Featured Article
UPDATED: Newly Elected Socorro Trustee Cannot Take Office and Keep City Job
by Sito Negron
Joe Sarabia, elected Saturday to the Socorro Independent School District, was told Tuesday he had to choose between his job as a lieutenant with the El Paso Fire Department and the elected position. Wednesday, city officials were trying to pull together a Civil Service Commission meeting for next week.
Posted on May 13, 2008
Top Stories
Stormwater Debate Drains Council, Public; Utility, and Fees, Stay
Posted on May 13, 2008
The stormwater utility will continue, although it will take another look at its rates in three months. The council, yet again, affirms the utility.
Western Refining Reports First Quarter 2008 Financial Results
Posted on May 13, 2008
The financial information for the first quarter of 2008 includes the results of the three refineries and the wholesale and retail operations acquired from Giant on May 31, 2007.
- Stormy Waters Over Drainage Fees at City Council
- Lowering the fees didn't turn down the heat. Castro wants to abolish the stormwater district, Gilbert says that the fee reduction was illegal (and he still believes the utility itself was formed illegally), and the El Paso Apartment Association still has a lawsuit pending.
- Public Corruption, Closed Courts
- Keeping dockets secret and hearings closed have proven to be controversial practices nationally, but in El Paso, it has become standard procedure for the wide-ranging FBI public corruption investigation.
- Public Corruption 101
- Get up to date on the FBI public corruption investigation, with a summary of events and links to source documents. Also included are archives and links to public corruption cases from around the country for perspective.
- Holguin Pushes Stormwater Fee Rollback
- A familiar back-and-forth: The issue is fees and taxes, Holguin said, not whether improvements on the city drainage system are needed, or if so, what level of improvement is needed. Fellow council member Ortega said he'd welcome a discussion on policy alternatives.
- Asarco, City Agree on $1.2 Million Penalty Stemming from 1990s Waste Disposal
- The agreement, signed in April, apparently ends one of the battles between the city and Asarco. Review the six-page document, and read NPT background articles on the issue.
- Stormwater Fees Go Down
- Residential and non-residential fees will be reduced by 37 percent, effective June 7, 2008. Because the fee reduction reflects revenues collected for March, April and May, the new fees are not retroactive.
Archives
Stormy Waters Over Drainage Fees at City Council
Posted on May 12, 2008
Lowering the fees didn't turn down the heat. Castro wants to abolish the stormwater district, Gilbert says that the fee reduction was illegal (and he still believes the utility itself was formed illegally), and the El Paso Apartment Association still has a lawsuit pending.
Public Corruption, Closed Courts
Posted on May 12, 2008
Keeping dockets secret and hearings closed have proven to be controversial practices nationally, but in El Paso, it has become standard procedure for the wide-ranging FBI public corruption investigation.
Public Corruption 101
Posted on May 12, 2008
Get up to date on the FBI public corruption investigation, with a summary of events and links to source documents. Also included are archives and links to public corruption cases from around the country for perspective.
Holguin Pushes Stormwater Fee Rollback
Posted on May 9, 2008
A familiar back-and-forth: The issue is fees and taxes, Holguin said, not whether improvements on the city drainage system are needed, or if so, what level of improvement is needed. Fellow council member Ortega said he'd welcome a discussion on policy alternatives.
Asarco, City Agree on $1.2 Million Penalty Stemming from 1990s Waste Disposal
Posted on May 9, 2008
The agreement, signed in April, apparently ends one of the battles between the city and Asarco. Review the six-page document, and read NPT background articles on the issue.
Stormwater Fees Go Down
Posted on May 7, 2008
Residential and non-residential fees will be reduced by 37 percent, effective June 7, 2008. Because the fee reduction reflects revenues collected for March, April and May, the new fees are not retroactive.
The Public Heard, it's Time for Stormwater Fee Reductions
Posted on May 6, 2008
Reductions are planned, but for who and how much, you'll have to wait until the PSB meeting Wednesday evening.
Historic Veto: Cook Cancels Council Decision Against Homeowner
Posted on May 2, 2008
Cook issued the veto this afternoon, overturning the council’s approval of the appeal filed by residents of the Austin Terrace Historic District of a decision by the city’s Historic Land Mark Commission to give the Valenzuelas a certificate of appropriateness for the design of their home.
Historic Correction? City Will Work With Home-Builder to Fix Permit Mistake
Posted on May 2, 2008
The city will make it right with the property owner, West Central city Rep. Susie Byrd said. And the city staff will need to get better at checking building permits, something for which the department previously had been warned.
A Historic Mistake: Property Owner May Have to Tear Down Partially Completed Home
Posted on April 30, 2008
The city gave them a building permit, but now requires that a Central El Paso home-builder in a historic district stop construction and possibly tear down the partially completed home and start over. The would-be home-owner, an El Paso ex-pat, says it's the city's mistake and he plans to sue.
Apartment Owners File Stormwater Lawsuit
Posted on April 29, 2008
The lawsuit charges the stormwater fee is really a tax prohibited by the Texas Constitution, and also that it violates the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and is discriminatory because most apartment renters are minorities.
Reyes Comments on Border Fence
Posted on April 28, 2008
"From the testimony we heard today, it is clear that DHS is not communicating with the border communities that would be most adversely affected by this project." -- Reyes speaking at a subcommittee hearing titled “Walls and Waivers: Expedited Construction of the Southern Border Wall and the Collateral Impacts on Communities and the Environment.”
Stormwater Fee Reduction to Come After Public Hearings
Posted on April 26, 2008
In addition to lowering the fees, after the series of public meetings concludes next week, the PSB will look at giving property owners with on-site ponding a break. The comments from PSB officials re-enforced recent statements from the mayor and city manager.
Legality of Stormwater Utility Questioned
Posted on April 25, 2008
One law says a city can set up a second utility, including a drainage utility, under a board of at least seven members, but El Paso’s PSB is set up under a different law that limits the board to five members.
Asarco Reps Met With TCEQ Commissioners Prior to Decision
Posted on April 24, 2008
Invoices filed by Asarco lawyers in the bankruptcy case indicate meetings with one or more Texas Commission on Environmental Quality commissioners, an apparent violation of state law. The city of El Paso revealed the meetings in a filing this week.
Stormwater Fee Adjustment Might be Coming
Posted on April 24, 2008
Mayor John Cook is predicting that the new stormwater utility rates that have produced a flood of appeals and protests from businesses, school districts and churches will be changed – that is, lowered – later this year.
Capitol Hill Sparks Fly Over Guestworkers
Posted on April 23, 2008
American Immigration Lawyers Association President Kathleen Campbell Walker said adding more visas to the pool was a "no brainer." Speaking about a House judiciary subcommittee, Walker said, the challenge is "to connect the dots between valid labor needs and our immigration laws."
Mexican Journalists Still Under Siege in 2008
Posted on April 21, 2008
“Some people think we are very young to know, but they should know we are very young to die,” Martinez and Bautista reportedly said on the air shortly before their deaths.
New Study Yields Familiar Message: Economic Turnaround Depends on Unity
Posted on April 19, 2008
It touched on familiar themes -- lack of high-paying jobs and high educational achievement -- and broke some new ground. The community needs to create jobs that keep top achievers here, and it needs to think regionally, the report states, while providing some recommendations for doing so.
A New Society? Higher Ed Study Recommends Economic Overhaul
Posted on April 17, 2008
The faster El Pasoans graduate from high school or college, the faster they will leave –- unless something changes, a major study of the region's education attainment suggests.
TCEQ Asked to Go Another Round on Asarco Permit
Posted on April 17, 2008
With increasing involvement from New Mexico and the EPA, the city of El Paso is asking the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to review its decision to grant Asarco a renewal on its air pollution permit.
U.S. State Dept: Travel Alert for Northern Mexico
Posted on April 15, 2008
The U.S. Department of State issues a travel warning for U.S. citizens in Mexico, citing "violent criminal activity fueled by a war between criminal organizations struggling for control of the lucrative narcotics trade."
Police Deny Mistreating Parents of Jailed Suspect
Posted on April 15, 2008
Police Spokesman Javier Sambrano said the report represents the conclusion of an investigation by the Internal Affairs Division and the chief’s office into the events, in which a couple claimed police burst aggressively into their home searching for their son, who already was in jail.
EPA Questions TCEQ on Asarco Permit
Posted on April 11, 2008
EPA is questioning whether the decade-long shutdown of the Asarco copper smelter in El Paso should trigger “Prevention of Significant Deterioration” requirements that could mean Asarco should have to upgrade to the newest available technologies and apply for a brand new discharge permit versus a renewal.
On Zapata Anniversay, Protests and Conflict
Posted on April 11, 2008
Protestors across the country raised the issues of energy, environment and agriculture. In Juárez, demonstrators also blasted last month’s assassination of farm leader Armando Villareal Martha and the recent arrests of social activists Cipriana Jurado and Carlos Chavez.
