Hidden in plain sight, e-cigs complicate efforts to cut teen tobacco use

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E-cigarettes that look like USB flash drives are making it harder for adults to crack down on their illegal use among minors – even in school hallways. Shacel De La Vega, a 2018 graduate of Coronado High School in El Paso, said it wasn’t hard to get a nicotine boost almost any time on campus using Juuls, slim vaping devices that are the size of a data stick. “Other than just letting us know that it was not allowed, there wasn’t really any sort of system that they had set up to stop us from using it,” De La Vega said. While still in school, De La Vega missed the optional presentation educators gave to students about vaping. Students were told that underage possession of tobacco products is against the law and the school would be cracking down on campus use.

Texas moves to prohibit Tigua casino gambling in El Paso

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On the heels of a major victory in a decades-old dispute over gambling conducted by El Paso’s Tigua Indians, the Texas Attorney General’s Office is asking a federal judge for an injunction that would ban or greatly restrict the gaming now conducted at the tribe’s Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. Such an injunction could lead to the closure or major downsizing of the Tigua peoples’ Speaking Rock Entertainment Center, the border tribe’s most lucrative enterprise and the focal point of a legal dispute with the state that dates to 1993. The Texas Attorney General’s Office on Friday recommended that U.S. District Judge Philip Martinez issue an injunction that prohibits the Tigua “from engaging in, permitting, promoting, or operating gambling activities on the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo’s reservation that violate one or more of the following” Texas laws and regulations regarding gambling. “This includes, but is not limited to, the one-touch machines described in the (Feb. 14 order issued by Martinez) and the live-called bingo described in the order.”

The state’s latest lawsuit seeking to stop gambling on Tigua land was set to go to trial on March 4, but Martinez on Feb.

Meet the Empower Squad: Chica Chat launches supportive movement for El Paso’s next generation of women in entrepreneurship

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The El Paso business community is getting a fresh, feminine makeover thanks to the new organization Chica Chat. “We’re here to empower each other, and to help each other, and to provide a safe space for women,” Chica Chat treasurer Ashley Valdez says. The nonprofit organization brings together young women who are entrepreneurs to provide them with the tools and knowledge for success. President Zoë Gemoets says she was reading the book “Work Party: How to Create and Cultivate the Career of Your Dreams” by Jaclyn Johnson when the idea for the group came to her. “At the end of the book she asks, ‘what are you doing to help the women of your community?’” so I was like ‘damn, what am I doing?’

Sexually transmitted disease rates reach 10 year high in El Paso

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Sexually transmitted disease rates in El Paso spiked to record highs in recent years, according to public health department data. The El Paso Department of Public Health reported a 10-year high of 7,681 new cases of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in 2017 – an 11 percent increase from 2016 and a 62 percent increase from 2007. “Nationwide it’s on the rise. STDs, the whole nine yards, the gonorrhea, the syphilis, the chlamydia, this is not unique for El Paso,” said Faduma Shegow, clinic services manager for the STD clinic of El Paso. “It’s happening nationwide.”

Bees lead researchers to trailblazing ecological partnership with Texas city

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SAN ELIZARIO, Texas – What started as a project by Auburn University to study ways to protect a unique ecosystem of bees in the Chihuahuan Desert has lead to a series of pioneering environmental renovation projects for this historic frontier city on the eastern edge of El Paso County. While fewer than 10,000 people live in San Elizario, the area is special to researchers because it is home to one of the largest diversities of bee species and bee pollinated plants in North America. Auburn University researchers began working with the City of San Elizario in studying the bees in 2017. They soon realized there was more going on that deserved further study. “We were very much bee-centric and now we actually think much more in terms of the ecological interactions between plants and insects.

Trump greets cheering supporters at small rally in El Paso as thousands fill the streets nearby to protest his harsh border policies

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President Donald Trump took his fight for a border wall to El Paso on Monday as a coalition of anti-wall protestors staged a competing rally at the same time not far from the County Coliseum where the president held his gathering. Trump took to the stage about 7:20 p.m, before an enthusiastic crowd in the 6,500 capacity coliseum, which was originally built for rodeos and livestock shows. The president was flanked by banners calling for “Finish the Wall.”

Photo gallery: Trump rally in El Paso February 2019
Photo gallery: March for Truth in El Paso February 2019

The competing March for Truth was organized by a coalition led by the Border Network for Human Rights, Women’s March El Paso and some 40 other community partners and included speeches by former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, and current congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-El Paso). 
El Paso has been at the center of the controversy over a border wall as Trump has demanded Congress fund $5.7 billion to erect a wall, saying it is necessary to keep the United States safe from illegal immigration, which he has called a crisis. In his State of the Union address, Trump declared El Paso was a dangerous place before the wall, but El Paso officials dispute that depiction, saying the city has been one of the safest in the nation long before border fencing was installed. The government shut down for a record 35 days from Dec.

Pro Musica performers fill El Paso hospital wards with the joy of live music

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EL PASO, Texas – When classical musicians perform in local hospitals, both the players and the patients find it to be good medicine. “It’s about being a healer, because the music is designed to soothe and heal and when you see that there is a change in the status of their health,” said Felipa Solis, Executive Director of El Paso Pro Musica. Performers with Pro Musica are going beyond the concert hall to bring classical music to the people, which UTEP masters cellos performance major Amy Miller said helps her as a musician to build a connection her audience. “I think that playing for people is very important because, you know, you’re in a practice room for hours at a time and you’re playing for yourself but when you have that time to share with someone else and connect with them in that way,” she said “You know, music is an unspoken language, it’s universal.” Solis said that playing music for hospital patients is an extension of the groups’ mission to make classical music accessible to all.

College students: Begin saving for your future today

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As college students our main focus is usually preparing for exams, completing assignments, and trying our hardest to excel in our classes. We tend not to think too much about saving money because it’s often pretty scarce and we worry about having enough of it to pay current bills, never mind our impending student loans. Saving money takes a backseat to the other pressing financial responsibilities in our lives. For the past three years, I have been working as an assistant at a local insurance and wealth management company. The time I have spent there, focusing on other individuals’ finances, has caused me to take a hard look at my financial future.

Access, talent, research and external funding 4 keys to UT El Paso’s continued success, retiring president Natalicio says

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EL PASO, Texas — After spending three decades reshaping the University of Texas at El Paso, Diana Natalicio isn’t sure she’s ready for the next stage of her life. “Well, I mean, in some ways I am and in some ways I’m not, having done the same thing for 30 years,” said Natalicio, who announced her retirement in May as UTEP’s president. “I don’t have much practice on the retirement side of this. So I think it’s a good time for me to do this. But I’ll have to see how successful I am at being a retiree.”

Natalicio, a 79-year-old native of St.

Roadkill hazards go beyond initial impact

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Roadkill is not an uncommon sight along the rural roads and highways of the borderland. Yet, many people may not be aware of the hazards animal-vehicle collisions can cause. Lois Balin, an urban wildlife biologist with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Urban Wildlife Program helps the El Paso community with professional planning guidance, management recommendations and research associated with wildlife. She said animal and vehicle encounters are not only traffic hazards, but can also pose health problems for a community. “After a certain amount of time they are going to be filled with maggots and hopefully nobody is collecting these animals to eat,” Balin said.

Mom couldn’t find inclusive preschool for her child with special needs, so she opened one in El Paso

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EL PASO – After her daughter was born five years ago with Down syndrome, local educator Kerry McKee began an extensive search for special education opportunities for children with the genetic condition. She searched with no luck for schools in the El Paso area that catered to children like her daughter and discovered that Down syndrome children often were placed in separate classrooms.

She even considered moving to another city in Texas with special facilities and learning opportunities for children with special needs. “I said, that’s not the education my child is going to have,” said Mckee, who has worked for 20 years in the field of education. According to the National Down Syndrome Society, approximately one in every 700 babies in the U.S. is born with Down syndrome – or about 6,000 each year. Finally, after visiting the KinderFrogs School in Fort Worth, an inclusive program designed for children with disabilities, she decided El Paso needed a program like it.

Do memes contribute to obesity among teens? Study says yes

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El Paso – Nearly 20 percent of high school students in Texas are considered obese and the state ranks fifth in the U.S. for high school students who are obese, according to the website The State of Obesity. At the same time, Hispanic children in Texas have the highest rate of childhood obesity, or 21.9 percent, followed by non-Hispanic blacks with a rate of 19.5 percent and non-Hispanic whites with a childhood obesity rate of 14.7 percent, according to the Texas Medical Association. Obesity among the youth ages 10-17 accumulated a total of 18.5 percent within the state. And, for the Paso Del Norte region, almost 40 percent of residents between the ages of 18 and 29 are considered obese, and one in three of all El Pasoans are considered obese or overweight. Reasons for obesity in teens range from personal behaviors including eating habits and physical activity to genetics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

El Paso working hard to reach no-kill shelter status by 2020

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The City of El Paso has implemented multiple measures to address growing citizen concerns about the welfare of animals within the city. These measures include turning the El Paso Animal Shelter into a no-kill facility by 2020, encouraging more animal adoptions and increasing the number of volunteers working at the El Paso Animal Shelter. El Paso residents have frequently voiced concerns about the commitment of the city government to properly care for abandoned or neglected animals. In 2013, the city had a live release rate for shelter animals of roughly 26 percent, meaning that three-quarters of shelter animals were being euthanized. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) estimates that anywhere from five to seven million animals are euthanized every year in shelters nationwide, while only 10 to 20 percent of families adopt their animals from shelters.

There’s no home for the holidays for deployed border agent family

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On Nov. 13, nine buses carrying the first large wave of about 350 asylum seekers from the Central American migrant caravan arrived in Tijuana. Michelle Arandas’ mother and stepfather are both Customs and Border Protection agents assigned to the El Paso ports of entry. However, on Nov. 15, Aranda had to drop them off at the airport, where they joined other El Paso CBP officers in boarding a plane to Nogales, Ariz.

This guy loves the scent of rain in the desert so much he figured out how to bottle it

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El Pasoan Kyle Alvarado has captured the sweet smell of the Borderland after a rainstorm in a bottle. His product has “one main purpose and that is aromatherapy“ Alvarado said while at the Onawa Studio, a holistic care and wellness center where students practice the connection of the mind, body and spirit, including aromatherapy. Alvarado studied communication at UT El Paso and is a writer and digital content specialist who previously worked with the El Paso Times and various local media outlets. Drawn to new and creative ideas, Alvarado took a fresh approach to aromatherapy. “Originally I wanted to make rain-scented candles,” Alvarado said.

Las malas condiciones de los campos de fútbol en El Paso afectan la práctica del deporte

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Con el crecimiento de ligas amateur de fútbol en El Paso, también hay una creciente preocupación entre jugadores y entrenadores respecto a las malas condiciones de los campos en los que se practica este deporte. “Hay muchos campos que si están en mal estado y los jugadores corren muchos riesgos, sobre todo los jugadores que trabajan, tienen su familia, chavos que juegan en la escuela”, dijo Joel García, de 36 años, entrenador y jugador de fútbol en la liga Del Valle Soccer League. “Y, sí, es muy riesgoso jugar en esos campos.” Esta es parte de la razón por la que varias de las ligas amateur locales, requieren que sus jugadores sean mayores de edad. Estas ligas estan conformadas por 18 a 22 equipos, cada uno con un promedio de 15 jugadores.

El Paso e-sports scene adjusts to new reality after shooting at Florida tournament

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Repercussions from a deadly shooting in August at a Madden 2018 tournament in Jacksonville devastated the gaming community and repercussions are being felt across the nation and in the Sun City. After a gamer opened fire at the Jacksonville tournament and killed three, including himself, both gamers and tournament organizers were suddenly struck by a harsh reality: the safety and well-being of attendees is not something that can be taken for granted. Gamers have been coming together to compete against one another since the very first video games allowed head-to-head competition. What was once a hobby for enthusiasts at arcades to prove their dominance has turned into a multimillion-dollar industry, with major sponsors and dedicated E-Sports teams coming together to compete in high-stakes tournaments. To most of these gamers, whether it is a small local meet-up every weekend or a tournament in Las Vegas attended by 300,000 people, competitions are a haven where you escape from reality to practice your hobby.

Junt@s Vamos aims to help Juarenses with cancer

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For cancer patients living in the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez metroplex, treatment is not just expensive, costing thousands of dollars for the uninsured, but also difficult to find. Although El Paso has two oncology centers and a few independent oncologists, according to the non profit cancer support group Junt@s Vamos, services such as Pet scans, radiation treatment and chemotherapy are not easily available in neighboring Ciudad Juarez, a border city of almost 1.5 million residents.Launched in 2013 by Juarez resident Cristina Coronado, Junt@s Vamos aims to provide a safe space for people with cancer to talk about their illness and receive emotional support. The group also aims to inform patients of their rights and treatments they can seek elsewhere.There are four core members of the group, but the community involvement extends beyond them. Every fundraiser event consistently draws about 15 volunteers. Aside from the core members, Junt@s Vamos also has eight permanent volunteers.The health information sessions they hold in Ciudad Juarez throughout the year usually draw 200 people suffering from cancer.

UTEP legends honored as women’s basketball team celebrates 45th anniversary

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Sporting a Miners long-sleeve navy T-shirt and a matching cap, Gloria Estrada – a member of the first UTEP women’s basketball team – stepped foot on the court in Memorial Gym where she once stood more than four decades ago. “It brings back so many memories,” Estrada said as she looked around the gym. Estrada – now a member of the UTEP and El Paso Sports Halls of Fame – was one of the founding members of the UTEP women’s basketball team. Little did she know, that as a young woman from the farming community of Fabens, Texas, she would leave her mark in UTEP history and pave the way for young women just like her. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the founding of the women’s basketball team.

In El Paso, young Latinos are flexing their voting muscle

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Voters under age 30 are playing an increasingly crucial role in El Paso County elections, a sign that younger Latinos are becoming more engaged in the political process in the Donald Trump era. Voters under age 30 accounted for almost 17 percent of El Paso voters in the 2018 midterm election, up from 8 percent in the 2014 midterm. Put another way, more than one in every six voters in El Paso this year was under age 30, compared to one in 13 in 2014. Related story:  Here’s what the young voter surge looked like at UT El Paso
The 2018 election featured an El Pasoan, Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke, at the top of a statewide ticket for the first time in Texas history. O’Rourke’s presence, combined with President Trump’s deep unpopularity among Latino voters, led to El Paso more than doubling its turnout between midterm elections, going from 82,000 in 2014 to 203,000 in 2018.

Con sus narices rojas ‘a la orden,’ Doctores de la Risa ofrecen apoyo a niños y ancianos de Juarez

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En Cd. Juárez Chihuahua, el grupo de “Doctores de la Risa Nariz a la Orden” se caracteriza por brindar sonrisas y ratos agradables a personas vulnerables como niños y ancianos. El encargado del grupo Fernando Guijarro, 43, conocido como el Dr. Maromas, quien dice que encontró el grupo por casualidad, lleva más de ocho años formando parte de esta labor y al mismo tiempo ejerciendo la profesión de contaduría. “Cuando uno no está buscando algo y se lo encuentra pues piensa uno que es algo divino. Yo encontré este grupo después de pasar por muchos momentos difíciles de inseguridad aquí en Cd.

Young people, East Siders lead surge in El Paso voter registration numbers

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A record 457,141 El Paso County residents are registered to vote for the Nov. 6 election, according to data from the County Elections Department. That’s up from 427,850 in the 2016 presidential election and 404,580 in 2014, the last midterm election. Click here to see mobile friendly version of map 
El Paso’s voter registration grew by 6.8 percent since 2016, faster than the state’s 4.6 percent growth rate. Preliminary figures from the Secretary of State’s Office show that only 18 of Texas’ 254 counties have had a higher percentage growth of registered voters than El Paso between 2016 and 2018.

Wise Latina summit showcases services available to women after leaving abusive relationships

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Several El Paso women’s groups are helping victims of domestic abuse by providing them with resources to resume a healthy, productive lives after leaving abusive relationships, speakers at a recent conference said. Among the services provided for domestic violence victims are rental assistance, replacement of damaged property, medical bills, counseling, and protective orders from the County Attorney’s Office are available for victims of violent crimes, but shelter is the most need resource, said Jessica Ugarte, a certified crime victim compensation services provider. “They’re used to receiving financial support from their abuser, so when they leave they’re not sure where they can go or how can they support themselves,” Ugarte said during the annual summit called “Enough is Enough. Ya Basta” on Oct. 6 at the El Paso Community College.

Penguins chilling in the desert? El Paso zoo creating $3 million home for threatened species

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The El Paso Zoo will soon become home to a colony of Magellanic penguins – a species listed as threatened by an international organization – in a new multi-million dollar exhibit as part of the city’s 2012 Quality of Life bond issue. Magellanic penguins, which reside along the coasts of South America and reach as far north as Brazil, are small – about two feet tall – with black and white feathers and banding on their necks. They are commonly found in Argentina, Chile and the Falkland Islands. “The more people learn and read about them, the greater their passion will before wanting to help,” said Rick LoBello, education curation for the El Paso Zoo. “We want people to be emotionally invested and passionate about the animals here.”

A dozen penguins will be part of a South American exhibit, set to open in 2020, officials said.

Federal moves to rein in wild horses raising concerns for the American West

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By Dan Ross, FairWarning.org

Wild horses have long been an evocative symbol of the American West. When wild horses and burros were threatened with extinction nearly 50 years ago, Congress rode to the rescue with a law providing broad protections. Horse numbers have soared, however, along with government costs to manage the herds. And the animals increasingly compete with privately owned livestock for food and water on public lands—a conflict worsened by climate change. There is broad agreement that something has to give.

Woman’s passion for customizing cars builds into multi-shop business in El Paso

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Lina Rodriguez opened her first auto body shop with her husband with only $4,000 in the bank. “We started in the back of a garage,” said Rodriguez, who was working in the auto insurance field when she got the bug to customize cars after buying a used Mazda RX8. Her sudden passion for cars was surprising since she never cared much for them, even when her father owned his own shop. But, once she made her first customization on her Mazda she was hooked, and now her father works with her. Once she launched her auto repair and customization business, the demand for work quickly outgrew the two-car residential garage and she opened her first Buddy’s Body Shop.

El Paso mental health agency assists those in need with hot line, phone app

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An estimated one in four adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year, according to El Paso mental health provider Emergence Health Network, which also runs a crisis hotline. Also, says EHN, 90 percent of people who die by suicide are also believed to have had a mental disorder. However, either because of fear or lack of information only 60 percent of those suffering from a mental health condition seeks treatment. One helpful resource EHN provides to the community is its 24-hour Crisis Hotline, which consists of of qualified mental health professionals, as well as on-call professionals who are available to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Crisis Line specialists are prepared through education and training to assist distressed callers in verbal de-escalation of any situation.

If stricter gun laws aren’t widely adopted, some say children need gun safety courses in school

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In the past five years, four of the five largest mass shootings in the American history have taken place – 58 people dead in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting; 49 killed at an Orlando nightclub shooting; 20 children and six adults killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting and 25 people gunned down in Sutherland Springs, TX. We’re only five months into 2018 and there have already been 79 recorded shootings in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive. In addition, as of May 1 196 children age 11 and younger were killed or injured by guns. With 42 percent of U.S. residents living in households containing guns, some gun advocates believe it’s time to bring gun safety education to the schools. Firearm safety classes in grade schools aren’t unprecedented.

El Paso students uneasy after campus shootings nationwide

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Students, teachers and family members are concerned for their safety after several school campus shootings during the past few years, including a campus shooting in Texas that killed 10 and another in Florida that killed nearly 20 people. Ten people were killed in a high school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, on May 18. In February, in Parkland, Florida, 17 people – students and teachers – were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Another 17 people suffered injuries when they were shot with a variety of weapons in the Feb. 14 shooting.