by January, said Javier Reyes, division manager of the city's Engineering and Construction Management Department.Reyes said the project is the first one funded under the 2012 Quality of Life Bond Program. In November, voters approved issuing $473 million in quality-of-life bonds.City Rep. Carl Robinson, who represents the area, said he was delighted to learn the project is moving forward."This has been a long time coming in regards to the completion of that park," he said.Robinson said the Northeast Regional Park was started under the 2000 quality-of-life bond issue. The expansion of the athletic fields on that park will come later, Robinson said. The park has three athletic fields, and the plan is to add five more, city officials said.
5-9-13
Today i read about a jealous dad gets prison for shooting girl in head. A father indicted on charges he shot his infant daughter in the head after accusing the girl's mother of seeing another man was sentenced Thursday to 36 years in prison as part of a plea deal. Christopher Rains agreed to plead guilty to child abuse resulting in death, in exchange for prosecutors dropping first-degree murder and other charges that could have landed him in prison for much longer. Police said Rains, who was 22 at the time, pointed a pistol at the 9-month-old baby's head and pulled the trigger after an argument with then-18-year-old Ashley Trujillo in 2009. Rains then allegedly asked Trujillo whether her seeing another man was worth it, authorities said. He was indicted on nine felony counts, including first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. KOAT-TV reported that the family members of the infant, whose name was Trinity, were emotional after Rains entered his plea. The station said the child's mother, grandmother and uncle spoke out against Rains at the hearing."You robbed me of everything I ever loved," Trujillo said. "How dare you?" Rains expressed remorse."I know what I did was rottenly horrible. I have no excuse," he said. "There isn't a day (that) goes by I don't think about this. I deserve way more than I got today."
5-6-13
Today i read about a driver arrested after deputies' car struck. Two El Paso County Sheriff's deputies were injured when a man crashed into their patrol car Saturday. El Paso County sheriff's spokeswoman Angelica Becerra said that about 3 a.m, Samuel David Garcia, 23, was traveling south on Joe Battle in a Ford Mustang when he apparently ran a red light at Pebble Hills Boulevard and crashed into the patrol car, which was going west on Pebble Hills. After the crash, Garcia tried to run from the scene, but he was detained by deputies soon afterward, officials said.Garcia was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, authorities said.b Garcia, a passenger in the Mustang and the two sheriff's deputies were taken to a hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.Chihuahua state police rescued an abducted Juárez businessman and arrested seven alleged members of a kidnapping ring, officials said Friday. The 44-year-old businessman had been held for two days before he was rescued Thursday, when the anti-kidnapping unit raided a safe house in the Nuevo Hipódromo area where the man was being held, state prosecutors said.Police recovered ransom money that the man's family had paid to the kidnappers.
Five suspects were arrested at the scene, and two others were arrested hours later. Prosecutors said that in March the group also was responsible for kidnapping a 2-year-old girl who was held for 15 days at the same safe house.Officials identified those arrested as Jesus Domingo Armendariz Dueñez, 28; Alejandro Delgado Ayala, 19; Sara Elira Rendon Cabañas, 22; Jesus Esteban Martínez Rocha, 24; Luis Alberto Ontiveros Castañeda, 26; Javier Arturo Carbajal Carbajal, 26, who had worked for the businessman; and Kaory Mytzu Tuda Tuda, 24, who is a cousin of the kidnapped girl.Daniel Borunda Border agents rescue lost man Border Patrol agents are being credited with saving a man from Mexico who was stranded in the desert near Alamogordo on Wednesday. According to Border Patrol officials, agents were contacted by the family of Javier Molina, who had been walking through the desert when he became ill because of dehydration and exhaustion. He used his cellphone to call family members for help. Agents, with the help of the Office of Air and Marine in El Paso, found Molina about seven miles northeast of the U.S. 54 checkpoint near Alamogordo. Agents provided him medical care before taking him to an ambulance. He was taken to Gerald Champion Hospital in Alamogordo for treatment. A Border Patrol spokesman in El Paso said officials will wait until Molina recovers before establishing whether he was in the U.S. illegally.
Five suspects were arrested at the scene, and two others were arrested hours later. Prosecutors said that in March the group also was responsible for kidnapping a 2-year-old girl who was held for 15 days at the same safe house.Officials identified those arrested as Jesus Domingo Armendariz Dueñez, 28; Alejandro Delgado Ayala, 19; Sara Elira Rendon Cabañas, 22; Jesus Esteban Martínez Rocha, 24; Luis Alberto Ontiveros Castañeda, 26; Javier Arturo Carbajal Carbajal, 26, who had worked for the businessman; and Kaory Mytzu Tuda Tuda, 24, who is a cousin of the kidnapped girl.Daniel Borunda Border agents rescue lost man Border Patrol agents are being credited with saving a man from Mexico who was stranded in the desert near Alamogordo on Wednesday. According to Border Patrol officials, agents were contacted by the family of Javier Molina, who had been walking through the desert when he became ill because of dehydration and exhaustion. He used his cellphone to call family members for help. Agents, with the help of the Office of Air and Marine in El Paso, found Molina about seven miles northeast of the U.S. 54 checkpoint near Alamogordo. Agents provided him medical care before taking him to an ambulance. He was taken to Gerald Champion Hospital in Alamogordo for treatment. A Border Patrol spokesman in El Paso said officials will wait until Molina recovers before establishing whether he was in the U.S. illegally.
4-26-13
Today i read about El Paso police find cocaine, marijuana at Lower Valley warehouse. El Paso police narcotics officers made one of their largest drug seizures in recent years when they found a ton of marijuana and 77 pounds of cocaine inside a warehouse this week.Police officials on Thursday said that the drugs were seized during a raid late Monday night at a warehouse in the 1100 block of Diesel Drive in the Lower Valley. Officials said that there had been no arrests but that narcotics investigators expect to make several. Police said the drugs were thought to belong to a drug-trafficking ring based in El Paso that is responsible for smuggling drugs to the north and northeastern parts of the United States. Worth $4 million Investigators estimated the value of the drugs at more than $4 million. Because the investigation continues, a police spokesman would not say whether the huge drug stash was linked to a Mexican drug cartel. Police photos of the warehouse drug seizure show marijuana inside metal containers. For more than a year, border agents in the El Paso region have been stopping drug loads of "highly compressed" marijuana inside metal boxes that were hidden in vehicle gas tanks or elsewhere during cross-border smuggling attempts. The 2,000 pounds of marijuana seized on Monday is an unusually large "stash house" case. In recent years, area drug traffickers had switched to smaller drug stashes in a tactic to try to avoid detection, according to law enforcement sources.
4-24-13
Today i read about a drunk driver in Loop 375 crash that killed two teens. The 34-year-old man accused of causing the fatal crash that killed two teens allegedly had a blood alcohol concentration more than three times the legal limit, state prosecutors said Monday. Hector Tellez is on trial this week, charged with aggravated assault and two counts each of manslaughter and intoxicated manslaughter in the July 8, 2011, deaths of Aaron Carrillo and Jonathan "Jon" Cervoni, both 16, as the teens were helping a friend, Mark Dobbs, whose car had stalled on Loop 375. Dobbs, Carrillo and Cervoni were members of a Christian rock band, Ancient of Days, and had just played a concert at a Northeast El Paso church. Dobbs testified Monday, the first day of Tellez's trial, that he had been experiencing problems with his 1995 Nissan Sentra earlier that night. When the car stalled on his way home, Dobbs called Cervoni and Carrillo to help him. Cervoni, who was a student at Eastwood High, and Carrillo, who was a student at Montwood High, left the church in Cervoni's Honda Civic and parked on the shoulder of Loop 375 facing Dobbs' car to give it a jump start. Dobbs testified the jumpstart attempt didn't work. As Carrillo was in Cervoni's car, Cervoni was talking to Dobbs out of the passenger side of Dobbs' car. A witness testified that she was heading home on Loop 375 south when she saw a vehicle crash and roll over. She stopped to help, and noticed Tellez walking up an embankment where a blue Toyota Tundra truck, the vehicle that rolled over, apparently landed. The witness said she saw Tellez "staggering," and said she believed he was intoxicated.Assistant District Attorney Curtis Cox told jurors during opening statements Monday morning that Tellez's blood alcohol level was .29. The state legal limit is .08. Officers who responded to the crash scene testified Carrillo was thrown after Tellez allegedly crashed into the back of Dobbs' car. Carrillo, who landed 79 feet away, died at the scene.
4-22-13
Today i read about a man shot his girlfriend after she attacked him with a pair of knives, El Paso police officials said.Charges are pending against the 52-year-old woman, while police determined the 57-year-old man was acting in self defense when he shot his girlfriend in the arm.The woman was taken to University Medical Center for treatment with non-life threatening injuries, police said. The man had multiple and minor injuries to his face and hands, police said.The attack, which happened in a home in the 1200 block of Raynolds, started with an argument that escalated when the woman bit and punched the man in the face, police said.The man locked himself in a bedroom and could hear the woman threatening to kill him, police said. The man told police he heard the woman taking a knife out of a wooden block in the kitchen and decided to retrieve hiis gun.The woman broke through the door and charged at the man with two large knives, so the man fired at the woman's arm, police said.
4-18-13
Today i read about Walmart may build market at Chico's Tacos site in Central El Paso. Walmart wants to put its seventh El Paso Neighborhood Market grocery store at Montana Avenue and Chelsea Street in Central El Paso, but city planning officials won't support the proposal unless the retail giant reconfigures its site plan, a city official said.
A Chico's Tacos and the Montana Animal Clinic are located on part of the 3.1-acre site where the proposed, 35,500-square-foot Walmart supermarket would be located. It's across the street from an Albertsons supermarket, which is in the Chelsea shopping center. Much of the site is vacant land."We are not against the Walmart. We feel the site design is counterintuitive to the existing fabric of the area, and future proposed improvements" tied to a planned Rapid Transit (bus) System, said Carlos Gallinar, deputy director of planning for the city.The Planning Division has recommended that Walmart's rezoning request for the property, needed to build the store, be denied unless Walmart changes it site plan, Gallinar said. The Planning Division has asked Walmart to choose a different design with the store located closer to Montana, the parking lot reconfigured, and more landscaping put in as a buffer between the store and nearby homes, Gallinar said. Walmart has not yet responded to the city staff's request, he said.Walmart's rezoning request is scheduled to go before the City Plan Commission on Thursday at a meeting beginning at 1:30 p.m. It will be in the auditorium of the Main Library, 501 N. Oregon in Downtown.Kellie Duhr Gonzales, director of public affairs and government relations for Walmart, said in an emailed statement that the majority of people the company spoke to in the neighborhood near the proposed store were "excited about the possibility" of a new Walmart grocery store opening there."Many (residents) also said they would welcome Walmart as a catalyst for new growth in an area of town that needs revitalization," she said. "In addition, the Neighborhood Market would bring 65 jobs to the community." And not everybody was happy about the chicos being broke down to out a Wal-mart because they been eating Chico's there for years.
A Chico's Tacos and the Montana Animal Clinic are located on part of the 3.1-acre site where the proposed, 35,500-square-foot Walmart supermarket would be located. It's across the street from an Albertsons supermarket, which is in the Chelsea shopping center. Much of the site is vacant land."We are not against the Walmart. We feel the site design is counterintuitive to the existing fabric of the area, and future proposed improvements" tied to a planned Rapid Transit (bus) System, said Carlos Gallinar, deputy director of planning for the city.The Planning Division has recommended that Walmart's rezoning request for the property, needed to build the store, be denied unless Walmart changes it site plan, Gallinar said. The Planning Division has asked Walmart to choose a different design with the store located closer to Montana, the parking lot reconfigured, and more landscaping put in as a buffer between the store and nearby homes, Gallinar said. Walmart has not yet responded to the city staff's request, he said.Walmart's rezoning request is scheduled to go before the City Plan Commission on Thursday at a meeting beginning at 1:30 p.m. It will be in the auditorium of the Main Library, 501 N. Oregon in Downtown.Kellie Duhr Gonzales, director of public affairs and government relations for Walmart, said in an emailed statement that the majority of people the company spoke to in the neighborhood near the proposed store were "excited about the possibility" of a new Walmart grocery store opening there."Many (residents) also said they would welcome Walmart as a catalyst for new growth in an area of town that needs revitalization," she said. "In addition, the Neighborhood Market would bring 65 jobs to the community." And not everybody was happy about the chicos being broke down to out a Wal-mart because they been eating Chico's there for years.
4-16-13
Today i read about El Paso City Hall demolition cheered: Spectators line streets, rooftop garage El Pasoans watching the City Hall implosion up close felt the concussion and then cheered as the 10-story building tumbled into a pile of rubble. "Feliz año nuevo (Happy New Year)," a young male spectator yelled from the roof of the Union Plaza Transit Terminal parking garage in Downtown upon hearing the series of explosions. El Pasoans came out in droves to see the implosion. Spectators were hanging out before daybreak on hillsides, El Paso streets, and lofty perches in Downtown hoping to get a glimpse of the implosion that occurred precisely as scheduled at 9 a.m.About 150 spectators of all ages gathered at the Union Plaza garage on a brisk but sunny Sunday A woman covers her face Sunday as she joins other people gathered on Rim Road to watch the demolition of the former City Hall building. morning to witness the implosion, another step in transforming the space where City Hall stood for more than 30 years into a baseball stadium. The garage is just a couple of blocks away from what used to be City Hall."It was awesome. It's great to see change coming to El Paso," said Terry Lambourn, a West Side resident,Lambourn saw the implosion with her 10-year-old daughter, Abby, a fourth- grade student who said: "It was pretty cool. I just heard boom, boom, boom."Spectators brought cameras, lawn chairs, breakfast burritos, bagels and coffee, and even family dogs. Some were wrapped in blankets to repel the morning chill. Others shared stories with friends and family or sent text messages on iPads and smartphone to kill time. Dan Belcher, 62, the owner of Sun Belt Construction, photographed the City Hall implosion. He also took pictures of the demolition of two Asarco smokestacks a day earlier."It was pretty dramatic the way it came down," Belcher said about the City Hall implosion. "I was expecting more glass to fly but I didn't see it."Sergio Tinajero, 42, a West Side resident who works in commercial real estate, witnessed the implosion surrounded by friends and relatives in Downtown El Paso."It was very exciting to see all the windows shake," he said. "This was a one time event, very, very cool."Gustavo Farell, 52, an Upper Valley engineer who works with the masquerader in Juárez, was impressed with a worker covers his face while photographing the demolition site Sunday. How well the demolition went."I was surprised it was so quick -- 10 seconds. I couldn't believe it," Farell said.Rudy Romero, 61, a Clint teacher who lives in Ysleta, showed up at the Camino Real Hotel hoping to get a view from an upper floor. The hotel let guests and others view the implosion from various floors."I saw the building come up as it was being built," Romero said. "Down with the past and on with the new stuff."Mona Ortega, a Socorro resident, thought she might not find a good spot after repeatedly running into police barricades. She and her family wound up at the Union Plaza parking garage.For Ortega, the implosion brought back a bit of nostalgia of the four years she spent working in Mayor City Hall falls to the ground during its implosion Sunday morning. "It touched my heart," Ortega said. "This is a once in a lifetime thing probably in El Paso to see a building implode upon itself." Rachel Garcia, 48, a West Side substitute teacher and security officer, witnessed the back-to-back demolition of the two Asarco smokestacks on Saturday and then the City Hall implosion. She showed up at 5 a.m. to scope out a perfect lofty viewing spot at Tom Lea Park on Rim Road. "City Hall is not an old building but still it's a historic event," she said.Just minutes before the City Hall blast, a woman talking on a cellphone with a friend at the Union Plaza parking garage put all the hoopla in perspective. "It looks like a big ol' party," she said.
4-12-13
Today i read the former Asarco copper smelter site in West-Central El Paso is ready for the $1-million-plus demolition of two large smokestacks to take place near sunrise Saturday."Our team has been working very hard to prepare the site, and I think we left no stone unturned to make this demolition event as safe as can be done," said Roberto Puga, the trustee in charge of cleaning up and selling the 430-acre smelter site.
Most of the preparation work was done last week, and the installation of a huge water-mist system, one of the dust-control mechanisms, was completed this week, Puga reported.A 612-foot smokestack, about the height of a 50-story building, used at the site's long-closed lead smelter, will be demolished first with a blast of explosives.That will be followed about eight seconds later with a blast to demolish the iconic, 828-foot smokestack used for the copper smelter, which stopped operations in 1999. That 47-year-old stack, almost the height of a 70-story building, is visible for miles. It has the Asarco name painted on its side.
It's that stack that Sunland Park restaurateur Roberto Ardovino spent about a year leading an unsuccessful effort to try to save. Ardovino sees the smokestack as a historic landmark that could have anchored the site's eventual redevelopment.Come Saturday, Ardovino said, he plans to be out of town."I won't watch it," Ardovino said of the stacks' demolition. "It's a real low spot in El Paso history." There not satisfied that the demolition's dust won't cause environmental and health problems. He doesn't trust tests Puga's team had done on material samples taken from the stacks. Puga said the tests show the stacks contain no elements at a level that would pose a health or environmental risk during the demolition. State and federal environmental officials said they see no problems with the demolition plan.Ardovino said he's also worried winds will carry demolition-created dust off the Asarco site.The trustee's demolition plan states that demolition will be delayed if sustained winds of 15 mph or more, or wind gusts of 30 mph are occurring when demolition is to begin, now set for around 6:30 a.m. If the demolition were to be canceled Saturday, it would be rescheduled for the same time Sunday, Puga said. The only other thing that could stop the demolition is lightning, Puga said."I don't think anyone has done anything to this extent for dust control" on this type of demolition, Puga said. "We've spent a million-plus (dollars) on dust control. There will be a big dust cloud. But the goal is to keep the dust on the site itself."The demolition will cost an estimated $1.6 million to $2 million, Puga said. The actual demolition will cost about $400,000, and the rest of the costs are tied to dust control, he said. Those costs will be paid from $52 million that Asarco put in a trust for clean up of the site.Puga said the dust-control measures include putting a geo textile, cushioned liner on top of the ground in the smoke stacks' fall zone. It's like a thick, wool blanket and covered with clean soil, and then sprayed with a binding agent to keep the dust down, he said. As another dust-control measure, an adhesive-like material has also been applied to inside walls of each stack.
Most of the preparation work was done last week, and the installation of a huge water-mist system, one of the dust-control mechanisms, was completed this week, Puga reported.A 612-foot smokestack, about the height of a 50-story building, used at the site's long-closed lead smelter, will be demolished first with a blast of explosives.That will be followed about eight seconds later with a blast to demolish the iconic, 828-foot smokestack used for the copper smelter, which stopped operations in 1999. That 47-year-old stack, almost the height of a 70-story building, is visible for miles. It has the Asarco name painted on its side.
It's that stack that Sunland Park restaurateur Roberto Ardovino spent about a year leading an unsuccessful effort to try to save. Ardovino sees the smokestack as a historic landmark that could have anchored the site's eventual redevelopment.Come Saturday, Ardovino said, he plans to be out of town."I won't watch it," Ardovino said of the stacks' demolition. "It's a real low spot in El Paso history." There not satisfied that the demolition's dust won't cause environmental and health problems. He doesn't trust tests Puga's team had done on material samples taken from the stacks. Puga said the tests show the stacks contain no elements at a level that would pose a health or environmental risk during the demolition. State and federal environmental officials said they see no problems with the demolition plan.Ardovino said he's also worried winds will carry demolition-created dust off the Asarco site.The trustee's demolition plan states that demolition will be delayed if sustained winds of 15 mph or more, or wind gusts of 30 mph are occurring when demolition is to begin, now set for around 6:30 a.m. If the demolition were to be canceled Saturday, it would be rescheduled for the same time Sunday, Puga said. The only other thing that could stop the demolition is lightning, Puga said."I don't think anyone has done anything to this extent for dust control" on this type of demolition, Puga said. "We've spent a million-plus (dollars) on dust control. There will be a big dust cloud. But the goal is to keep the dust on the site itself."The demolition will cost an estimated $1.6 million to $2 million, Puga said. The actual demolition will cost about $400,000, and the rest of the costs are tied to dust control, he said. Those costs will be paid from $52 million that Asarco put in a trust for clean up of the site.Puga said the dust-control measures include putting a geo textile, cushioned liner on top of the ground in the smoke stacks' fall zone. It's like a thick, wool blanket and covered with clean soil, and then sprayed with a binding agent to keep the dust down, he said. As another dust-control measure, an adhesive-like material has also been applied to inside walls of each stack.
4-10-13
Today i read about 3 people have to serve sentences in Texas, Arizona. Three men sentenced to federal prison terms after pleading guilty to public corruption charges have been assigned to prisons in Texas and Arizona, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.The Bureau of Prisons website lists former Ysleta Independent School District board member Milton "Mickey" Duntley as an inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution Big Spring, located midway between El Paso and Dallas.El Paso law yer David Escobar, 64, is an inmate at U.S. Penitentiary Beaumont, about 100 miles east of Houston. The pris on has a satellite camp that houses minimum-security male inmates.And former El Paso County Commissioner and ex-city Rep. Larry Medina, 54, is incarcerated at U.S. Penitentiary Tucson, about 10 miles southeast of Tucson. The prison also has a satellite camp for minimum-security male inmates.Duntley and Escobar have scheduled release dates of Feb. 8, 2016, while Medina is set to be released April 16, 2014.In February, U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo sentenced Duntley and Escobar to almost 3å years in prison, and Medina to a year and four months in prison, for their roles in a scheme to corruptly steer more than $100 million in health-insurance business to county government and area school districts. Montalvo also ordered all three to pay fines and restitution. Escobar was ordered to pay $52,000, Duntley was ordered to pay $30,000 and Medina was ordered to pay $156,000. During the same sentencing hearing in February, former Ysleta school board member Linda Chavez was given five years of probation and ordered to pay $9,000. Escobar, Duntley, Medina and Chavez were among 11 indicted in the conspiracy to help Access HealthSource obtain contracts with the county and area school districts. All pleaded guilty except former Socorro Mayor and former Socorro Independent School District board Trustee Willie Gandara Sr., who is scheduled to go to trial in July on a charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.Those who pleaded guilty to various charges of fraud or violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, were Escobar, Duntley, Medina, Chavez, Access HealthSource spokesman Marc Schwartz, former Access President Francisco "Frank" Apodaca, former El Paso County Judge Luther Jones, former El Paso County District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez, and former SISD Trustees Charlie Garcia and Raymundo "Ray" Rodriguez.Last year, Montalvo sentenced Jones to five years in prison, and Sanchez to two years in prison. Schwartz, Apodaca, Garcia and Rodriguez are scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 14, after Gandara's trial. It is not known whether they will testify at the trial.
4-8-13
Today i read about an El Paso man arrested, charged with arson in Coronado Tower fire. Investigators have arrested and charged a 21-year-old man with a arson after he allegedly started a fire on the second floor of the Coronado Tower Saturday night that caused an estimated $1 million in damage.Kevin Rodriguez has been charged in the fire at 6006 North Mesa that started at about 8 p.m., fire officials said. Rodriguez was booked into El Paso County jail on one count of arson, a second-degree felony, fire officials said. His bail has been set at $250,000.After receiving reports of a fire inside the 10-story building, fire crews arrived and saw smoke on the first floor. When they entered the second floor, they encountered heavy smoke.Everyone safely evacuated the building and no injuries were reported.Arson investigators confirmed that the fire was intentionally set on the second floor inside a janitor's closet. Firefighters were able to contain the fire to the second floor, but that floor sustained major damage and the rest of the building had heavy smoke damage.About 18 fire units and 48 firefighters responded to the fire.A building, KFOX television studios, connected to Coronado Towers was also evacuated for safety precautions. That building was later cleared and occupants were allowed back inside.Fire crews are continuing to work on ventilating Coronado Towers and bringing the carbon monoxide readings down to a safe level, officials said. Once the levels are safe, the building will then be turned back over to the owners. The Health Department will also need to clear the building for the cafe on the first floor to reopen. It's unclear when tenants will be allowed to re-enter the building.Witnesses detained Rodriguez until El Paso Police Department and arson investigators arrived on the scene.
4-2-13
Today i read about EPISD to release forensic audit; Interim chief Vernon Butler, personnel issues will not be debated. The controversial El Paso Independent School District forensic audit, which is expected to detail which educators may have been a part of a districtwide test-cheating scheme, will be released Monday. The $800,000 audit by Weaver and Tidwell LLP, will be posted on the district's website by Monday afternoon, interim Superintendent Vernon Butler said.The audit is being released as a response to outcries from some parents and students, as well as County Judge Veronica Escobar, who criticized the removal of four high school principals and other school administrators because of the audit. Escobar, in a letter to Butler, asked that the audit be made public. And students rallying Friday on behalf of a principal asked the school district to let the principals know what they did wrong and why they were being removed. In response to the public pleas, Butler said he doesn't want to debate how the district handles personnel issues in the media. He classified all the moves as personnel issues, which by law can be kept confidential. In a statement, Butler said, "We understand the concern that the recent events have caused in the community. "The district is currently assessing personnel issues that may be connected to the illegal acts of the previous superintendent. These personnel actions are being handled with great care and any action as a result will not be made hastily. "There is a process, and the district is currently working with individuals affected to ensure that due process is followed. While we appreciate the county judge's efforts to share her concern with the district, these are personnel issues that will not be debated in the media." During the weekend, Escobar sent a strongly worded letter demanding that the principals be reinstated, that the school district release a draft of the audit to the public, that the district let the principals know what they are accused of, that Butler evaluate the firm that conducted the audit, and that he launch an investigation of any crimes that may have been committed. District officials had not released the audit findings, but were using it to make administrative changes within the district.
3-28-13
Today i read about UTEP bomb threat. Text messages effectively notifies students of threat. A calm Tuesday afternoon at the University of Texas at El Paso was abruptly disrupted.Between 15,000 and 20,000 students, faculty and staff had to leave campus immediately after UTEP officials issued an evacuation order by text message just before 2 p.m. because of a bomb threat.El Paso police officers closed access to campus at University Avenue and Oregon Street and state troopers guarded the school entrance at Sun Bowl Drive and University Avenue.Soon after the order was released, people crowded building halls, streets around the school were congested with cars trying to get out of the area, and Sun Metro buses lined up along Oregon Street to pick up students.Students said some faculty were seen checking classrooms to make sure the campus was cleared.Lorain Watters, a multimedia journalism student, was in class when she received the alert."Everyone in class got the message and we were looking at each other, like what should we do, it's telling us to leave, but the professor was still talking. He had no idea of what was going on," Watters said."So finally we said, 'We need to leave,' and he said, 'No, you don't, it's OK. But the students will be going back to school the following day.
3-26-13
Today i read about a violence that left 5 jailed after 12 slayings over weekend in Juárez. Juárez police have arrested five men linked to at least three of the 12 killings reported over the weekend. The officers also seized guns, including assault weapons, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.Those arrested were Sergio Iván "El Negro" Reséndiz Ramírez, 25; Jaime "El Ratón" Salazar Pulido, 42; Carlos Alberto "El Papo" Hernández Luna, 32; Orlando Hernández Terrazas, 32; and José Gabino "El Gabino" Méndez Cruz, 26. All were arrested Sunday afternoon after a shooting that killed three men in a house in the Granjas de Chapultepec neighborhood, in the southwest part of the city.The victims, in their 20s and 30s, have not been identified.According to police, an anonymous call reporting gunshots fired at the intersection of Cuarta and Grulla streets led officers to begin an investigation in the area.Three suspects were found driving a 1993 gray Jeep Cherokee in the Independencia II neighborhood. Two others were found traveling in a 1995 green Jeep Cherokee in another neighborhood.The officers seized four assault weapons including two AK-47s, five handguns, three bullet-proof vests and 750 rounds of ammunition that were in possession of the suspects, according to police.Authorities said the five men admitted to participating in the triple-homicide in Granjas de Chapultepec. Police said the men also confessed to several other slayings which took place over the weekend. According to the Chihuahua Attorney General's Office in Juárez there were two homicides on Friday, three on Saturday and seven on Sunday, making it the bloodiest weekend so far in 2013.In the last weekend of February there were nine killings reported the state attorney general's office. Among the recent victims was a couple found stabbed to death inside their home Sunday morning.Josefina de la Rosa Ramírez, 37, and Vidal Hernández Peñaflor, 40, were discovered in the bedroom of their house at Rinconada de las Torres neighborhood in South Juárez.Both victims had multiple knife wounds. Forensic experts found a kitchen knife at the scene, officials said.The state attorney general's office spokesperson, Arturo Sandoval, said this weekend's killings still represent only a fraction of those which occurred in recent years, when the average for a three-day period was often as high as 20.However, he admitted that in March of this year there has been a rise in the number of homicides. Since the beginning of March until Sunday there were 35 killings, while in February there were 25, and 26 in January.
3-15-13
Today i read about New pope is Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio From "the end of the earth," the Catholic Church found a surprising new leader Wednesday, a pioneer pope from Argentina who took the name Francis, a pastor rather than a manager to resurrect a church and faith in crisis. He is the first pontiff from the New World and the first non-European since the Middle Ages. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires who has spent nearly his entire career in Argentina, was a fast and fitting choice for the most unpredictable papal succession start to finish in at least six centuries. He is the first pope from the Americas, the first Jesuit and the first named Francis, after St. Francis of Assisi, the humble friar who dedicated his life to helping the poor. The last non-European pope was Syria's Gregory III during 731-41. "You know that the work of the conclave is to give a bishop to Rome," the new pontiff said as he waved shyly to the tens of thousands who braved a cold rain in St. Peter's Square. "It seems as if my brother cardinals went to find him from the end of the earth, but here we are. Thank you for the welcome.The 76-year-old Bergoglio, said to have finished second on early ballots when Pope Benedict XVI was elected in 2005, was chosen on just the fifth round of voting to replace the first pontiff to resign in 600 years. In the past century, only Benedict, John Paul This April 4, 2005 file photo shows Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, celebrating a Mass in honor of Pope John Paul II at the Buenos Aires Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bergoglio, who took the name of Pope Francis, was elected on Wednesday, March 13, 2013 the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, file) **EFE OUT** (Natacha Pisarenko) I in 1978 and Pius XII in 1939 were selected sooner. Francis' election elated Latin Americans, who account for 40 percent of the world's Catholics but have long been underrepresented in church leadership. On Wednesday, drivers honked their horns in the streets of Buenos Aires and television announcers screamed with elation at the news. "It's a huge gift for all of Latin America. We waited 20 centuries. It was worth the wait," said Jose Antonio Cruz, a Franciscan friar at the St. Francis of Assisi church in the colonial Old San Juan district in Puerto Rico. "Everyone from Canada down to Patagonia is going to feel blessed."The new pontiff brings a common touch. The son of middle-class Italian immigrants, he denied himself Pope Francis what do you think of the election of Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as the new pope? Read story. He is a good choice to renew the church amid scandals and upheavals.Great, it's time a pope from the Americas was chosen.I think the conclave should have elected a more progressive leader.Not sure, I will need to see his actions to decide.luxuries that previous cardinals in Buenos Aires enjoyed. He lived in a simple apartment, often rode the bus to work, cooked his own meals and regularly visited slums that ring Argentina's capital.
3-11-13
Today i read about A 41-year-old woman arrested in connection with a scam to swindle several El Paso parents in a princess party scheme is wanted by authorities, this time accused of stealing items from a woman whose husband was ill.El Paso County sheriff's deputies said Laura Gonzalez is wanted on a warrant for theft between $20,000 and $100,000, along with several other outstanding criminal warrants.Deputies said a 60-year-old woman reported that Gonzalez, whom the woman hired as a housekeeper while the woman's husband was hospitalized, stole several items from the home, including jewelry. The victim told deputies Gonzalez had been working for her since October 2010, but the victim had not seen or heard from her since December.Deputies said Gonzalez is the same woman who owned the Once Upon A Time Princess Party business and swindled parents in 2009. She reportedly offered to have women dressed as well-known Disney princesses attend children's parties for a fee. After she received the fee, the services were not provided.Gonzalez was featured as a Manhunt Monday fugitive in March 2010 and was eventually captured.In 2011, she pleaded guilty to one count of deceptive trade practice and received two years of probation. She was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims.In August, prosecutors filed a court motion to revoke her probation, and in December prosecutors filed a misdemeanor charge against her of assault causing bodily injury to a family member. In January she failed to attend a court arraignment on the assault charge, and a county court judge issued a warrant for her arrest.
3-7-13
Today i read about two Juárez media buildings, Diario de Juárez and Channel 44-XHIJ, were riddled with bullets early Wednesday morning in separate drive-by shootings. No one was injured at either site and an investigation has been launched, said Angel Torres, spokesman for the attorney general in Juárez. He said federal and state authorities are working together to investigate the attacks against the newspaper and television station. According to the Diario de Juárez website, its building was hit seven times by a group of men who shot at the building, on Paseo Triunfo de la República Avenue in the ProNaF area. The incident happened at about 1 a.m. Wednesday. Minutes later, Canal 44's television station was shot at several times, said Roberto Delgado, president of the Juárez Journalist Association. "An armed group, riding in a van, opened fire against Diario and fled," Delgado said in a telephone interview. "Later on, Canal 44 was also targeted, and we believe it was the same group." He said motives for the attacks remained unknown.Delgado, who works as a news correspondent in Juárez for Channel 9-KTSM in El Paso, said he ruled out organized crime's involvement because the shooters used a .45-caliber weapon, he said. The shooting happened two days after Jaime Guadalupe González, a website editor in Ojinaga, Chihuahua, was shot and killed."We are urging Chihuahua and federal officials to take the steps to protect journalists in Chihuahua," Delgado said. "We asked for more patrolling around media outlets to ensure journalists work safely."According to Delgado, the authorities don't bother to look into attacks against journalists in Juárez and Chihuahua."They just don't care," Delgado said.The shooting occurred as Diario de Juárez is celebrating 37 years of operation in Juárez.Pedro Torres, Diario's managing editor, couldn't be reached for comment.He was attending a meeting with Chihuahua Gov. César Duarte about the incident, newspaper staff said by phone.
3-5-13
Today i read about a former Chaparral High teacher pleads guilty to student-sex charge. A former Chaparral High School teacher has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of taking one of his students across state lines to have sex. Alfredo Arcadio Fernandez pleaded guilty Thursday to a charge of transportation generally. According to his indictment, the charge states Fernandez traveled with the 17-year-old student, who is not identified in the indictment, with intent to engage in sexual activity. A sentencing date has not yet been set, but will take place before U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama. According to a criminal complaint filed by federal prosecutors in the case, FBI agents became aware of a report filed with the Doña Ana County Sheriff's Department in April stating Fernandez and the student were possibly involved in a sexual relationship. The student accepted car rides from Fernandez, who was her teacher at the time, from Chaparral to a relative's home in Canutillo. The student lived with the relative, and Fernandez also lived in Canutillo. Fernandez and the student eventually began having a sexual relationship between late March 2012 and early April the same year. Communication between the two consisted of more than 4,000 text messages sent between the two, including sexually explicit images the girl sent of herself to Fernandez. The girl's family learned of the relationship and informed Chaparral school officials April 4.Fernandez was placed on leave the same day. On April 18, FBI agents took over the case because the crime transpired over state lines. In August, officials with the Gadsden Independent School District told the El Paso Times that a contract with Fernandez, who was a social studies teacher and assistant football coach, was not renewed and he was still on administrative leave when his contract expired.
3-1-13
Today i read about El Paso jury finds Brian Engleton guilty for murdering his wife. State district court jurors Wednesday found Brian Anthony Engleton, 43, guilty of murder in the stabbing death of his estranged wife, Deidre Engleton, in 2011. After jurors read the verdict, family and friends of Deidre Engleton held each other and whispered to each other, "Thank you, Jesus," while wiping away tears. Brian Engleton showed no emotion. He was convicted of stabbing the victim more than 30 times in her Northeast hair salon in the 5200 block of Antonio Street on June 16, 2011. After the verdict, District Court Judge Maria Salas-Mendoza ordered that the trial continue with the sentencing hearing.Engleton faces five to 99 years or life in prison.After hearing witnesses testify against him during the sentencing part of the trial, Engleton told his defense attorneys and the judge that he wanted to testify.Engleton had initially chosen not to testify.But after listening to several witnesses, including a police officer who testified that Deidre Engleton had gone to report an incident in which Brian Engleton allegedly threatened her with a gun, Engleton expressed his dissatisfaction with his attorneys.
2-27-13
Today i read about Nine people that were killed over the weekend in Juarez over the weekend, making it one of the bloodiest weekends so far in 2013 after a drastic reduction in homicides this year. The victims all men ranging in age from their 20's to 50's, were killed under different circumstances with either a firearm or a bladed weapon, according to the Chihuahua Attorney General's office in Juárez. One of the homicides occurred on Friday, five on Saturday and three more on Sunday. The victims died or were found dead inside a house, a car, a hospital, on a street or a vacant lot in different parts of the city. None of the murders were related and not all of them were linked to organized crime. The killings over a three-day period come after the discovery of the bodies of a man and a woman inside a charred vehicle parked in the Manuel Valdez neighborhood last Wednesday. The man's body was decapitated and his head was found on top of the car, a 1990 Jeep Cherokee, according to state officials. Forensic experts did not know the victims' ages nor could they provide other details in that case. Since the beginning of 2013 there have been fewer than 50 murders, according to the state attorney general's office. In January there were 26 murders and in February, up until last Sunday, there were 22, the agency's stats show. The number of homicides so far in 2013 represents a fraction of murders which occurred during the same period in 2012. Last January there were 118 murders, and in February 82 homicides were reported.
2-25-13
Today i read about a woman killed in stabbing in South Central El Paso. A 32-year-old woman was stabbed to death and two others were wounded Saturday in a South Central El Paso apartment. At about 4 a.m., police were called to an apartment complex in the 600 block of Florence Street. When police arrived, they found that three people had been stabbed inside an apartment. The victims were a man and a woman, both 32, and another woman, 30.The man and the 30-year-old woman were taken to the University Medical Center with non-life-threatening wounds.Police did not release the name of the victims.Police spokesman Javier Sambrano said an arrest has been made, but wouldn't provide further information.Earlier he had said police believed the suspect knew the victims. Residents in the neighborhood awoke to find Florence and Father Rahm Avenue blocked off by police. Parents who were taking their children to La Fe Preparatory School stood across the street and watched as police conducted the investigation. Resident Refugio with five at the same time last year. said he had just finished taking his wife to church and was relaxing at home when his daughter told him to go outside. "And that's when I saw all the police," Castruita said from his backyard. "I don't know, this is a real quiet area. I've lived here for 30 years and it's a very calm neighborhood. I recognize the people that live there, and they all seem to keep to themselves. "The woman's death is the second homicide in 2013, compared with five at the same time last year.
2-21-13
Today i read about an El Paso man already in jail is suspect in 3 robberies. A 25-year-old man who was in jail in El Paso on a family violence warrant from Harris County is suspected of committing three robberies with a toy gun in December, police said Wednesday. Jeremy Scot Strawhun is thought to be responsible for the robbery of a man at gunpoint about 9 p.m. Dec. 28 in the 700 block of North Glenwood, for the robbery about midnight that day at a 7-Eleven store in the 6100 block of Trowbridge, and for another robbery at the same 7-Eleven about 1:10 a.m. Dec. 29, police said. Strawhun used a gun to take money, beer and tobacco products. He was arrested after members of the El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Unit developed information and police interviewed him. Investigators were also able to locate a toy gun they believed was used in the robberies. The gun looks real at first glance. Strawhun was rebooked into the El Paso County Jail on suspicion of three robberies, and his bond was set at $304,000.
2-19-13
Today i read about El Paso police seek former Eastwood HS coach suspected of improper relationship with student. El Paso-area law enforcement officials are asking for help in finding a former Eastwood High School coach and teacher suspected of having an improper relationship with a student. The search for the coach, Christopher Miranda, 24, is the focus of this week's Manhunt Monday fugitive profile. Officials said Miranda is wanted on three counts of improper relationship between educator and student, and two counts of sexual assault of a child. They believe Miranda is still in the area and hiding from law enforcement. A spokeswoman with the Ysleta Independent School District said Monday that after administrators were notified about the charges, Miranda was immediately placed on administrative leave, and police and Child Protective Services were notified. Miranda has since resigned from the district. He is described as 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 180 pounds with brown hair and eyes and a medium build.
2-12-13
Today i read about a suspect allegedly confessed twice to 1977 killing of Fort Bliss Army officer. The 54-year-old man accused in his stepfather's 1977 slaying allegedly confessed to the crime twice to his half-brother once in the early 1990s, and again in 2010 -- according to a complaint affidavit released Monday by El Paso County sheriff's investigators. Roger Evan Garrett and his mother, Lisbeth Garrett, 74, are each facing a murder charge in the Jan. 3, 1977, death of Maj. Chester Garrett. Roger Garrett was arrested Thursday in Knoxville, Tenn., while Lisbeth Garrett was arrested at her home in the 8900 block of Gallic Court in East El Paso. Chester Garrett, 35, was a decorated Army officer stationed at Fort Bliss and a Green Beret. He also coached Little League baseball and boys basketball. At the time of his death, he and Lisbeth Garrett were separated and Chester Garrett was living in bachelor officer quarters on post, while Lisbeth Garrett, the couple's son Patrick Garrett, and Roger Garrett lived in the 1300 block of Backus Street in East El Paso. According to the affidavit, a passing motorist found Chester Garrett's body in the rear seat of his 1972 Volkswagen Beetle about three miles north of Interstate 10 on Americas Avenue. He was wearing a blue jogging suit and tennis shoes. An autopsy found Chester Garrett had a fractured skull, severe brain contusions and numerous stab wounds. Investigators have said they believe he may have already been dead or unconscious when he was stabbed.
2-6-13
Today i read about 166 compete for medical badge at Fort Bliss. Fort Bliss Grueling is probably the best description for the weeklong test of skill and attrition that is known as the Expert Field Medical Badge competition. Nearly 170 soldiers from Fort Bliss and several other Army installations competed to qualify for the prestigious badge last week at Forward Operating Base Freedom, a training area at Fort Bliss.Twenty-seven soldiers out of 166 who started the competition made it through the five-day test to earn the badge. That translates to a completion rate of 16 percent.That's a tad higher than the usual competition rate of 12 to 15 percent, said Sgt. 1st Class Charity Franco, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the event. Soldiers who earned the badge showed they can save lives on the battlefield. Soldiers from any medical-related profession were eligible to test their skills in war-fighting, tactical combat casualty care, evacuation and radio communication. The competition started with a written test and then featured three combat scenarios with different tasks, day and night navigational tests and a 12-mile march to finish the event. Last year, 24 candidates, out of 147 earned the badge at Fort Bliss. Sgt. 1st Class Michael Owen, the noncommissioned officer in charge of one combat scenario, said the badge is "highly coveted" and can help soldiers when they are seeking promotions.
2-4-13
Today i read about a Montana woman missing since 1991. Jennifer Lynn Pentilla, a resident of Missoula, Mont., was 18 years old and in Deming, N.M., when her family last heard from her on Oct. 17, 1991. New Mexico State Police said she was riding a white Fuji bicycle with camping gear, and was planning on meeting a family in Las Cruces later that day but never showed up. Pentilla had flown from Montana to San Diego, rode her bike to Deming, and had a return airplane ticket. he called home eight times between Oct. 1 and Oct. 17. Police said she was last seen making a phone call around 9 a.m. on Oct. 17 from a former Shell gasoline station on Pine Street in Deming. Pentilla was in touch with missionaries, and told her family she wanted to help a woman who was in danger in Mexico. Missoula police issued a missing persons report for Pentilla on Nov. 1, 1991. On Sept. 4, 1992, hikers found items that belonged to the teenager, including a journal, helmet and two Bibles, under a tarp in an area off N.M. State Road 26, between Hatch and Deming. Pentilla is 5 feet, 5 inches tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, and weighed about 125 pounds.
1-31-13
Today i read about No arrests made in Northeast El Paso shooting death of Andress High student. No arrests have been made in connection with the slaying of an Andress High School senior who police said was the target of a gang-related shooting Monday night. Christian Duran, 18, was shot in the torso about 7:20 p.m. while he was trying to back his car into his driveway on the 5000 block of DeBeers Drive, just three blocks west of Andress. Duran later died at University Medical Center. He is El Paso's first homicide of 2013. The El Paso Police Department's Crimes Against Persons Unit and Gang Unit are investigating the shooting. A Facebook page for Duran shows several photos of Duran and other young men displaying blue bandannas and making hand signs. In one photo, Duran is wearing a "Sureño" jersey. Sureños are a street gang originating in Southern California, according to law enforcement sources. Sureño is Spanish for Southerner. The gang uses the color blue. There are Sureño gangs in cities across the country. On Tuesday, students at Andress began to learn about Duran's death, before police had released his name.
1-29-13
Today i read about an El Paso teen declared Dead after Northeast shooting. A young man was killed in a possible gang-related shooting Monday night on a street in Northeast El Paso. Sgt. Chris Mears, a police spokesman, said that a 17-year-old boy was shot and was pronounced dead at University Medical Center of El Paso in what is the first homicide of the year. We have just begun our investigation. It is possibly gang related," Mears said late Monday. The shooting occurred at about 7:20 p.m. on DeBeers Drive about three blocks west of Andress High School. Neighbors said they heard several gunshots before police arrived on a cold, windy night. Residents said that the teenager was a student at Andress but police had yet to release the young man's name.At a neighborhood block sealed off by police tape, officers were looking at a black car stopped sideways on DeBeers between Shenandoah and Cermac streets. Near the car were several traffic cones, which police sometimes use to mark the location of bullet casings. Mears declined to say if the victim had been the car because the investigation was in its early stages. According to ambulance transmissions shortly after the shooting, a man with three gunshot wounds to the chest had no pulse and paramedics were doing CPR on him as he was being rushed to a hospital.Detectives and crime-scene investigators were on the scene late Monday as portions of Shenandoah and DeBeers streets were blocked by police. There had been no arrests.
1-25-13
Today i read about a 12 year old girl is the fourth El Pasoan to die from flu complications this flu season, city health officials said Wednesday. "This child's death comes at a time when our staff continues to work diligently to track the current flu patterns and as we collectively work to prevent more cases. While it is difficult news to bear, it is also galvanizes our commitment to making a positive difference in our community," Bruce Parsons, city of El Paso interim public health director, said. City health officials said the girl, who died last week, had a medical history that included other serious health conditions.People with weakened immune systems are more likely than others to develop serious flu-related complications, said Fernando Gonzalez, epidemiologist with the El Paso Public Health Department.
Gonzalez said information about the latest death is incomplete because health officials still are investigating all four flu-related deaths reported in El Paso."The flu is preventable, and the vaccine is still the best way to avoid catching the flu," Gonzalez said. "It is especially important for vulnerable populations -- the young, the elderly and those with chronic diseases -- to get vaccinated against influenza."
Gonzalez said information about the latest death is incomplete because health officials still are investigating all four flu-related deaths reported in El Paso."The flu is preventable, and the vaccine is still the best way to avoid catching the flu," Gonzalez said. "It is especially important for vulnerable populations -- the young, the elderly and those with chronic diseases -- to get vaccinated against influenza."
1-23-13
Today i read about a man getting 20 years in Horizon city for kidnapping. A 23-year-old man accused in the 2009 drug-related kidnapping and slaying of a Horizon City man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting to his role in the crime. Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones sentenced Cesar Pineda, also known as "Macumba," on Friday. Pineda had previously pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to kidnap, kill or maim in a foreign country. Briones also ordered Pineda to pay a $5,000 fine, spend five years on probation following Pineda's release from prison, and participate in drug treatment and workforce development programs while in prison.The judge also recommended that Pineda be incarcerated at a prison facility as close to El Paso as possible.n May 2011, FBI Reporter Adriana M. Chávez agents, along with El Paso County sheriff's deputies and agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested Cesar Pineda in Tornillo. Federal prosecutors had accused Pineda of participating in the abduction and slaying of Sergio Saucedo, an alleged drug dealer who was kidnapped in front of his wife, children and a school bus full of students on Sept. 3, 2009, outside his Horizon City home. Days after his abduction, his tortured body was found on a Juárez street.A federal jury in April 2011 convicted Rafael Vega and César Obregón-Reyes on four counts of kidnapping and conspiracy charges in Saucedo's kidnapping and killing. That same year, Briones sentenced both men to life in prison.
1-18-13
Today i read about an Anthony, New mexico man arrested for allegedly causing rollover crash in west El Paso County. El Paso County Sheriff's deputies arrested a 53-year-old Anthony, N.M. man early Friday after he allegedly caused his pickup truck to roll over while driving drunk.Deputies said they received a report of a rollover crash about 2 a.m. Friday in the 7700 block of North Desert Boulevard. When they arrived, they found a red Chevrolet Silverado in a desert area after it had apparently rolled over several times on I-10 west near mile marker 4.The truck's driver, Joe The truck's driver, Joe Machuca, was not injured, but deputies arrested him on suspicious on driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content over .15, nearly twice the legal limit of .08. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on a $750 bond. was not injured, but deputies arrested him on suspicious on driving while intoxicated with a blood alcohol content over .15, nearly twice the legal limit of .08. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail on a $750 bond.
1-16-13
Today i read about El Paso average gas price falls 4 cents during past week. Retail gasoline prices in El Paso have fallen 4 cents per gallon in the past week to an average of $2.96 a gallon, according to GasBuddy's daily survey of 296 gas outlets in El Paso. This compares with the national average that has fallen less than a cent per gallon in the past week to $3.26 a gallon. Prices are 8 cents per gallon lower than one year ago and are 14 cents per gallon lower than a month ago. The national average has decreased 1 cents per gallon during the past month and stands 9 cents per gallon lower than one year ago."The holiday buzz is wearing off and wholesale gasoline prices have fizzled," said GasBuddy.com Senior Petroleum Analyst Patrick DeHaan. "It appears that this year there will be little change in gas prices between Christmas and mid-January, something that has only happened one out of the last seven years. "Gasoline inventories have rebounded sharply in the past several weeks, certainly a major factor behind the relatively stable gasoline prices".
1-14-13
Today i read about El Paso Teachers Association forum focuses on standardized tests, cheating. An education forum this week will focus on problems with standardized tests and how they contributed to a cheating scandal that shook the city's largest school district. The South-Central school has been the focus of the El Paso Independent School District's cheating scandal for several years. A 2011 internal audit showed that 77 student transcripts had grade and grade level manipulations.The perception has always been that things were not always equal or the Reporter Hayley Kappes same at Bowie compared to other campuses," said Norma De La Rosa, president of the El Paso Teachers Association. "There needed to be an avenue for some deep conversations about the direction that educators, parents and elected officials need to take to make sure a quality education is provided to all students and that parents understand they are the best advocates for their children. "A panel discussion Friday night will focus on problems with standardized testing and how the pressure and incentives to perform well on the tests contributed to the El Paso school district's cheating scheme. In December, Texas Education Commissioner Michael Williams stripped the school board's power by appointing a conservator to oversee the district pending the federal approval of a board of managers that would replace the elected trustees for up to two years.
1-10-13
Today i read about an El Paso police offer tips on living through a mass shooting. Two recent massacres that have devastated the country, El Paso police are offering tips on what residents should do when faced with a mass shooting.The video's scenario features an armed gunman who enters an office building and randomly shoots at employees. The video, titled "Run, Hide, Fight," also tells viewers to either evacuate the building safely with others, hide in a closet or office and block or lock the door, or, in a worst-case situation, devise a plan with others to overpower the gunman.The video was released after the shootings in Aurora, where 12 people were killed and at least 58 people were wounded by alleged gunman James Holmes during a screening of the latest Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises."Last month, 26 people, including 20 children, were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., after 20-year-old Adam Lanza entered the school and began shooting.Lanza also apparently killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, before the shootings. He shot and killed himself at the school as police arrived.
12-10-12
Today i read about a Cathedral High School's baseball coach, Michael Beltran Sr., was arrested on drug charges over the weekend. He is the third employee from El Paso County schools arrested on drug possession charges since Thursday. Beltran, 62, was arrested Saturday during a joint operation of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. According to jail records, Beltran faces charges of possessing more than 1 gram and less than 4 grams of a controlled substance. His bond is $1,500. Besides being the school's head baseball coach, Beltran has also served as a part-time physical education instructor. On Thursday, sheriff's deputies arrested Raul Gomez and Joe Paul Solis, also on charges of possession of a controlled substance. Gomez is an assistant girls basketball coach for Del Valle High School in the Ysleta Independent School District. Solis is a counselor at Frank Macias Elementary School in the Clint Independent School District. Gomez was arrested on suspicion of possessing between 4 and 200 grams of a controlled substance. Solis was arrested on suspicion of possessing between 1 and 4 grams of cocaine.
12-6-12
Today i read about three men were arrested after El Paso police found cocaine while serving an arrest warrant late Monday at a home near Montana Vista. About 11:15 p.m., the Pebble Hills Tactical unit arrested Anthony Flores, 22, on warrants for theft and traffic tickets at a home in the 3900 block of Las About 11:15 p.m., the Pebble Hills Tactical unit arrested Anthony Flores, 22, on warrants for theft and traffic tickets at a home in the 3900 block of Las Casitas Drive. Flores was jailed, his bond set at $5,308. Drive. Flores was jailed, his bond set at $5,308. When police arrived at the home, officers encountered Joseph Joel Loera and Thomas Barrios. Police said Loera, 21, took from his pants two small plastic bags that he tried to throw away. One bag had 16 grams of crack cocaine, and the other had nearly 5 grams of powder cocaine. Loera was arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession. He was jailed, and bond was set at $20,166. Barrios, 46, was arrested on suspicion of possessing drug paraphernalia. He was released after paying $175 bail.
12-4-12
Today i read about a 5-year-old boy playing with matches caused his family's East El Paso house to be destroyed by a fire this morning.The fire was reported near the intersection of Bob Mitchell and Russ Randall at about 8:42 a.m. Fire department spokesman Geroge De La Torre said the boy was playing with matches in the closet of a front bedroom when some clothes were ignited.The boy told his mother about the fire and they exited the house as the fire alarms went off.The mother and her son were the only two people inside the house at the time. They live in the house with the boy's father and another child. There were 14 fire units on scene and about 31 firefighters put the fire out in 15 minutes. The blaze was contained to the bedroom but the rest of the house has smoke damage. No injuries were reported. The fire caused about $75,000 in damages and no one was injured.
11-30-12
Today i read about truck drivers talking about their time in Mexican prison. Jabin Bogan spent seven months sleeping on the floor of a cell in a maximum-security Mexican prison, detained after he crossed the border in El Paso with 268,000 bullets in his truck. Nine people lived in Bogan's cell, which had only five beds. Bogan said he didn't eat for three weeks. The 27-year-old returned to the U.S. on Friday after being freed from prison the week before.Bogan maintains he was on his way to Phoenix in April to deliver the ammunition in his truck. He says he accidentally crossed onto a border bridge in El Paso and tried to turn around after he realized his mistake, but Mexican customs agents wouldn't let him go back. He was detained and eventually sent to a Mexican maximum-security prison. Bogan was convicted of smuggling and sentenced to three years in prison, even though Mexican customs agents contradicted prosecutors' claims at trial that Bogan had hidden the bullets under the floorboards of his 18-wheeler's trailer. His sentence was later commuted to time served and a fine. His U.S. attorney, Larry Taylor, said about $5,000 in donations covered a fine paid to Mexican authorities.
11-28-12
Today i read about El Paso police arrested two sex offenders on Monday evening at a motel.Richard Ybarra, 46, and James Warren Carrier, 50, were both sought on parole violations after leaving a halfway house near Horizon City. Ybarra, 46. Police said that the patrol officers found the pair after getting a call about a suspicious person at the Stage Coach Motel, 4110 Alameda, near University Medical Center of El Paso.Both men were jailed with no bond.
11-26-12
Today i read about a man smoking a cigarette outside a strip club and gets shot at. The wounded man was apparently an innocent bystander. There are no one in custody right now but they would get him.The shooting happened outside the Fantasy World strip club near Interstate 25 in midtown Albuquerque. Another shooting outside the club on Sept. 29, which wounded 2 security guards.a man thrown out of the club returned and opened fire. One of two suspects in that shooting was arrested last month.
11-15-12
Today i read about Juárez Mayor Héctor Murguía on Tuesday fired a police officer on the spot because he pulled over a motorist, The mayor said somthing to the officers are not supposed to take. He also said many motorists are complaining about being stopped and ripped off by police officers.The officer's firing took place near Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Elementary School in the Fronteriza neighborhood, where the mayor donated a dome skylight for the school. Murguía witnessed how the police officer, stop a vehicle for not having license plates. Under state law, motorists are required to carry license plates, but Juárez police officers have no authority to issue tickets for traffic violations, Murguía said. It is up to a traffic officer to enforce traffic laws.
11-13-12
Today i read about Robert Junior Seeburg, a spinky 4-year-old boy whose infections smile and battle with cancer moved the community, died Saturday.Robert, or R.J., as called by family and friends, died at his house. R.J. was diagnosed with childhood medulloblastoma,or brain cancer, in March 2011.He died of brain cancer at his home because his body couldn't handle more pain.
11-9-12
Today i read about a pedestrian killed Monday night when she was hit by a truck while she was possibly trying to cross Interstate 10 near the University of Texas at El Paso. The accident happened about 7:20 p.m. on I-10 West near the Schuster exit when a woman was hit by a Ford F-150 in the far right lane. The Anglo woman, whose name was not immediately available, was believed to be in her 30s. She died at the scene. A body covered by a white sheet lay on the right shoulder. The pickup had damage to the area of the passenger-side headlight. A man driving the truck stopped at the scene.
11-05-12
Today i read about a prisoner tried to take an El Paso police officer's Taser after the man's handcuffs were removed at a hospital. Sergio Moyces Mercado, 22, had been aressted for allegedly interfering with the police after a fight just past midnight Wednesday in front of the Rib Hut restaurant in the Cincinnati Avenue Entertainment District. Mercado was injured during the arrest so police took him to Las Palmas Medical Center. After a struggle began, the officer took out a Taser to try to shock Mercado, who then allegedly grabbed the weapon and tried to take it from the officer. During the fight, the officer hit Mercado in the head with an elbow causing him to release the stun gun. Mercado, of the 3300 block of McCune Road, faces charges of assult on public servant, attempting to take a weapon from a police officer, obstruction and interference with public duties. He was jailed in lieu of bond of $7,250.
11-01-12
Today i read about Juarez city officials are investigating the explosion of a truck that was transporting natural gas at the Rincon de Valle neiborhood.The incident was reported around 1:30 p.m. at the intersection of Jurica and Avandaro streets in the northeast part of the city.The explosion was the result of a mechanical failure on the security valve of the gas tank.They said the tank was 60 percent full. The truck and three cars parked on the street were burned and the exterior of at least one house was damaged. No one was injured.
10-30-12
Today i read about a 19 year old crashes and dies. Early Sunday morning crash leaves one man dead and another seriously injured.The accident happened at about 6:25 a.m. at Railroad and Diana drives, Police said that they were going "excessive speed was the factor of in the crash. A 19-year-old man was driving a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt north on Railroad when he tried to make a left turn from Railroad onto Diana, police said. The vehicle was traveling too fast and began to slide toward the center divider that separates the northbound and southbound lanes on Railroad. The right rear end of the Cobalt hit a crash barrier on the center median and began to spin. The drivers side of the Cobalt then collided with the front of a Ford F150 that was stopped on Railroad facing south.
10-26-12
Today i read about an El Paso motorcyclist burned in fiery crash on Montana. A 19-year-old motorcyclist is being treated at a burn center in Lubbock after a fiery crash late Tuesday night in East El Paso. Investigators said the rider of a Suzuki GSXR motorcycle was traveling east on Montana Avenue at a high speed when the 33-year-old driver of a silver 2002 Kia Spectra turned into the median of Montana Avenue and pulled into the motorcycles path as she crossed the eastbound lanes of Montana Avenue toward Oasis Drive. The motorcycle struck the right front passenger-side door of the Kia, causing both vehicles to catch fire.The driver of the Kia and the passenger, a 13-year-old boy, managed to escape from their car. Both of them were taken to Sierra Providence East Hospital for treatment. Police said the motorcyclist suffered burns and other life-threatening injuries, and was immediately flown by helicopter to the Timothy J. Harnar Burn Center in Lubbock. The identities of the people involved in the crash have not been released yet. The motorcyclist was wearing a helmet at the time of the crash. Investigators determined that speeding and failure to yield the right of way were possible factors in the crash.
10-24-12
Today i read about a El Paso Police Officer falls off a roof when he was chasing a suspect in a family-disturbance case. The chase began when police went to a call of a family disturbance and a violation of a protective order in the 700 block of North Ochoa Street north of Downtown. Police said Jose Alberto Vasquez, 20, took off running from an officer and began climbing onto roofs of buildings on East Yandell Drive. During the chase, an officer slipped backward and fell about 20 feet off a roof. Vasquez was arrested nearby. Vasquez faces charges of evading arrest and violation of a protective order. He was jailed, and his bond was set at $1,500. The officer was treated at a hospital and released.
10-22-12
East El Paso apartment fire
Today i read about a family of four were displaced Sunday night after the East Side apartment caught fire. Just after 6:30 p.m, 35 firefighters from more than 10 units responded to heavy smoke and flames coming out of the Trevino Apartments, 10891 Edgemere, near Lee Treviño Drive. The father, the mother and their two sons, were inside the apartment when the fire started in the back bedroom,said George De La Torre, (a firefighter).He said the family was alerted by the smoke detector and they were able to escape without injuries.