Reported crime in the city of El Paso fell sharply in the first three months of 2024, after two  years of increases, according to data reported by the FBI this week. The number of reported serious crimes from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2024, was 6% lower than the same period a year earlier, according to the FBI, which relies on reports from local law enforcement agencies. The El Paso data was provided by the El Paso Police Department. The only major crime category to see an increase was auto theft. The number of auto thefts reported in El Paso in the first three months of the year was 505 ..read more

Here’s a roundup of some culture and civic events in the borderland in the coming week. Dads N’ Rides at Ascarate Park Celebrate Father’s Day with car shows, food trucks, entertainment, and live music by Fungi Mungle and more from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday, June 16, at Ascarate Park, 6900 Delta Drive. The family-friendly event is hosted by El Paso County. Free admission to the event. Admission is free. No gate fee. Information: El Paso County Parks & Recreation El Fresco! Funk Night The latest installment of the El Fresco Music Series is bringing the funk from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, June 14, at th ..read more

As school districts across Texas – including El Paso – prepare to set their budgets for the 2024-25 school year, many are expecting their expenses to outweigh their revenue, leaving them with a deficit. Despite the state’s multi-billion dollar surplus, lawmakers failed to increase school funding during the 2023 legislative session after Gov. Greg Abbott tied public education dollars to a controversial voucher program that would have allowed parents to pay for private school using state funds. Now with pandemic-era relief set to expire in September, districts are scrambling to address a budget ..read more

El Paso will see triple digit daily highs for the foreseeable future, as a yearlong streak of hot weather deepens its hold on the Chihuahuan Desert region, the National Weather Service predicts. Monday is the last chance to get a high temp in El Paso BELOW 100°F or a Loooooooooooooong Time. The majority of long-term models have the max high temperature in El Paso at or above 100°F starting Tuesday for as long as we can see out (think July). — NWS El Paso (@NWSElPaso) June 9, 2024 If that forecast proves accurate, El Paso will shatter June heat records. The hottest June on record came in 1 ..read more

Doctors told Heather and Alfredo Rodriguez that their newborn daughter, Monica, would probably not live through the night. It was approximately 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, 2006, when Monica entered the world at 7 pounds, 7 ounces – a good weight for a full-term baby. But she did not cry as expected of newborns as a sign of healthy breathing. Her Apgar scores, the health evaluations of babies immediately after birth, were one, two and two – far lower than the average range of seven to nine for healthy newborns.  “Basically, she was not alive,” Heather said. If she survived, physicians expect ..read more

The Socorro school board voted Thursday not to give teachers and staff raises for the 2024-25 school year and to require employees to pay for more of their health care costs to combat the district’s ongoing financial crisis. “The recommendations and decisions for these actions were not taken lightly, nor taken without much deliberation, but were made in an effort to alleviate our budget and propel the district to a better financial situation,” Socorro ISD’s acting superintendent James Vasquez said in a letter sent to employees on Friday. This comes as the district is dealing with a $33 millio ..read more

This is your weekly news roundup, which takes a quick look at some developments in government, politics, education, environment and other topics across El Paso. Free Summer Lunch Program in El Paso Schools El Paso schools will offer free breakfast and lunch to children 18 and under as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture summer meals program. The meals are provided at no cost to any child, regardless of what school they attend or whether they live within a district’s boundaries. The El Paso Independent School District will serve meals Monday through Friday from June 12 to July 12 for h ..read more

By Renzo Downey / The Texas Tribune YouTuber Brandon Herrera will request a recount Friday in his Republican primary runoff election against U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales. Herrera told The Texas Tribune he will request recounts in Bexar, El Paso, Medina and Uvalde counties after trailing Gonzales by 407 votes in a race that drew national attention as a fight between the more moderate and more conservative wings of the Republican party. Last week, Herrera indicated he would accept the election results, posting that the close margin despite running a campaign that was outfunded by Gonzales was itself ..read more

When Telmar Munge-Ewane moved with her family from Maryland to El Paso her freshman year in high school, she found a world of new opportunities as a Pebble Hills Spartan. Although Munge-Ewane spent her first year remotely learning in Pebble Hills Early College High School because of the pandemic, she was thrilled to explore her interests in dance, biomedical sciences, and other extracurricular activities when in-person learning resumed in her sophomore year. “I just feel like they have so many opportunities here that they never had where I used to live in Maryland, like the early college prog ..read more

With the summer heat well upon El Paso and two days of triple-digit heat in the forecast for this week, here are six things to know about the summer weather El Paso  How hot has 2024 in El Paso been?  Since Jan. 1, El Paso’s temperature has averaged 62 degrees, just over 2 degrees hotter than the “normal” – or the 30-year average temperatures that the city experienced between 1991 through 2020. And this May was especially hot in El Paso, where temperatures averaged 79.5 degrees, which was 4 degrees warmer than usual for the month, according to the National Weather Service. The city ..read more