El Paso’s new arena soccer team ready to start season

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EL PASO – This Texas city will soon have another professional sports team, the El Paso Coyotes. This time the opportunity will be for an arena soccer team from the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL), an international league for the United States and Mexico. Founded in 2008, the MASL has 21 teams. The El Paso Coyotes inaugural season officially starts on Saturday October 29th when they travel to Allen, Texas to face the Dallas Sidekicks. Their first home game is November 9, when the Dallas Sidekicks travel to the El Paso. The Coyotes will play in the 5,250-seat El Paso County Coliseum, 4100 East Paisano, in the South Central area.

El Paso, New Mexico Hispanic voters a big question mark in Election 2016

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SUNLAND PARK – A couple of miles from Texas and less than a mile from Mexico, Carlos Juarez is serving the lunch crowd at the family business, Carlos Bakery/Panaderia. Signs for local candidates adorn the main business sign and the windows. The 28-year-old sees a definite difference in the 2016 presidential election compared with four years ago. “There’s no enthusiasm anymore,” Juarez said. “2012, from the Obama campaign, we had people coming out once or twice a week.

Filmmaker Galán honors Willie Velasquez’s Legacy in Latest PBS documentary in run up to Election 2016

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Chicano filmmaker, Hector Galán documents the legacy of Willie Velasquez, the Mexican-American activist, who launched a grassroots movement that forever changed the political landscape in the United States in his Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) documentary, Willie Velasquez: Your Vote is Your Voice.” The film breaks cultural barriers highlighting the importance of the Latino vote and was recently presented at The University of Texas at El Paso’s Union Cinema and was accompanied by a voter registration effort to honor Velasquez’s legacy. A production of Galan Incorporated and Latino Public Broadcasting, “Willie Velasquez: Your Vote Is Your Voice,” showcases the life of the man who led the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project and launched 1,000 voter registration drives in 200 cities. Velasquez paved the way for Latinos to have a voice in government and underscored the growing power of the Latino vote. Chicano independent filmmaker, Hector Galan directed the documentary shedding light on the Latino voting revolution.

UTEP grad launches travel app that helps make new friends worldwide

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A recent graduate out of the University of Texas at El Paso has created an app aimed at connecting international students, study abroad students and travelers from all over the world using real-time demographic and social data. Doris Llamas, a computer information systems graduate from the University of Texas at El Paso, launched the Awayys app to fill a gap between social networking and the travel industry. At just 24, Llamas is the founder and CEO of her own company. She grew up in El Paso and attended Baylor University where she had a “vocational crisis,” and could not figure out what it was she wanted to study. Taking this as an opportunity to find herself, she decided that some time away would lead her down the path of discovery.

Immigration debate boosts voter registration on U.S. border

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EL PASO – This border city has seen an increase in nearly 50,000 eligible voters during this season’s contentious U.S. presidential campaign. Some political observers say the increase in local residents who have registered to vote in November’s election between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton may be a reaction to Trump’s harsh rhetoric on illegal immigration as well as negative statements he’s made in public about people of color. Trump has called for building an impenetrable border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and having Mexico pay for it. During one primary campaign speech, he referred to Mexican immigrants as “rapists.” “This is the first time time I will actually vote, so at 29 I actually had to learn what the registering process is,” said Jose Zubiate, an English major at UT El Paso.

Guns and showmanship – Seeing a Texas GOP debate watch party through the eyes of a study-abroad student

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EL PASO, Texas – CNN reported that more than 80 million people tuned in to watch the Clinton-Trump debate on September 26, making it the most-watched presidential debate in history. It will also remain a day which will live long in my memory as my first real taste of a U.S. presidential debate watch. When I first arrived at the El Paso County Republican Party offices I was greeted with a man carrying a 12 gauge shotgun and a .44. Magnum marching Hilary Clinton around the offices. No, not the real Hillary, a masked version of the candidate.

New Sun Metro transfer center transforming Northeast El Paso

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EL PASO – Rufino Cantor, 65, lives downtown and relies exclusively on public transportation to get around. His daily 30 -to-40-minute bus ride from his home downtown to spend time with his family in Northeast El Paso will soon become more pleasant and convenient with the expected completion in fall 2017 of the Northgate Transfer Center. The new Sun Metro transportation hub sits on 7.5 acres in Northeast El Paso and is in the first phase of a 30-acre city-owned site. The transfer center will include amenities like shopping, a public plaza, art spaces and even a local farmer’s market.The remaining 22.5 acres is slated for future development through a public-private partnership. The city is currently in talks with a developer to build the additional transit-oriented development of retail, residential units, parking and new streets.

Nuevo proyecto Northgate Transfer Center de Sun Metro brindará beneficios de trasporte al noreste de El Paso

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Rufino Cantor, un paseño de 65 años de edad enfrenta día a día obstáculos al transportarse en el sector Noreste de la Ciudad de El Paso porque el sistema de transporte público conocido como Sun Metro no se adapta a sus necesidades. Cantor, reside en el centro de la ciudad, utiliza el trasporte público a diario para trasladarse por toda la ciudad, para así tener la oportunidad de pasar tiempo con su familia. “Me parece que el proyecto es bastante grande, me parece perfecto porque aquí no tenemos ni dónde comprar un burro. Precisamente con el centro comercial, no tener que estar en la intemperie, poder hacer compras, comer, eso es muy bueno para la comunidad para que crezca más”, dijo Cantor. A fines del año que viene, el área Noreste de El Paso contará con una nueva estación de camiones llamada Northgate Trasfer Center, y no solo beneficiará a las personas que utilizan el trasporte público sino también a todos aquellos empresarios que participaran en el proyecto.

Look again to see the wonders growing in the desert

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EL PASO – Is that scrappy plant on the side of the road a weed or a wonder? Desert landscapers say there’s often more to the Borderland’s flora than meets the eye. The term weed is usually meant for a plant that is considered a nuisance, growing where it isn’t always wanted, says John White, curator of the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens at UT El Paso. But where some people see weeds, others see wildflowers, healing herbs and critical sustenance for desert wildlife and other helpful uses. “Some of the weeds are actually good, some of the weeds can be edible, and some of them can be used for different purposes,” White says.

El Paso’s grand dame to be renovated as convention hotel, as a nearby boutique lodging strikes a modern chord

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The 100-year-old Camino Real Hotel is about to receive a major facelift after a $70 million sale, a year after the introduction of another hotel that owners hope will become part of the downtown landscape. The Camino Real was built in 1912 by Zach T White alongside the local architectural firm Trost and Trost, for $1.5 million at the time. Its classical architecture is what keeps tourists ringing the hotel bell. The elegance of the lobby is certain to be noticed, as are the Tiffany glass dome in its variety of blue hues, multiple glass chandeliers and polished marble floors. “You can see a lot of the features [from 1912] in architecture back in the day,” said Paul Dillard, a visitor from Fort Worth.

El Paso’s 24-hour contact initiative for victims of domestic violence initiative crosses borders as a national model

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El Paso’s homegrown program to help victims of domestic violence, The 24-hour Contact Initiative, has acquired a statewide and national reputation as one of the most effective in the country. It’s been lauded by Vice President Joe Biden in a 2014 national report on violence against women, has been adopted by other Texas counties as a model for their domestic violence programs and even sparked a University of Texas at Austin extensive research study where participants had this to say about the initiative:

“Family violence is is no longer a joke in El Paso County,” one participant said. “It’s become a respectable complaint, like a civil right,” said another. The program run out of the El Paso District Attorney’s Office reaches out to victims of domestic violence in less than 24 hours after an arrest has been reported to police. The main purpose of the 24-hours contact initiative is to provide an immediate safe environment for victims and provide them information about free services that they can tap into.

Downtown El Paso set to ride streetcar revival

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Beginning in 2018, El Paso residents will be riding the rails again. Streetcars, once a staple in El Paso, will return. A $97 million grant from the Texas Transportation Commission and $4.5 million from the City of El Paso is funding the 4.8-mile route. The revamped streetcar system is an example of art becoming reality. A graduate thesis by City Council Representative, Peter Svarzbein, was the impetus for the project.

El Paso becoming new frontier for space research, business ventures

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Our lives are full of consumer products that can be traced back to NASA: invisible braces, infrared ear thermometers, memory foam and cordless drills. Now one El Paso-area organization has partnered with NASA to make this kind of technology transfer easier. The Space Race challenge offers business planning, networking, mentorship and support to teams who are competing for up to $1.2 million in funding from venture capital investors. The Center for Advancing Innovation, a global public-private nonprofit is facilitating the program with El Paso-based Medical Center of the Americas Foundation. “NASA has a very large number of researchers who are primarily dedicated to solving NASA’s problems, but once that technology has done its job for NASA, by and large, that’s the end of the road, said Jeff Fuchsberg, the director of intellectual property and innovation projects at the center.

Latino entrepreneurs make their mark through microbrewing

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El Paso, TX – Carlos Guzmán opened his first bar while he was stationed in Iraq. Well, it was sort of a bar. And it sort of just happened. Guzmán was having a hard time buying liquor in Iraq, so he asked his friends and family to stash some little bottles in their care packages. “Little did I know that within a month we’d have over 50 bottles,” said Guzmán who was in the U.S. Army.

Dr. Kathy Staudt: An empowering professor and her legacy on the border

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The highly accomplished UTEP Political Science Professor, Dr. Kathleen Staudt, was recently honored at a Women’s History Conference on campus for more than two decades of work and commitment to community engagement, mentorship to students and vast scholarship on border issues. Staudt is currently working on her 20th academic book about international border politics, and says she has no intention of slowing down any time soon. She said from her office at Benedict Hall that she was delighted to finally have a chance to make her legacy speech. “It was nice to have a legacy speech before I retired,” she joked. She added that retirement will not come any time soon: “Of course I think about retirement and I probably will once I reach 70,” said Staudt, who is in her 60’s.

Periodistas amenazados frecuentemente en Veracruz

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Desde la ocasión en la que paso dos días en la sierra con un grupo de autodefensas indígenas, hasta cuando entrevistó a un joven completamente drogado que ahorcó y destripó a su novia para luego dormir con ella, Sergio Aldazaba ha tenido que cubrir historias que no cualquier periodista ha tenido la oportunidad de vivir. “Cada caso te va marcando y si sabes sacar lo mejor de cada situación, te ayuda a crecer como periodista y como ser humano”, dijo el periodista veracruzano en una reciente entrevista. Aldazaba, de 28 años, se gana la vida escribiendo sobre la nota roja y política para periódicos y sitios en linea. Al estar cubriendo temas tan sensibles en el estado de Veracruz, el joven periodista dice que está en constante peligro de un atentado contra su vida. “Se los riesgos que todo esto conlleva, pero alguien tiene que hacer el trabajo sucio y hasta cierto punto te puedo decir que se vuelve un tanto adictivo cubrir todo este tipo de historias”

A pesar de esto, nada lo preparó para cubrir la muerte de tres compañeros periodistas a causa de la corrupción del sistema de gobierno en Mexico.

El Pasoans can get native plants, gardening tips at the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens Florafest

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Gardening in El Paso can go far beyond the the gravel and cactus that so many people believe is their only choice. A walk through the Chihuahuan Desert Gardens at UTEP is a good place to find inspiration. More than 700 native plants make up the lush and colorful landscape nestled like a secret oasis next to the Centennial Museum. Bursting in blues, pinks and magenta, Salvia Greggi or Autumn Sage dwell in the deep dark corners of the gardens. Constantly in bloom, the Angelita Daisy’s seize the light and your eyes.

Premian con beca ‘elite’ presidencial a estudiante de preparatoria

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Daniel Bueno, estudiante de la preparatoria Irvin de El Paso, se hizo acreedor a una beca presidencial de $24,000 para cuatro años de educación superior en cualquier universidad del país. A pesar de recibir tentadoras ofertas de prestigiosas universidades como Harvard y Yale, Bueno, de 18 años, ha decidido optar por la Universidad de Texas en El Paso. Explica que en la escuela de su cuidad natal, que cuenta con 25,000 alumnos, recibirá una educación de calidad. La escuela fronteriza ofrece muchas oportunidades a los alumnos hispanos para triunfar y culminar sus metas profesionales. El piensa estudiar contabilidad.

Little Free Library movement spreading in El Paso

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After hearing about the international Little Free Library project, El Paso school librarian Lisa Lopez found local partners to bring the movement to this border community. There are now more than 100 public boxes stocked with books throughout the city to encourage literacy efforts. Borderzine reporter Andrea Macias has the details of the program in this video report.For more information on the Little Free Library project visit littlefreelibrary.org

 

El Paso’s role in the once mighty metal smelting industry preserved at UTEP library

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For more than 100 years the American Smelting and Refining Company, ASARCO, loomed large on the El Paso landscape. From its purchase of a copper refining plant in Smeltertown in 1910 until its massive towers were demolished in 2013, ASARCO was a major icon of El Paso’s role in the history of the mining industry. In this video, Borderzine multimedia reporter Ariadne Venegas walks us through the UT El Paso library exhibit on the history and impact of El Paso’s metal ore processing operations with ASARCO. Former employees share their memories of working at the plant.

San Diego Padres’ Mexico, borderlands strategy fitting well with El Paso Chihuahuas

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The San Diego Padres are aiming to appeal not just to San Diego crowds, but also to fans in Mexico and border cities. With TV and radio broadcast deals in Tijuana. and playing two games in Mexico earlier this year, the Padres traveled to El Paso and faced their minor league affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, to bring the major league experience to the border. The Padres were just coming off from playing two games against the Houston Astros in Mexico City before coming to El Paso March 31. The idea ended up being a successful attempt to expand on the relationship Major League Baseball has with Mexico.

The Tax Dodgers, the Corporate Loophole cheerleaders and "Mitt" the dancing baseball glove greet Ann Romney at Trump Tower in midtown Manhattan in 2012 and join the march.

Top U.S. companies stash over a trillion dollars in offshore tax havens

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By Erick Payne, SHFWire.com

WASHINGTON – The 50 biggest U.S. companies relied on a secretive network of more than 1,600 disclosed subsidiaries in tax havens to stash more than a trillion dollars offshore, according to an Oxfam America report released Thursday. The analysis shows how large U.S. companies use tax havens and other loopholes to dodge paying their fair share of taxes, according to Oxfam. The actions by multinational corporations cost the U.S. about $111 billion each year. “The vast sums large companies stash in tax havens should be fighting poverty and rebuilding America’s infrastructure, not hidden offshore in Panama, Bahamas or the Cayman Islands,” Raymond Offenheiser, president of Oxfam America, said. Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization with the goal of creating solutions for poverty, hunger and injustice.

Borderzine now accepting applications for Journalism in July 2016, a summer multimedia workshop for high school students

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Borderzine is accepting applications from El Paso area high school juniors and seniors for full scholarships to attend the 14th annual Journalism in July (JIJ) workshop at the University of Texas at El Paso. The dates are July 10 – 16. Fill out the application form here. Over the last 13 years, the workshop has provided journalism training to more than 200 students from high schools in the El Paso–Ciudad Juárez–Las Cruces area.  A goal of the workshop is to encourage high school students of diverse backgrounds who are already interested in journalism to pursue future studies and careers in news media and communication.  The fast paced one-week training includes a variety of hands on workshops in basic journalism reporting and writing skills, media ethics and digital video, audio and photo production.

Volunteers serve compassion at El Paso church food pantry

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Parishioners of El Paso’s Holy Trinity Church, 10000 Pheasant Rd, work together to keep their food pantry shelves stocked for families in need. Many drop off donations of needed supplies at the church and then volunteers sort and stock the donations and prepare baskets each week for families that don’t have enough to eat. UT El Paso multimedia journalism student Kayla Melson reports on the operation and how those in need of help can contact the food pantry.

Politicians, scientists discuss widespread U.S. water issues at White House summit

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By Luke Torrance, SHFWire.com

WASHINGTON – The United States does not have a major water problem – it has several major water problems.

That was the realization of Jeffery Lape, the deputy director of science and technology at the Environmental Protection Agency, after meeting with officials from several states over the past year. California is in the midst of an historic drought. Rivers in the Pacific Northwest have become hotter, harming salmon populations. Cities around the country are facing the same problems as Flint, Mich.: contaminated water and deteriorating distribution systems.

So Lape gathered groups from across the country March 22 for the White House Water Summit. The meeting was held in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next to the White House.

States favoring gun owners tend to do more background checks

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By Erick Payne, SHFWire.com

WASHINGTON – States considered the most favorable toward gun owners tend to perform more federal background checks for people who want to get gun permits and buy firearms.

States that were among the least favorable to gun owners usually recorded fewer federal checks for firearm purchases and gun permits. The Scripps Howard Foundation Wire compared 2015 FBI records of the number of background checks with the list of the best states for gun owners in 2015 compiled by Guns and Ammo magazine and found there was a pattern. Guns and Ammo is published by the Outdoor Sportsman Group Network. The magazine ranked each state on five categories, including the right to carry a gun and the right to purchase certain types of rifles. State laws may differ from federal laws regarding access to firearms.

The FBI does background checks for 30 states, five territories and the District of Columbia.

Fired IT staffer tells Senate H-1B visa program betrays U.S. workers

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By Luke Torrance, SHFWire.com

WASHINGTON – In November 2014, the Walt Disney Company reported record $48.8 billion in sales. It was the fourth straight year of record profits. The theme parks – Walt Disney Land, Walt Disney World — generated $2.7 billion in profits, a 20 percent increase. It was a small piece of Disney’s enormous pie, but these profits alone will be more than “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” will gross worldwide. With such an optimistic financial outlook, Leo Perrero was expecting good things when he was called to a meeting with Disney executives in late 2014.

Latinos at Yale have banded together over the years to succeed

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By Annika Darling, CTLatinoNews.com

Yale University was founded in 1701. Over 250 years later, in the early 1970s, the first Latinos stepped foot on the prestigious campus. For these Latinos, Yale was a Sisyphean challenge — a sea of unfamiliar affluence never before traversed by Latinos.  They soon realized the only way to survive the resulting ostracism and isolation would be to ban together.  As a result of their determination to succeed,  today, there are approximately 5,000 Yale Latino Alumni. The Early Years

Former Yale Associate Dean, Rosalinda Garcia, explained, “Most of the first Latinos who went to Yale had a very hard time. One, it was a racist climate, and two, these students were brought onto campus and they weren’t given any resources to succeed.”

Garcia describes the first “big” class of Latinos – it had a total of five (in a class of thousands), and it was common for them to be called derogatory names around campus.

Juarez booked up for pope, but El Paso hotels still have rooms

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EL PASO — The “Two Nations, One Faith” visit from Pope Francis to Cd. Juarez has brought national attention to the border region, but not a lot of travelers looking for a place to stay in El Paso. The Catholic Diocese of Juarez is expecting 220,000 people to attend the Mass celebrated by the pope on Wednesday. Thousands more are expected to line the streets of Juarez hoping to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. And, one the other side of the border in El Paso, thousands are planning to receive a blessing from the pope while attending a simulcast of the papal Mass in the Sun Bowl on the UT El Paso campus.

Juarez prison workers expect pope’s visit to have lasting impact on inmates

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When Pope Francis arrives in the borderlands on Wednesday to celebrate afternoon Mass before thousands at a freshly built altar and pavilion called “El Punto” on the old Juarez fairgrounds, the pontiff will also make a stop at the Cereso state prison to visit several hundreds prisoners and their families. The prison, known as the Centro de Readaptación Social para Adultos No. 3, has a reputation as a rough facility for hardened criminals and in the past has experienced several riots and killings. On Wednesday, a group of Cereso prisoners will greet “el Papa” with a special song when he arrives at the prison doors at about 10:30 a.m. It is his first stop along a 25-mile human chain leading from the Juarez airport to the site of the Mass at El Punto. As in his visits to prisons in previous tours of U.S. cities like Philadelphia, Pope Francis is expected to bring a message of love, hope and forgiveness to the Cereso inmates and their families.