A.D. Ibarra -

Eagle Pass

Ventriloquist Nacho Estrada was on hand to headline the 22nd Annual EPISD Partners in Education Parent Conference on Saturday, February 2nd at CC Winn High School and his speech to parents in terms of the meaning of parenthood was received with a standing ovation as Estrada did his best to motivate and inspire his audience with a combination of advice and rapid fire humor. "I worked in Uvalde and they gave me an office job," said Estrada, "But I wanted to work with kids so I left Uvalde." When he left, he realized that he knew the way to really get to kids, even those on the verge of quitting school. "As teachers, we should never be mad at our students," as he made the comparison of anger being the wind that blows away the light of intelligence, "When you act out of anger, you're not thinking intelligently and when you do so, you will probably do something you'll regret later." He recalled the days of his youth, where his father would pull out the belt, "Like Zorro," he added before he would run to the second floor of his condominium complex (The projects) where he would hide from his dad in a box of clothes inside a closet in the restroom until his father's anger would pass. "I would wait ten minutes and then walk right in front of my father who was now watching TV and had forgotten all about it because he was not angry anymore." He said that the 'D' in the word <Padres> stands for discipline and by discipline it does not mean to hit your children. He mentioned the time he saw a young girl throwing a temper tantrum. Most parents would take the child out of a crowded room and proceed to scold the child to try to get them to calm down. He said he took her outside, sat her on a bench, still furious, he sat on another and watched as she let out all of her anger. He asked her if she was done to which she replied 'Yes' then he gave her a hug and told her he loved her. "I didn't get mad at her because it would've compounded the situation, and believe me, kid's don't forget." "We need to respect our kids in order to get their respect in return," he said "Kids can see if you're fake from miles away, they're smart." He used his mannequin Mijo to show the effects that bullying can have on the self esteem of a child. He mentioned the history of bullying that goes back to Biblical times. He closed by bringing out his famous mannequin, Maclovio, to end his presentation. "Do you know who Mr. Gonzalez (Superintendent of Schools) is," asked Maclovio, "He's the Super Nintendo. And those guys he's with, 'Tan aburridos." when asked why, he said, "Because they said they're Bored Members!" All in all it was a highly successful affair, and we will have more of Estrada's speech in a later edition of The News Gram.

Staff -

Eagle Pass

Eagle Pass City Council has agreed to appeal against the ruling last week that gave the Railroad Commission of Texas, with a vote of 2-1, permission for the Dos Republicas company to operate coal mines in the northern sector of Maverick County on Thompson Road. The honorable Ramsey English Cantu, Mayor of Eagle Pass said he filed an appeal to state authorities asking that the case be reheard in order to provide the commission further proof and dialogue in reference to the renewal, extension and expansion of the Eagle Pass Mine. According to authorities, the city had 30 days to make the appeal and ask the Railroad Commission to reconsider their previous verdict which came back as a 2-1 split with David Porter of the Railroad Commission casting the lone vote against the expansion of what will be known as the Eagle Pass Mine. A point of concern for the commission was the adequate use of water needed for operation of the coal mine. Mayor Cantu reiterates that the major concern that the city has is possible environmental damage, such as the adequate disposal and usage of water, a dwindling commodity in the Texas region. The shortfall of water within our state has been a hot topic in Austin as politicians from both sides of the aisle understand the shortages of water within our state and have put this along with transportation infrastucure at the top of their lists of priorities. According to the project details, the company plans to extract the coal north of Eagle Pass and then transport it via railroad to a thermal power plant in Nava Coahuila, Mexico. A highly debated topic within our community as well as in Austin, with both sides making a good case for themselves. On one hand the local business community sees this as yet another opportunity for Eagle Pass to add jobs and economic growth and on the other side local officials and environmentalists have argued that the opening of the Dos Republicas coal mine has negative and long lasting effects on our environment and ultimately the health of our local residents.