News

Public Corruption 101
by NPT Staff

Nine people have pleaded guilty, and one has been indicted. 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.

Posted on September 5, 2008  •  read more »

Government moves to open public corruption hearing transcripts
by David Crowder

The transcripts, even in redacted form, should shed new light on the FBI’s investigation and on the acts the defendants admitted they were involved in, beginning with John Travis Ketner, the former chief of staff to the current El Paso County judge, Anthony Cobos.

Posted on September 5, 2008  •  read more »

Grand jury in business
by David Crowder

The special grand jury that indicted former El Paso school trustee Sal Mena last week for allegedly taking bribes has been operating quietly in El Paso since June 2007.

Posted on September 5, 2008  •  read more »

Government pledges to open some corruption court documents
By David Crowder and Sito Negron

“Let's hope this is a sign that the courts and prosecutors in El Paso have finally realized that an important component of the justice system is the ability of citizens to find out what's going on in the publicly funded court system," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Washington.

Posted on September 3, 2008  •  read more »

Mena hospitalized and back in custody after suicide attempt
by David Crowder

Mena evidently went home to his apartment in Central El Paso after his release and, at some point, took a sleep-inducing medication.

Posted on September 2, 2008  •  read more »

Former school trustee Sal Mena indicted by federal grand jury
By David Crowder

He is charged with mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, depriving the public of the right to honest services and making false statements to obtain credit.

Posted on August 29, 2008  •  read more »

Food fight: Chico's v. Chuco's
by Sito Negron

The July 16 closing of Chuco's Tacos in Austin, which changed its name to 10th Street Tacos in the midst of a trademark infringement battle with Chico's Tacos, apparently has not ended the legal fight.

Posted on September 4, 2008  •  read more »

At City Council, you don't need to go to the meetings to talk about them
by Sito Negron

City Rep. Eddie Holguin engaged in an argument about what happened at a series of meetings he did not attend, city Rep. Rachel Quintana said she wasn't trying to point fingers in complaining about a lack of backup material for meetings, and everyone agreed to look at the Greater Chamber of Commerce's use of space in the Civic Center.

Posted on September 3, 2008  •  read more »

Injunction on border wall construction denied; case continues
by Kent Paterson, Frontera NorteSur

In rejecting an injunction, Judge Montalvo cited, among other reasons, the 1996 immigration reform and other laws that gave broad powers to the Attorney General and later the Department of Homeland Security.

Posted on September 3, 2008  •  read more »