Feds charge two young men in school bus marijuana case

June 14th, 2013

By ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN and ROBERT LOUIS HALPERN

FAR WEST TEXAS – A 20-year-old man who grew up in Marfa and Presidio and a 22-year-old Odessa man face federal drug trafficking charges in connection with a 480-pound marijuana load discovered on a Van Horn school bus last year.

George Jacob Cosme Baird of Presidio and formerly of …

Auto theft leads to fatality near Alpine

May 24th, 2013

ALPINE – The theft of a vehicle in Alpine in broad daylight resulted in a fatal wreck east of town Thursday afternoon, according to the Brewster County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office received a report at 12:41pm of a man attempting to steal a Porsche at the Auto Zone on East Holland Ave. After his alleged …

Heavy weather forecast this evening

May 23rd, 2013

Far West Texas, southern NM Under tornado, thunderstorm watches

By Pat Vesper

Meteorologist in Charge

National Weather Service Midland

FAR WEST TEXA S – As of 3:55 pm CDT…we currently have two watches in our area: A tornado watch #213 until 10 pm CDT for our northern areas, and a severe thunderstorm watch #214 until 10 …

Presidio cattlemen seek remedy for importation issue at port of entry

May 23rd, 2013

By ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN

AUSTIN, PRESIDIO – A handful of Presidio officials and cattlemen made the nearly 1,000 mile round-trip drive to Austin on Thursday to meet with state lawmakers and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials over a federal impasse they’ve encountered with an importation issue.

In late 2012 the USDA Animal and …

Presidio and Alpine election results

May 13th, 2013

Presidio Elections
Mayor

John Ferguson 291 *

Obed Escontrias 161

Esperanza Carrasco 157


City Council

Armando Saenz 298 *

Mario Vargas 187 *

Ahmed B. Benavidez 165

Grace Perot 140

John Schaefer 99

Cruz Madrid 86

Jesus Jose Chavez 48
School Board
Velva Saenz 313*
Carlos Nieto 303*
Elio Franco 294*
Alfred Muñiz 264*
Carmen lguezable 226
Ronald “Butch Galliete 199
Abelardo Franco 184 Teo Escontrias 146
Kasey Taylor 120

Alpine Elections
City Council Ward 3
Jim “Fitz” …

Vic Torres and his Spanish Hour remembered

May 9th, 2013

By JOHN DANIEL GARCIA

ALPINE – “He was always spreading his love of music to other people,” Sylvia Torres Contreras, daughter of the late Vidal “Vic” Torres said, “and it’s carried on through me and my brothers and through his grandkids, who all love Tejano music.”

Torres, who passed away on May 3 at the age of …

Marfa ISD hires district-wide principal for coming school year

May 2nd, 2013

By ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN

MARFA – Marfa ISD board of trustees voted unanimously Monday to hire one principal for pre-kindergarten through high school senior classes for the 2013-2014 school year.

The move ended months of thought in restructuring administration in light of the district’s budget deficit and struggling academic performance.

Initially, trustees considered no campus principals with Superintendent …

Supreme Court won’t review TOMA case that began in Alpine

March 28th, 2013

By ALBERTO TOMAS HALPERN

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Supreme Court this week declined to review a lawsuit challenging the Texas Open Meetings Act (TOMA), ending a nine-year legal debate, at least for now. TOMA, a 1967 state law, prevents a quorum of elected officials of a governmental body from deliberating and making decisions behind closed …

CBP seizes almost 500 pounds of marijuana at Presidio port

March 26th, 2013

PRESIDIO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations officers working at the Presidio port of entry seized 474 pounds of marijuana Monday night. The drugs were hidden in the I-beams of a gooseneck trailer. The estimated street value of the seized contraband is almost $380,000.

Bundles of marijuana are recovered …

NadBank, MIC Solar announce $35 million loan for Presidio solar park

March 21st, 2013

PRESIDIO – The North American Development Bank (NADB), MIC Solar Energy Holdings, LLC, and Chevron Energy Solutions are pleased to announce the closing and disbursement of a $35 million loan for the construction of the Bryan Solar Park, a 10 megawatt (MWAC) photovoltaic solar park located near Presidio.

The framework for the Presidio …